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Post by audiobill on Mar 2, 2021 9:16:44 GMT -5
I've been a Roon user for almost a year, and I signed up for a few reasons: -Seamless integration of my library, Tidal and Qobuz -Convolution DSP engine for room correction -Rumored superiority of interface over streaming services directly I'm rethinking Roon because: -I rarely if ever listen to my library of ripped CDs, mostly blues and rock acquired many years ago before listening almost solely to jazz -The very well engineered tone controls in my McIntosh preamp adjust for source quality and room anomalies just fine to my ears -I really have to admit I experience no real advantage in Roon's user interface -I find that Roon "locks up" more often than the straight streaming services - and I have excellent internet speeds and wireless strength -I don't use Roon's multiroom capabilities Thinking of just using native Qobuz and Tidal, for which I receive a 40% discount as a veteran. Reactions? Back to Roon, the seamless integration of Tidal, Qobuz and my library is just too compelling....
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Post by LuisV on Mar 2, 2021 10:05:55 GMT -5
audiobill - I've been rethinking the need of Roon as well. My local library consists of: - 859 Artists
- 1,885 Albums
- 7,705 Tracks
Certainly not a huge library, so I find myself searching and leveraging Tidal more and more. Once Tidal connect was made available, I found myself opening the Roon app less and less, so I understand where you're coming from.
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sonix
Seeker Of Truth
Posts: 5
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Post by sonix on Jun 18, 2021 20:45:01 GMT -5
Hi!
So will it work if you connect a Roon Nucleus to the RMC-1 via HDMI input?
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Post by wilburthegoose on Jun 21, 2021 18:50:52 GMT -5
No - it doesn't work that way. The Nucleus is a server. You need a client (endpoint) to connect to the RMC-1 (there are some 'Roon Ready' devices that act as a client - they get the audio via Ethernet or WiFi.
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DYohn
Emo VIPs
Posts: 18,348
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Post by DYohn on Jun 21, 2021 21:05:13 GMT -5
Actually the Nucleus is both a server and an endpoint, as are most Roon servers. So yes, you can just connect it via HDMI to a pre/pro and use the Nucleus as an endpoint.
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,223
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Post by novisnick on Jun 22, 2021 22:43:46 GMT -5
I’m a lifetime owner of Roon, hopefully they will not do us dirty! I have about 1T of music and Title. The integration with my gear has been mostly flawless, up 99% of the time. Rarely has my SOtM streamer been out of synch. I’m happy with my experience.
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Post by Boomzilla on Jun 30, 2021 14:07:59 GMT -5
The only problems I’ve had with Roon:
1. Occasionally (maybe once every two hours of music playtime) Roon will crash completely and dump me out to the iPad screen. Roon will not auto-restart, but I can manually restart it and 50% of the time, it will restart to the track, album, or screen where it was when it crashed. The rest of the time, Roon reverts to the top of the track or album list it was in when it crashed. The music is not interrupted by the crash, and any selections in the queue are still there.
2. Roon will occasionally disassociate albums that I’d combined. For example, if I have a two-album set, I’ll often combine both discs into a single album to prevent the album cover from appearing twice. Roon sometimes takes umbrage at this and sorts them back into two different albums.
3. Roon will (fairly often) throw out the cover art that I’ve manually associated with an album and substitute a completely wrong cover instead. And when I say “completely different,” I mean it! Different band name, different album title, and different genre of music. This happens with high frequency.
4. On some few albums, Roon will “roughen” or distort the music. I’m not totally convinced that this isn’t just a bad rip on my part, though, so I’m not yet ready to foist the blame on Roon yet. It sounds like a somewhat distorted midrange. This is not caused by the speakers or the room, because the vast majority of my library doesn’t sound that way.
5. “Roon Radio” won’t turn off. I don’t want Roon to start new songs for me, but no matter how many times I change this preference, within a few days, the Roon Radio feature becomes active again.
Any ideas?
Thanks, Boom
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Post by audiosyndrome on Jun 30, 2021 15:48:15 GMT -5
Been a rOON user since day one. Works virtually flawless for me. Only issue I (occasionally) encountered is one or two tracks in an album are repeated.
