Confused by Innuos/Roon NUC

[Blade471]

Hi there, I am hoping I have started this thread in the right topic.

 

I currently have a QNAP NAS that stores all of my music and runs as roon core and server and provides music through to my Arcam Airdac. I want to upgrade my system and the way I manage my files so I get the best possible sound quality.

 

I wanted to buy the new Innuos Zentih mk III however there seems to be supply issues in the UK. So next I looked at getting an Intel NUC and loading up ROON ROCK on it- that way my NAS acts as just a server of music and the NUC operates as the core. If I did the NUC option, is there actually any benefit of getting the Innuos at a later date and using the Innuos as a server into the NUC. Then the NUC would go into a Chord qutest DAC- or is the best option really just to wait for the Innuos and have that run straight into the Chord Qutest (having the Innuos run roon core and server)? 

 

I’m quite confused by the whole thing- really I am trying to remove my Arcam airdac and replace it with the best possible solution- combined with taking the pressure off my QNAP NAS as I’m not convinced that is the best solution. Any help would be gratefully received!

 

thanks

 

Chris

[davide256]

The thread below includes people who ended up switching from the original fine  Innuos product to a NUC solution using Audiolinux. There is certainly

a big cost differential between the NUC Audiolinux/Roon approach vs using the Innuos Zenith Mk III ($4200)

 

In your shoes I would buy a NUC first to use as Audiolinux Roon endpoint with a high quality power supply such as Uptone Audio  LPS 1.2 or 

Paul Hynes SR-4. You will need to read carefully the NUC BIOS power tweaking recommendations for getting best USB performance, (and to make sure

that the NUC will run if you use the low current LPS 1.2) but the cost is very small compared to the vast improvement rendered from correctly

setting up a NUC as Roon endpoint. The AL setup part for Roonbridge is trivial, select Roonbridge for playback in the menu, then enable RAM root.

 

So far all comments I have seen indicate that Audiolinux Roon server is superior to running Rock on same NUC. Eventually you will want

a more powerful CPU in your Roonserver but you can defer that decision so long as the current NAS works fine as Roonserver