Roon for high end audio?

@sbank @nitrobob I wanted to specify that by running Roon core on a “computer” I think it is optimal from both a SQ and cost perspective to run Roon on an Intel NUC. You can put together an over spec’d NUC w/RAM and SSD for less than (conservatively) $900. That will get you a NUC with a fan that you may or may not want in your listening room but can be on your network elsewhere. Otherwise, you can place the NUC without the fan in an Akasa Turing case for about $170 and now it’s fanless and can be in your listening room. This is what I have done and replaced my InnuOS Zenith Mk3 and PhoenixUSB which cost thousands. I am very happy with the SQ of my NUC. It’s at as good as the Innuos gear for much much less $. 

@kingbarbuda,

I agree 100% that a NUC is optimal from a cost perspective, but if you aren't interested in assembling one, the Small Green Computer Sonic Orbiters at almost the same pricing, and the pricier Roon Nucleus will provide equal sonics. Upgrading to better power supply on any of these will also provide further sonic improvement.

With little time available and not much interest in putting a NUC together, my choice was a Sonic Orbiter i5 which has been flawless, simple to set up and sounds fantastic paired with a Sonore opticalRendu feeding my DAC in the listening room. The Sonic Orbiter is a good choice if you prioritize champagne sound on a beer budget, but DIY-ish steps like installing operating systems doesn't sound like fun. Cheers,
Spencer

Ok, so... to get this Roon running on the new Lyngdorf (which I am told ships this week) I need this Sonic Orbiter i5. Or something similar. It will take up one of my 3 inputs on the MP-40 as it only has 3 HDMI inputs. That leaves me one for my Blu Ray player and one for my Cable TV box... If this is the case, I’ll get one ordered... Thanks for the help guys. I also have a Roko but I suppose I can uses an Optical in.... 

@sbank Well if not interested in even a small DIY, then the SonicOrbiter maybe a good option and based on my experience weighing everything, better than putting out lots of $ on Innuos or other high cost servers, which IMO are overrated. But if you are ok with minimal DIY with nothing more that a screw driver and using a USB computer keyboard, a monitor and a cable to connect a NUC to the monitor then I think the NUC is superior to the SonicOrbitor i5. First of all, if you price out the components in the i5 you are way overpaying for the SonicOrbiter. Plus I am not sure SGC is transparent about the amount of RAM and size of SSD in there. With the NUC you can buy everything on Amazon or eBay. You need a NUC, some RAM (I recommend 32GB) and an M.2 SSD. I recommend 240 or 256 GB. You unscrew the NUC, snap in the RAM and secure the M.2 SSD with a supplied screw. You download ROCK from the help.Roonlabs.com website on a flash drive and follow the easy instructions to minimally adjust the NUCs BIOS settings and install ROCK on the NUC and you are practically done. I did this as a pandemic DIY project. I have a periodic small familial tremor and I was able to do this. I was able to build a NUC 10th Gen i7 with 32GB and 256 GB SSD. I put this in an Akasa heat sink case per the how to videos on YouTube and I built an over specd Roon Core that I can say is better and more powerful than the SonicOrbiter, the Nucleus and the Innuos Zenith Mk3. Plus it beats them all on cost and is at least their equal on SQ. I would venture to say perhaps even better. Roon remote runs snappy with zero glitches. Lastly, no need to pay SGC $29 or so periodically for an firmware upgrade. So I don’t think building a NUC or configuring BIOS and installing ROCK is daunting at all and I am not a computer or IT guy. You also gain the satisfaction of making this yourself and saving lots of $ for some other piece of gear!