Looking for Some Music Server Advice


I have a 2020 Innuos Zenith music server (4TB) as well as a LUMIN T2 streamer I purchased at the same time. The Innuos serves as my Roon core and it houses my entire CD collection along with some digital downloads taking up nearly all of the 4TB capacity. The music is double backed up on two separate external hard drives. Lately I have been having some issues with the Innuos and currently it is not showing up on my network. As I work through this it has caused me to start thinking  about potential replacements.  This is where I can use some advice. It should be noted that I primarily listen to vinyl so streaming and listening to digital audio is secondary for me and something I do mainly out of convenience.  Accordingly, I don’t want to break the bank on a potential Innuos replacement.  I would appreciate any advice this community has regarding different options that would house my digital collection while continuing to allow streaming on Tidal, Quobuz etc. I wasn’t thinking I needed to replace the LUMIN also but if there is a one box solution I might consider selling it.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts folks may have.

puppyt

Aurender N200 streamer has two slots for 2.5” SSD you can mount inside the unit. Great streamer. But you’ll still need a roon core and a separate DAC. 
Another option is to buy a Roon Nucleus One that also allows you to mount a 2.5” SSD. You can then continue using your Lumin T2 as a roon endpoint. Nucleus One is $450. Plus the SSD drive. You can fix and sell your Innuous. 
Or fix the innuous and continue to use it. 

Roon Nucleus One + LUMIN T2 -->  perfect outcome. Roon Nucleus handles the backend (Core + storage), and LUMIN T2 is one of the best Roon endpoints/DACs under $5k. For ~$550 all-in, this is likely the most efficient, sonically transparent, and cost-effective fix. The T2 does the heavy sonic lifting, and the Nucleus One gives you plug-and-play simplicity. 

It depends.  Innuos is definitely at its best running Sense.  It is not designed and well suited Roon.  Having an external player int he Lumin helps but does not change the underlying fact.  

Least Expensive Solution:  The Lumin does not need to be replaced.  It is serving as DAC and renderer and having those two features in one box is pretty appealing. The internal connection optimizes clocking and keeps jitter to a minimum.  

Lumin has its own software that is pretty good.  You can continue streaming Qobuz and Tidal through the app.  I believe it also supports a direct drive but only at a modest level which means it lacks the processing power for good indexing.  Probably best to offload that onto a NAS.  You could get and implement a NAS for a few hundred dollars.  Upside is it is inexpensive.  Downside is NAS's are fidgety on the network at times and they can fail.  You also have to switch to Lumen's software which I dislike personally.  

Mid Priced Solution: Roon Nucleus One or Titan:  The NucleusOne is like building a NUC with a mid level processor.  It is best for streaming only.  It can do the job for local music but not incredibly well.  If you have a decent local library or you use Roon DSPs this is a bad option.  The Titan is a much higher end device and I would be comfortable letting it handle up to 4TB of local data with DSPs.  

Both are a bit noisy and it is best to keep them out of the room and near your router rather than your stereo.  They are "transparent" as another user mentioned.  I find the sound output a bit cold. This is not bad, just a fact and just needs to be accounted for.  

I just did a (highly unfair) test between a Nucleus Titan ($4k) and an Anitpodes Oladra ($29K) in a customers system.  We heard a radical difference.  With his DAC (Meridian Ultra), the Antipodes sounded awful.  It sounded like the tweeters were blown.  No top end energy.  Swapping in a Weiss Helios the balance was much better and sounded incredible with the Antipodes.  The Weiss with the Titan was unpleasantly bright but just about perfect with the Meridian.  We learned the Meridian is on the warmer side.  

That was a longwinded way of saying either Roon device might be a bit brighter than your Innuos.  They have a return policy.  Be prepared to use it if need be. 

High Priced Solution:  Antipodes K41.  Antipodes makes high end servers that IMO do the best job of supporting Roon.  They are one of the few manufacturers that separates Core and Player functions on separate computers in their higher end devices.  You don't need this.  You just need an awesome Roon Core.  

