Advice on using a NUC as a ROON server ..... or even a streamer on its own !!

[mriguy]

Here's my experience on this front. It's been VERY rewarding and fun.  Highly recommended.

• The quality of the Power Supply really does matter.  The NUC will sound better at 19vdc than it does at 12vdc. I use a Sean Jacobs power supply, but other good choices include the Paul Hynes SR4 and the Farad 3.
• Moving the NUC to a fanless case is very important. I too used an Akassa.  The fan is bad!
• Higher power NUCS sound better than lower power NUCS. Try to get an i7 based NUC
• I run the Euphony audiophile music system. You can get it for a trial. It's not cheap, but its oh so worth it!
• Within Euphony, I run
  • Single-Computer (my i7 NUC serves as both Roon Server and Endpoint. Connected to my main DAC via USB.  USB cable quality does matter.
  • It will still see other valid Roon endpoints as valid destinations as well
  • Ramroot Mode, where the bulk of the OS is loaded and executed in RAM
  • The only disk drive is a 16GB Intel Optane drive in the M2 slot. Euphony is stored here.
  • I use Roon and Tidal
  • Local music files are on a Synology NAS. Roon backs itself up to this NAS as well.
  • Running in this single-NUC mode, all the cores typically run at 0-1%, while streaming.
  • I have not experimented with HPQ, which is supported within Euphony
  • Most people feel that Euphony's build in music player, known as Stylus sounds the very best (that would mean local files only, no streaming)
  • It's quick and easy to switch between the various modes of Euphony.
• The NUC's network does matter too
  • I use an Uptone EtherRegen on its own audiphones grade +12v PS

Much of what I learned is from a massive and amazing thread here on audiophilestyle; search for the thread "A novel way to massively improve the SQ of computer audio streaming." It's many contributors have invested an amazing amount of time, experiments and funding to figure this stuff out.