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Roon Nucleus

I have now read 2 reviews of this hardware, in Stereophile (John Atkinson) and in Hi Fi News.
Both reviews fail to address two central questions.
1) what is the need for this?  Since Roon cores can be placed on virtually every playback device around ( PCs, mobile devices, kitchen toasters, etc), why does some need to shell out $1.5 to 2.5K for another piece of Hardware?
2) There was no sonic comparison.  Namely, do files played back on from a device with Roon loaded on it sound different than the same files played from a Roon Nucleus, if all other variables are minimized.
Thought
mahler123

Showing 3 responses by audioengr

audioengr
3,282 posts
 

I did a direct comparison of Roon to Linn Kinsky using a Raspberry Pi and Digione board.  The board can do both Roon RAAT and DLNA. Linn Kinsky was superior IME.

I think the main reason to use Roon is the tight integration with Tidal.  You can still do this with Linn Kazoo and other players using DLNA renderers.

I use a DLNA UPnP renderer and the SQ is the best I have ever heard, using Linn Kinsky, Minimserver and BubbleUPnP for playback.  12psec of jitter at the end of the coax cable at all sample-rates, measured.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

audioengr
3,282 posts
 

Since this server only has USB output, the question is how well is that implemented.  Is there isolation?  Separate regulation?  LPS rather than SMPS?  And if it's only Roon player and not HQplayer too, what is the SQ like?

Seems like a step-up from a Sonos Connect, with support for higher sample-rates and I assume DSD. Nothing in the documents about this.

audioengr
3,282 posts
 

@clio09 - I only used the RPi and Digione wired Ethernet. I did have problems with reliable 192 and 176.4 playback. Even after modding the boards, still has problems. My DAC is picky about errors. Maybe yours isn’t. I have read about flakey WIFI behavior of the RPi, but have not tried this myself.

The thing to do is download DietPi and put this OS on the SD card using your laptop. Then, just plug it into the RPi and power it on and use the laptop to talk to the RPi using PuTTY on the laptop. Free download. Configure the RPi to accept the Digione using the menus that come up on power-up in the PuTTY window.

It’s a $150 way to get S/PDIF coax output for DLNA players and Roon.

BTW, I don’t get 10psec of jitter from the Digione, more like 70psec. I use my own DLNA renderer, the Interchange. The Interchange delivers 10psec of jitter:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=156409.0


$3K with fast LPS supply.

I can also use my own WIFI adapter with special LPS with the Interchange. This has no problems with dropouts, assuming strong WIFI location, and supports 192 error-free. It sounds identical to the wired Ethernet. Cost is $1K for the WI-FI add-on.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

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