The K41 is that.  It supports up to three 8 TB SSD cards that are plugged directly in the back without having to open the case.  It will support any Roon function you can think of and is incredibly quiet and quite analog sounding.  Just run an ethernet cable from it to your T2.  The other twist is they have US service and the devices have been regularly upgraded through the years for a few thousand dollars.  The last round of upgrades offered new PSUs inside the boxes and new processors. Nothing is ever truly future proof but they have a long history of supporting devices through upgrade.  The unit is $10K at retail.  

Full disclosure...I am a retailer who focuses on digital and am a long standing dealer for Antipodes.  I sold the Nucleus when Roon sold through dealers and don't sell NASs.  I have no relationship with Lumin and am a former Innuos dealer which was dropped because it didn't sell for me.   

Good luck.  

Good advice from @verdantaudio  To get best quality sound from Roon need two streamer setup, Core streamer is the critical thing to get right, the second streamer/Endpoint/renderer extremely specialized device. NAS another good idea to decrease load on any streamer processor, high levels of RFI with hard drives as well, good to get away from streamer. Any streamer internal drives better be well shielded. 

Thanks to all for these suggestions. This is the kind of advice I was looking for from budget solutions to higher priced options. Really appreciate the feedback.

@ghdprentice 

Can you tell me more about Aurender? Would it take the place of both the Innuos and the LUMIN or just the Innuos?

It would help if you precisely defined the budget.  Personally I’ve been very happy the Melco N100, but I don’t run Roon

For your server, I’d go to Small Green Computer and get either the SonicTransporter I5 ($1100) or I7 ($1900).  They come pre-loaded with Roon.  For a streamer, that depends on whether you want a separate streamer and dac, or want them in one box.  I’d go separates myself, cuz it gives you easy flexibility to play with and upgrade over time the piece that dominates sound quality, the DAC.  There are a bunch of high quality streamers under $2000 (some for a few hundred $).   But frankly, if most of your in depth listening is vinyl, you could even get one of the Wiim products for a low amount of $, and get a streamer/dac combo.  Depends on your budget and which approach you prefer.

I am using a SonicTransporter with the Sonore Signture Optical Rendu and it replaced a TotalDac Sublime steamer and I don’t miss a thing.  I sold off both my TotalDac Streamer and TotalDac DAC and use a much lower priced Wavelength Audio Cosecant N2 DAC and don’t miss a thing with the previous.  The Stremer is the most importantly piece of the puzzle as it has to navigate your music library and streaming services and needs to be a dedicated piece get the most out of the upstream components.  You have nice Dacs to choose from and I can highly recommend the SonicTransporter servers, for reference I have a NAS with 31k albums on it and have the 32g ram upgrade on my SonicTransporter.

The Aurender N200 for instance can be both server and streamer. You can pop in up to two 8TB solid state memory chips. Most importantly is the sound quality. Aurender makes primarily streamers and there flagship is typically the most ubiquitous at audio shows. I currently own an N100 and W20SE... top and bottom of their line up. Their Conductor App for control is very highly regarded and if you want you can use Roon. Great service as well, built to last. 

If your other equipment is of appropriate quality then N20 would be recommended. They just released their new flagship, the N50 which is a three box solution to improve sound quality even more by isolating functions. 

On my systems the sound quality of streaming from Qobuz equals or exceeds stored files, so I only use stored files if for some reason my internet is down... like every couple years. 

Personally, I'd not choose Innuos or Aurrender for running Roon, I've seen far too many reports stating their proprietary music apps superior to Roon. Antipodes and the SonicTransporters more suitable for Roon. Issue is Roon Core needs powerful processor for optimal sound quality, get a streamer optimized for Roon. Now if you're willing to go with proprietary music apps Innuos and Aurrender may be best avenue.