Should I get a Roon Nucleus?

I think the Node is Roon ready, so you should be able to get a Roon license and connect to Qobuz.

Probably best to confirm with Bluesound...

Bob

I would also look at a Small Green Computer solution (ie i5 or i9).

Probably a waste of money if your digital source is a bluesound node. Unless you're having delays or some kind of performance problems with the iMac delivering the music to your node, there's probably no reason to get a nucleus. Is there a reason why you thought you might want one?

It will most likely accomplish nothing for your audio as long as you don’t use that computer as a streamer. If you use that iMac as a computer for other tasks concurrently with running Roon and it doesn’t have enough brains to multitask, you will slow down Roon and Roon will slow down whatever else it is you’re trying to run. Potentially. If you run into it, then make the decision. Other than that you should be fine as is.

Oh…and take whatever it is you were going to spend on dedicated roon core, sell your bluesound node and get a good streamer. 

Nothing to gain from what I see.

based on your equipment list i would tend to agree with @fuzztone 

but for not too much more money, you could get an innuos zen mini mk3 (used, new ones are no longer made), that can run as the core machine... then use its rca digital out to feed a nice downstream dac

will be a nice upgrade over the node, especially if you improve the rest of your gear

I agree with @jjss49 ​​​​​​.

I agree with @testrun. I switched over from an iMAC core host to a SGC i5. Stabilized the entire environment and got a nice little SQ bump with a deeper sound stage. Keep your BS as an endpoint.  Then later on add a LPS to the SGC.

@jbuhl bump in sound quality from only changing roon core? I get the stability part though….

bump in sound quality from only changing roon core?

Yep I think so.  I was comparing Roon side by side with my Bryston BDP Pi running MPD/Manic Moose and streaming Qobuz.  The Bryston bested the iMAC/Roon hands down enough so I was considering not anteing up for ROON.  Switching the to SGC brought it close enough that I opted for the ROON subscription.   Switched the Bryston to ROON ready, done. I think having the core running on a dedicated device is critical for squeezing the most out of ROON.  Note: Radio Paradise still sounds a tad better when streamed (16/48) directly off the Bryston. 

I second the comment "I would also look at a Small Green Computer"

I have their Sonictransporter and it is excellent. Great customer support, and the same or better functionality as the Nucleus (which is sexy looking, but overpriced imo).

I would get this bundle, which includes the Sonore Utrarendu (really a good upgrade): SGC bundle (click link) You can choose the size of the internal SSD drive you want (I have 2TB).

ROON is great—I can’t imagine life without it now.

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