Is the Roon Nuceus device a good streamer?

I want to stress the fact that I have zero issues with my sonicTransporter i5 when using as a Roon core/server. It has been rock solid and plays all my songs, including several DSP settings for my headphones, without a hitch, My comment about not getting optimal sound when connecting directly to my DAC (Cambridge Audio Azur 851D) in the headphone system is not a shortcoming of sonicTransporter. In all likelihood, it's probably the USB implementation of the DAC or the cable.

emergingsoul,

There is lots to learn in the new world of digital audio and streaming.  With the Roon Nucleus (or Nucleus Plus), the server is connected to the internet and (in my case) to an external hard drive via the USB connection, the second USB connection for outputting the digital signal to my external DAC.  I also have a subscription to Qobuz for streaming (I had Tidal in the past as well).  So when I access my library with the Roon app, and search for content (like "Beatles"), the Roon server shows my library as the content on my hard drive+the content for the Beatles on my Qobuz subscription.

So, to stream music, in addition to a server, like the Roon server (or a computer) you will need a subscription (like one to Tidal or Qobuz) and output the digital signal to a DAC, which might be built into your amplifier.

In my experience an Innuos Zenith Mk3 running Roon doesn‘t sound anywhere near as good as running native; the Zenith in Roon beats the Nucleus by a country mile, so: no, the Nucleus is not a top server/streamer

I originally set up my system with the Roon core running on my PC and purchased a Bryston BDP-2 (with upgraded audio card) to use as a streamer. I also have a Node2i to compare, and the Bryston sounds a bit better. 

This spring, I built a Roon ROCK core using an Intel NUC in a fanless case so I could put it next to my audio equipment. If you are moderately computer savvy, you can build the equivalent of the Nucleus (same hardware and software) using the NUC in an Akasa Turing fanless case for about half the price of the Nucleus or Nucleus+. I built a fairly high-end config (a bit more powerful than the Nucleus+) for about $1K.  Once built and configured, this offers the same functionality (including auto-updates) as the Nucleus.

For the last couple months, I've been experimenting with connecting my DAC directly to the NUC (Roon ROCK) using USB. The sound quality is virtually identical to the Bryston connected over AES/EBU. 

But there are a lot of variables to consider.

I'm using a ZeroZone linear power supply with my NUC which reduces noise a bit.

I'm using a fairly high-end USB cable (AQ Diamond) and I have not experimented with lower-priced cables. I doubt this has a big impact, particularly with my DAC, but it might have some affect.

My DAC is a Denafrips Terminator which has a very good USB interface. In the case of this DAC, the SPDIF and AES/EBU interfaces are buffered and reclocked by the DAC along with USB, so any clock jitter is determined by the internal clock, not the source clock. So there really isn't any difference in the way the digital data is processed by the DAC. For DACs which derive the sample clock from the SPDIF, Toslink, or AES signal, these interfaces may sound considerably different than USB, depending on the streamer. 

You don't "need" a seperate streamer for a Nucleus you can connect it directly to a DAC by USB but you can use a separate streamer if you want. 

Ejr1953
do you also have a streamer?

Roon nucleus includes streamer in its description, but hearing need for a separate streamer.  Very confusing.

I have owned a Roon Nucleus Plus server and give it two thumbs up.  It's really well designed and made and the USB port is "dead quiet", really good sounding box.  It also has the Roon software installed and "automagically" updates itself.  I've never experienced a problem with my Roon server, I suspect you won't either.

The Aries isn't an alternative to a Nucleus. It is roon ready but you still need something else  to run the core. 

Arafiq,
thanks for comment. On paper what u have looks good, sorry for your problems. 
I like the standalone nature of the Roon nucleus.  Desktop connection i use seems fine but don’t like the complexity of linking to a separate room and keeping it on all the time.

i see ssd storage in the future so that adds a lot more. Sucks it don’t come with at least a small amount of song storage.  Use of a Stand alone ext drive is less than ideal. 

A Roon Nucleus is an overpriced PC...  Have a look at Intel's NUCs...  Also be aware that even Roon suggests to use an Endpoint along with a Nucleus for the best Signal Quality...  In other words, don't connect a DAC directly to a PC/Nucleus...

Although I don't have a Roon Nucleus per se - I use SGC's SonicTransporter i5, I didn't like the sound at all when I connected it directly to my DAC in my headphone rig. The floor noise was much higher, and in general sounded more harsh and fatiguing. I put the Node 2i back in the chain (streamer function only), and it sounds much better. 

Having said that, maybe Roon Nucleus and Qutest combo might fare better in your case. Shouldn't be hard to try it out though.

The short answer is yes.  Have been streaming from a Roon Nucleus to a Chord Qutest for almost a year now.  It replaced a Bluesound Node 2i in my main rig.  From an SQ perspective I'd say that the two pieces were pretty close, but that was before I replaced the stock power supply with a 19v Sbooster Linear Power Supply.   With the better LPS in place, SQ of the Nucleus as Server/Streamer surpassed that of the Node 2i.  Can also note that the Nucleus is cable sensitve, and good USB and ethernet cables here do make a difference.  I'm using a Curious USB Cable and Wireworld Starlight Cat 8 ethernet cable.  Hope this helps.