Article: The Definitive Guide To Roon Optimized Core Kit (ROCK)

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, mdzaki said:

this is my player http://www.metronome.audio/index.php/en/le-player 

 

It appears your DAC requires drivers for both Mac and Windows. This often times means that Linux support must be developed specifically for this DAC or USB interface chip.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, mdzaki said:

what dacs are supported by rock ? any list ?

 

At a high level, it's likely all DACs that don't require Mac drivers will work with the NUC.

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 minute ago, mdzaki said:

any suggestions for a good DAC 

 

That's a very long list that should be started by your own research :~)

[The Computer Audiophile]

7 minutes ago, mdzaki said:

thank you very much for your help...so if i understood right i should get a dac that need no drivers ?

 

At a high level yes. But, there are some DACs that the NUC will have specific support even though they require drivers on Mac and Linux.

 

When it comes to Windows drivers, all DACs will require drivers for high resolution audio above 96k (Windows 10 Creators Update should support many DACs at above 96k).

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, mdzaki said:

how can nun support a dac without a driver ?

 

It has built-in support for USB Audio Class 2. All DACs that work with these native drivers should work fine. A few other DACs have had custom Linux drivers created and I believe ROCK has incorporated some of these.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, mdzaki said:

so i have to uninstall rock ... get win 10 installed back on my nuc in order to have my dac work again...btw what dac do you use if i may ask 

 

On that specific NUC, it appears that you will need to install Windows and the Windows driver provided by the manufacturer. I can't be 100% sure. 

 

I use a few different DACs such as a dCS Rossini, Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC RS2, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, among others. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, abrahavt said:

I am new to Roon so please bear with me. Followed all the instructions to set up ROCK. Think all went well. Any instructions to install Roon on the NUC?

 

If you setup ROCK, Roon is running on the NUC. Just launch a Roon remote from a computer or phone to complete setup. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

42 minutes ago, fpalm69 said:

What if I want to implement a bridged LAN connection to the mRendu?  I did this on my CAPS Zuma with improved SQ and would like to do it on the Roon ROCK.

 

I don't see why it wouldn't work, provided it's implemented properly.

[The Computer Audiophile]

Very stable. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, fheller said:

There is an interesting statement from Brian, a leading guy from Roonlabs, about Rock and Collection sizes in the Rock Section of the Roon Forum.

 

What is that statement?

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, ptruce said:

Chris, many thanks for posting the instructions for getting a Roon ROCK going.  Ran into a couple of glitches, the first Transcend M.2 drive wasn't recognized (returned and bought the Samsung), the first time I burned the OS to a USB drive, there was a "decompression" error which was fixed by using another drive, etc.

 

But 2 hours later, all of my tracks are back up and running and I love the fact that the HDMI port works flawlessly!  So I can go direct to my Marantz 8802a and output with Auro3D 10.1.

 

Life is good today.

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

Peter

 

Happy to hear it Peter. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

6 minutes ago, gomle69 said:

Which file format do you use on the USB stick used for ROCK installation?

 

I believe you are asking about disk format such as HFS+, FAT etc...

 

It doesn't matter. The tool will reformat for you.

[The Computer Audiophile]

22 minutes ago, gary1 said:

hi

do you find 8gig of ram is enough for your large collection?

ive got my i7 nuc and 8gigs of ram for my similar size collection as yours and nearly ready to build.

 

 

Yes, 8GB is more than enough.

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, unbalanced output said:

 

Hi Chris, thanks very much for this useful thread. I bought a 7i5BNK last week but had to return it (no video). While I wait for the new one, I'm having some second thoughts on the 7i7. 

 

My concern with getting the i7 was exactly the noise issue - and I couldn't find any makers of fanless cases for it. Did you manage to get over the noise issue? Also, for DSP on a smaller library would you think the 7i5 would be enough? The single core performance seems to be quite close between both processors. 

 

Last but not least, wouldn't it be possible to partition the internal drive? I also got a 960 evo which is a great option for reasonable price, however it seems a waste to allocate it all for ROCK. 

 

cheers

 

The noise is an issue with the i7 that can't be dealt with, without a fanless case. I have mine in another room because it's only connected via Ethernet. 

 

For DSP I would go with the i7. You never know what is coming down the road and more power may be needed. DSP is library size independent. 

