Roon Nucleus (Servers)

[oneway23]

I kind of think twelve-hundred or two-grand with no media storage is a bit expensive, fanless case or not.  128GB SSD on the higher-end model costs peanuts these days, and is really just for the OS, so you must factor in the cost of true storage, unless you've already got a NAS, in which case you're already back up to two boxes again, before you even hit the DAC, which seems to me to negate the entire idea of this product.

 

I know you still need a computer of some sort to run Roon with Bluesound, but, at least with the Bluesound Vault, you're getting 2TB of storage, a DAC/HP amp, a CD ripper, and a networked media player for your $1200.

 

I don't want to be misunderstood here.  More options for everyone is always a good thing.  I'm simply trying to find out how/where this fits in.

 

I suppose the target audience is audiophiles with a desire to venture into the world of computer-based audio who don't mind paying in order to remove any perceived barriers.  Certainly not a bad thing.

[oneway23]

Here's a comment from Roon's Danny Dulai on Roon's community forums in response to the pricing:

 

"You nailed it. The HiFi dealer market requires turn-key hardware. Hard to sell someone $50,000 audio setup and then send them home to install Roon on a Mac."

 

Roon obviously has a clearly defined sense of their target with this one.  Nothing wrong with that.

 

Also confirmed is that there is no Roon license included, though I'm not entirely convinced that they won't at least offer some sort of trial, but, who knows?  They have a sense of value in regard to their software and the folks at Roon will never bundle the license with any hardware.

 

Danny also said that Roon will soon have a "button" on their website which will auto-populate your Amazon cart with DIY NUC components should you elect to go that route.  Cool idea!