2. digital
  3. 180587-91308

Should I get a Roon Nucleus?

Hey folks,

I just discovered Roon after using Bluesound for years. I have the new Bluesound Node wired with a Cat7 Ethernet cable. I love the Roon interface. My node streams to both my Focal Arche and Rotel RA-1592. I just use Qobuz at this point (recently ditched Tidal). I have an iMac M1 as my Roon core currently. What do you think the Nucleus or the Nucleus+ would accomplish in my system? Thanks!

128x128dmmichalowski

Showing 2 responses by jbuhl

jbuhl's avatar
jbuhl
900 posts
 

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's avatar
jbuhl
900 posts
 

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. 

More to discover