Roon / ND555 - optimising sound quality

Possibly because Roon transcodes Qobuz to PCM from FLAC which is giving a bigger benefit to you

1 Like

Simon - is that a default action by Roon? Canā€™t see a setting for thisā€¦

i donā€™t think its configurable - its how Roon works using its RAAT

Yes - thought so. Going back to your earlier suggestion: have now put the Mac Mini on the same Cisco as the ND555 / Uniticore and not experienced any slow connection issues (replaced the old kinked ethernet cable at the same time, which may have explained initial connection issues if one or more of the conductors within the cable was damaged).

Am going to try to borrow a Nucleus from a dealer to see if I can identify any improvement over the Mac Mini. Will report backā€¦

1 Like

Side question - similar to Simon I run my ROON core on an iMac (SSD hd) and have owned my Cisco switch for several years back when the thread started in its infancy on the old Naim forum. My Cisco version is a white one with gigabit ports as back then in the US they were had for a relatively cheap penny.

I seem to recall discussions about leaving the Cisco ā€œin isolationā€ ie I have it plugged into the regular household Netgear switch and the only device I have plugged into the Cisco is then my Linn Klimax DS.

I also find a ā€œsomewhatā€ slow startup with ROON each time an iPad is fired up (looking for Core) even though the household network is rather robust. If I were to move to a NUC type device would that be better off plugged into the Cisco (which is in the listening room) or downstairs in the kitchen with other network devices?

Best
Gregg

Iā€™m very interested in your results @billyrubin. I currently run with a Mac Mini (in the background) like Simon sending RAAT to my Streamer. It works extremely well, but Iā€™ve always wondered if it could be better using a dedicated device like either a ROCK or Nucleus.

gleventhan,

I am glad you asked this question. I have been contemplating the same and would be keen to find out what the experience of those who have tested the scenario.

ASenna04

I have tried different devices acting as a Roon server, and I have not heard any differenceā€¦ though I have heard subtle changes with Roon software updates sometimes.
It makes no difference where the server is plugged in, as long as it is somewhere on your Ethernet connected subnet. I also find if server and control points can use ipv6 performance is slightly better, perhaps because of the use of IPV6 ND as opposed to the more arcane ipv4 discovery techniques.

2 Likes

Have made approaches to a couple of dealers. Both well known here. One hasnā€™t replied. The other told me not to bother with a Nucleus and tried to push Melco products - despite them lacking the particular function I was enquiring about. Suspect commercial considerations at play here - disappointingly since this is an oft-cited dealer. He hasnā€™t replied to my follow up questions.

At Bristol show, found a nucleus on the distributorā€™s stand - with no one hovering anywhere nearby to ask about it.

Make of this what you will.

Innuos were lovely to chat to at Bristol. And their products do act as Roon Cores. No idea how good the range is but itā€™s an option to investigate. Possibly. Am starting to lose enthusiasm a little for this particular direction. Could be a lot of money for uncertain gain.

1 Like

:+1:

1 Like

The NUCLEUS is intended for costumers wanting the convenience of Roon Rock in a dedicated small computer, like a NUC, but not willing to build it themselves.

As the Roon Rock server is networked it makes no difference whether it is installed on a NUC, a Nucleus, a MacMini, etcā€¦ It wonā€™t change anything to the data transmitted over the network (using RAAT protocol)

1 Like

Hi Thomas,
The main reason that I did not build my own NUC at the time was because we wanted a fanless server due to it being in the living room, near the speakers. I still am unclear as to whether a Nucleus is any better than a NUC in a different fanless case because that is pretty much what a Nucleus is.

Best regards, BF

The Nucleus is roughly a NUC board in a nice fanless case.

But not onlyā€¦

That Intel NUC board included in the Nucleus comes with some software mods. Those mods are intended for a safe fanless use of the board. The OS included in the Nucleus is a specific version of Roon Rock.

Of course you can build yourself a fanless Roon Rock server.
I did it. The fanless case will suffice in terms of heat dissipation (unless you plan to use the DSP, a lot).

The Nucleus and the RoonRock+NUC are both optimal solutions for a Roon server, each one targeting a specific customer profile.

3 Likes

I do not run Roon nor have ND555 so please take my comments in that context, but I was looking for a possible music server to replace my Mac min + JRiver Media Centre. About a year ago I was able to compare it with top of the range Melco and Innuos devices. With JRiverā€™s DSP Studio disabled, I could not hear any difference at all. With JRiverā€™s DSP Studio enabled, I preferred my Mac mini.

I suspect if you follow @Simon-in-Suffolkā€™s advice and use REW to create a convolution file for a Roon Nucleus (or NUC) then you are likely to get better results than youā€™ll be able to achieve with Melco. I found this was true with JRiver MC.

That said, I thought the Innuos was a good product and better value than Melco. If I could have run JRiver MC on it then I may well have bought one.

As aside has anybody noticed the similarity between the Buffalo sells BS-GS2016-EU (Ā£154) and Melco S100 (Ā£1,999) switches?

I agree with your sentiment ā€œCould be a lot of money for uncertain gainā€.

Subject to enough CPU power/bandwidth there is not likely to be any differences - the filter response kernel tap file that you create in REW will be convolved with the sample stream in the Roon Core across the FIR window and will be independent/ decoupled from the the platform it is running on. This is essentially matrix multiplication.

1 Like

Apologies, I probably did not say what I meant very well in my post and agree Roon would give the same results irrespective of platform assuming there was enough processing power.

My understanding was Melco could not run Roon (or JRiver MC), but ran software such as Twonky, so could not process room correction data created by REW.

What I compared at audition was a Melco server without room correction against my Mac min (JRiver MC) applying room correction. I preferred the Mac mini. Without room correction, I could not tell them apart.

My understanding was Roon could do the same as JRiver MC. I may have got this wrong as I did not get on with Roon when I tried it and havenā€™t looked at it since.

I guess all Iā€™m saying is a Mac mini is more versatile than a dedicated music server such as the Melco, which is why it suits my preferences.

2 Likes

BS-GS2016-EU is a realy nice switch with lots of web-based network management features as per Cisco switches I picked one up at Ā£90 on the bay. It is at least as good as the Ciscos for audio but then I do have a S100 as well.

Do you feel the S100 is worth the extra outlay?
With its web based interface, it would appear the BS-GS2016-EU could offer more, but I read the S100 has better casework (better shielding) and PSU. The difference in price is quite significant though.

I read about the SoTM switch and that has some interesting claims.

ā€œThe noise coming from an Ethernet signal has a very wide frequency band. To eliminate this wide frequency band, weā€™ve created various parts corresponding to the noise of each frequency and then combined them to create a broadband noise filterā€.

Iā€™m not arguing these switches are overpriced as I worked with specialist switch design and our 4 port switches (non-audio) were at least as expensive as the S100.

I bought the BS-GS2016-EU to use in a remote location where the attached devices do environmental monitoring, a weather station and chemical analysis of soil moisture, at our IT departments suggestion, they are happy with. It it is very robust. Iā€™ve never used it for music so I can not compare it with the S100. I tried the S100 on home demo and liked what it did so it stayed. There are so many variables on peoples home networks that its the only way to demo.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.