Roon Nucleus as Network Player

psnyder149,
Thank you very much for your detailed response to this thread.
I am currently using the stock power supply and power cord that came with the Nucleus.  I have been contemplating upgrading to a Linear Power Supply ... Teddy Pardo, Sbooster, Small Green Computer or the like as well as the power cord.  A Melco N1A functions as my NAS and I have the Nucleus hooked up directly to the Melco's player port via Audioquest Cinnamon Ethernet Cable. My system with all its details can be seen here:
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8156

I recently moved from an Aurender N100H (4TB) to a NAS (6TBx2 Red drives /  Synology DS218j) with Nucleus+  with Nordost Tyr 2 USB, Nordost Brahma PC, AC and BC sort kones.  

I was generally happy with the sound of the Aurender but was not happy with what was required for backup (2TB of music installed) and I also wanted access to my music around the rest of the house (with Sonos and various computers).  So my hope was for at least equal sound if not better.  I also thought the Roon interface might be nicer than Aurender's Conductor.

My observations are as such:  

Using the Nucleus+ with it's wall-wart power supply and standard ethernet cables resulted in a dramatically inferior sound quality compared to the Aurender as described above.  It was thin, "digital" and 2 dimensional.  The music lacked immediacy and I found it uncomfortable to listen.

I suspected that this could be due to power supply issues so I ordered a Keces P8 Linear Power supply which cost $700 from Power Holdings Inc.  Upgraded DC power cable from Ghent Audio was $50 (I'm not sure I heard any difference with this interconnecting PC vs what was supplied... subtle improvement at best).  

Prior to the arrival of the Keces, I upgraded the 3 ethernet cables between NAS and Nucleus to Nordost Heimdall 2 ethernet cables (2x1meter, 1x4meter) which resulted in a dramatic improvement but you could still hear a level of hash and sound was still obviously inferior to with the Aurender.

Once the Keces arrived and replaced the wall-wart, this hash completely disappeared.  Bass was more authoritative, soundstage deeper and wider, instruments developed a far more natural and real sound.

Finally, I added Nordost Brahma PC into Keces, and placed Nordost AC sort Kones under Keces and BC under Nucleus+ which resulted in further subtle, nuanced improvements.  Once all of these upgrades were implemented the sound quality easily has surpassed the Aurender.  

Sound is both more detailed and nuanced.  Immediate with instruments surrounded by a natural air.  Clarity but also warmer sounding.  There were no negatives in the presentation unless the recording was inferior in which case the limitations were more revealed.  It is as if the "windows" were cleaned and you can see through them more easily.  Focus was sharper and each instrument is clearly independent of others but sound didn't become harsh, brittle or thin.  It was a rare time where additional detail accompanied a more natural presentation.

Note that the retail cost of all this (Nucleus+ $2500, NAS w. drives $550, ethernet cables $2550, USB Tyr 2 1 meter $1300 (already in system), Brahma 2 meter PC $1500 (already in system) Nordost Sort Kones BC $475, AC $265 (AC--already in system) for a retail cost of exceeding  $9000.  This compared to the retail cost of the Aurender of $3000 plus cabling and one set of sort cones can be put togther for $5-6K.  Also note that many of these upgrades can be aquired for significantly below retail and used...  I would suggest real world comparison is $6500 vs. $4500 is a more realistic comparison, or even less if you can find a nice Aurender...

2 channel system:  Classe Sigma SSP, Classe CA-2300, ProAc Response 5, Linn Sondek LP 12/Ittok/Benz silver,  Nordost Valhalla IC, SC, PC (to QBase and to SSP), Frey 2 PC to amp, Sort Kone TC (pre/pro), AC all others.  Dedicated 20amp circuits w/isolated ground.

The minidsp SHD and SHD Studio will function as a Roon endpoint they updated it last November to use RAAT you have to enable it through the Volumio player it then bypasses and will pass 24/192. Why I got the Studio to use my DAC. I am not sure if it's  been put on the approved list but I read in the forum people are using them.

Prior to acquiring my Roon Nucleus I had thought about buying the DDRC-22D to put between my Bluesound Node 2i and DAC. My reading of the DDRC-22D instruction manual was that the USB 2.0 input was for control only. This was unlike the SHD Studio where USB 2.0 input was for Audio as well as control.

I’ve also thought about taking advantage of Roon’s own DSP capabilities.
This requires taking measurements with a calibrated microphone using specialized software and then interpreting those measurements to develop convolution filters to be loaded into Roon. Microphone and Software comes to around $500. As a do it yourself project (unlike Dirac) this can be a tricky business. Mitch Barnett of Accurate Sound has written extensively on this subject. In fact he has an article up today at EnjoytheMusic.com. Expert support from Mitch Barnett would be another $500.

I’d like to see hardware that hosts Dirac Live that also functions as a Roon Endpoint that would play nicely with an external DAC such as my Chord Qutest. Had been hoping that the NAD/Bluesound folks might come up with something, like a super Node 2i with Dirac Live, but with digital outs (unlike the NAD 658), with or without (my preference) its own internal DAC.

djones51. Please provide an update once you have the SHD Studio up and running in your system.

I looked at the DDRC-22D but wasn't sure it could be connected by USB using ROCK as the controller it says only Windows or Mac so I went with the SHO Studio to connect with ethernet and use it as an endpoint. I think the Dirac is the same. 

Not to side track the thread but I have been on fence with Dirac tech. I am particularly interested in hearing feedback on DDRC-22D. 

https://www.minidsp.com/dirac-series/ddrc-22d

That's probably what I'll do.  I was thinking I wish you could simply export Dirac filters to Roon and not need the minidsp in the chain. 

Thank you both for your input.

jaytor, if you happen to have a decent USB cable, and if your DAC is USB capable, I'd be very interested to get your take on the comparison.

djones51.  The miniDSP Studio and Dirac is something I've thought about as well.  Just conjecture on my part ... if you went USB out from your NUC to the USB Audio input on the miniDSP Studio and then Toslink, spdif or AES-EBU out from the miniDSP Studio to your DAC, could you not achieve both use of Roon interface and Dirac for DSP?

I am using Roon ROCK on a NUC connected by USB to a DAC. USB is being galvanic isolated in DACs it’s just as good. I don’t know all the flowery language the reviewers use but it sounds great to me. It’s better than when I used a Node2i as the streamer. I’ll be changing and using a miniDSP Studio as the endpoint . I want to try dirac I wish you could integrate it into roon.

I'm using Roon ROCK running on a NUC8 i7 (essentially the same as a Nucleus Plus) but just as a server - streaming through a Bryston BDP-2 with AES connection to my DAC.

I'm curious to hear how well the Nucleus works streaming directly over USB. Many manufacturers are investing a lot to make USB a better option for input (compared to SPDIF and AES) and I suspect in the future USB will be the preferred option for most DACs.