Post by sahmen on Dec 5, 2018 1:36:35 GMT -5
The ipad mini will be excellent as a controller, but for a core you will need a dedicated computer or laptop. The two you describe will be ordinarily more than enough for housing the core, except that they sound like computers that you use quite frequently, and that does not make them ideal...
Ideally, you would rather want a computer or laptop that serves as the core and does nothing or next to nothing else. The good news is that it does not have to be a very recent model, or overspec'ed with mega processing or RAM powers to do the job adequately. If you have an older computer from say 6-8 years ago that you're not actively using anymore or too frequently, one with about 4 gb of ram, and another 60-100gb of free storage space, that would make an excellent roon core home.
Some people actually like to stash the computer with the roon core away from the listening area, to keep any related fan noise from interfering with the music. For that reason of noise interference, the farther away you can keep it from the components or the listening area, the better it will be (unless noise interference of any kind does not pose any problem) The point is that it only needs to be connected to the network (preferably by an ethernet connection, but wireless will also work fine, in most cases), and be capable of being left on most of the time, if not all the time. Once that is assured, it will smoothly serve all the endpoints in your house that are also on the network.
Good deal as I have an old tower (5-6 years old) laying around that I could use. It was completely cleaned out when I transferred all data off to the current desktop.
Easy to do ethernet cable as the router is only 6' away.
The old tower is not an SS drive. A worthy upgrade to do?
ScottSS