 

Partitioning the drive isn't possible. Roon sees the physical drive and takes over. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

You don’t backup the OS or Roon server app. Just backup the database. I do it to a NAS. All automated through the Roon app. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, sahmen said:

I am running Roon core on a mostly dedicated Mac mini, and it works beautifully in that role, servicing all the endpoints spread through my house. My NAS is the storage for all my audio files.

 

Is there any advantage at all in getting the NUC/Rock installation instead, especially, any SQ-related advantage?  If not, then I would like to go the "if it ain't broke..." road, but I would like to know.

 

The main advantage of the Rock that I am seeing from the reviews is ease of use, and simplicity, but I think my mac mini option is also very simple and easy to use already, apart its availability to work readily like a normal mac if I should ever want it to...

 

I wouldn't want to change that unless there are some SQ advantages that I shall miss without the NUC/ROCK setup.

 

Any helpful thoughts would be welcome.

 

Ifyou are happy you shouldn’t fix what’s not broken. There is no sound quality advantage moving to a NUC. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

5 minutes ago, sahmen said:

Thanks very much... Now I have a similar question about any possible advantages of moving to a Sonic Transporter i5 from the same mac mini.  If there are no sound quality advantages, then I will consider staying put, and not pulling any triggers.

Others may have a different experience but I wouldn’t switch if looking for a sonic improvement only. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

On 2/10/2019 at 12:12 PM, drjimwillie said:

@The Computer Audiophile

Hi   

I have  have a CAPS Pipeline  with my music stored  internally.  I run Roon  and HQ player.  I have the SOTM card and run USB to my Holo Spring DAC. 

 I just bought the new Qnap HS453DX NAS. (It is fanless) It has an Intel Cleron J4105 quad core processor.   Part of the Qnap advertising shows the NAS as a Roon core. 

 I am planning on moving Roon off the pipeline and on to the new Qnap NAS.  I am wondering if Roon ROCK is a good fit? 

 I am planning to run the pipeline as a audio Linux Lxqt with HQembeded, loaded into RAM. SSD Drive removed, replaced with an Optane boot drive. As a Roon zone (or Roon endpoint or HQ NAA???  )Music on the NAS. 

Does this sound like a good plan?

 

The NAS has 4GB RAM. (2) 6 TB 3.5 drives.  It has the ability for additional (2) M.2 SATA NVME drives,  but for now I am not installing them because I understand they could be noisy. 

 

 My plan is that eventually I will stream from the Pipeline, over Ethernet to a NUC endpoint. 

 

 

 

Thanks for asking again, this one slipped down in my inbox. 

 

I have many thoughts surrounding this topic as I'm working with the Roon team and ASUS (separately) on an article about improving the speed of Roon.

 

Anyway, I love that NAS. It has a great design. Yes, you can totally run Roon core on the QNAP NAS, but be forewarned that it can be slow if your library is large. I have 320,000 tracks and on some NAS units the slowness is just too much to handle. If you install Roon core on the NAS, and your satisfied with the speed, then you'll have no need for ROCK. However, if the speed isn't good enough, a ROCK running on a NUC may help you with this.

 

There are some issues with running a ROCK / NUC and using a NAS to store the music. ROCK can't monitor the storage very well for new music and it's slower than locally attached storage such as a ROCK with USB or internal drive. You could always get a ROCK / NUC with local music and use the NAS to backup automatically. 

 

Pipeline as an endpoint could be nice. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

5 hours ago, Gabee said:

I am a tech newbie, but you have empowered me to try and build a system for my uncle for his birthday!

 

Quick question though. He is not as interested in storing music. He intends on using the Roon server as a way to stream Qobuz to his phone, computer, and TV that are on his wifi network.

 

If I build this out as you described, would he be able to play his Qobuz playlists remotely from any location in his house that e.g. supports airplay ?

 

Sorry if my question sounds convoluted, this would be my first techie project ever...

 

Thanks,

Gabee

Hi Gabee, this is an easy project that you can totally handle :~)

 

Your question is worded a bit “differently” but that’s OK. You aren’t a geek. As long as he has a WiFi signal at home, he can stream using Roon. Roon certainly supports sending audio to AirPlay devices. 
 

If he only wants to stream Qobuz via AirPlay, the Qobuz app does that by itself. 

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, George Hincapie said:

Can I just ask if all of the instructions are still current? Including all of the hardware makes and models? I am thinking about having a go at this.

The instructions will work. I walked someone through them last month. The NUC models are out of date though.