Cover art is always spot on when iTunes was unable to find an album cover. AND, rOON allows you to chose whether your cover art or their cover art is used. If you don’t like their choice simply revert to your choice. Easy peasy.
Russ.
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Post by Boomzilla on Jun 30, 2021 21:20:03 GMT -5
Been a rOON user since day one. Works virtually flawless for me. Only issue I (occasionally) encountered is one or two tracks in an album are repeated. Cover art is always spot on when iTunes was unable to find an album cover. AND, rOON allows you to chose whether your cover art or their cover art is used. If you don’t like their choice simply revert to your choice. Easy peasy. Russ. Well, audiosyndrome - I'm glad it works for you!
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Post by audiosyndrome on Jul 1, 2021 10:01:15 GMT -5
Works for 99.99% of the users (who know how to use it).
Russ
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Post by audiosyndrome on Jul 1, 2021 13:54:15 GMT -5
Boom - I’m trying to be nice, no name calling. In general, your Secret reviews are very good. In fact, IMO your review of the Alta Audio Alec was excellent.
But your review of the rOON Nucleus, starting with the preliminary review, and then the actual review, was horrible. It showed you were clueless to how rOON is intended to work and how the Nucleus was designed to complement it.
When it comes to rOON you consistently leave a false impression for the casual reader. Pleas, stick to analog where you do consistently well.
Russ
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Post by Boomzilla on Jul 1, 2021 13:56:56 GMT -5
It’s a free country and everyone is entitled to their opinion.
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Post by wilburthegoose on Jul 3, 2021 18:51:58 GMT -5
I'm running Roon on an Intel NUC using their Rock lightweight operating system. It's uptime is about 99.9% (I strive for "Five 9's, but I don't know if I've high that threshold). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_nines
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Chris
Emo VIPs
Posts: 424
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Post by Chris on Aug 21, 2021 10:36:13 GMT -5
My latest video investigates what is the Best Roon Music Server. Thanks for watching.
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 19, 2021 11:44:44 GMT -5
FWIW…
Currently running Roon core on an old Mac mini. The library resides on a USB3 RAID. Output is routed through my Emotiva Big Ego+.
The Mac is hooked up to my TV (used as a monitor when needed). A Bluetooth keyboard and wireless mouse round out the system. The boot drive is an SSD. I leave the Mac on all the time with the “don’t put the disc to sleep” and “wake on network command” options. So Roon runs continuously in the background, and to play music, all I have to do is start Roon Remote on my iPad and enjoy!
All’s well that ends well.
Boom
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 23, 2021 21:52:03 GMT -5
I normally run my Mac mini headless from my iPad mini with Roon Remote. Both the Roon software and the Roon Remote software are updated to the latest versions. When I finish a listening session, I normally just shut off the iPad, and leave Roon running on the Mac mini. So the next time I want to listen to music, I need only pick up the iPad, open Roon Remote, and I’m in business.
The problem I have is that even when I’m not listening to music, the USB HDD is spinning and the heads are clicking. I realize that the “normal” fix for this would be to open the OS on the Mac mini, close Roon, and eject the USB HDD. But that means that when I want to hear music again, I have to wake up the Mac mini, power up the HDD & let it be recognized by the OS, start Roon again and let it identify the library disc, and then power up the iPad and start Roon Remote. This sequence is a PITA.
Is there any way to automagically turn off the external USB library disc when Roon isn’t using it, and then have Roon spin it up again when Roon Remote reconnects? That external drive runs HOT, and I’m sure that the heat can’t be good for the service life of the drive. Whatever is causing the drive heads to click (and lights flicker) while I’m not using Roon means that at least something in the computer is calling on the external drive at about one second intervals.
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,223
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Post by novisnick on Sept 23, 2021 23:31:17 GMT -5
I normally run my Mac mini headless from my iPad mini with Roon Remote. Both the Roon software and the Roon Remote software are updated to the latest versions. When I finish a listening session, I normally just shut off the iPad, and leave Roon running on the Mac mini. So the next time I want to listen to music, I need only pick up the iPad, open Roon Remote, and I’m in business. The problem I have is that even when I’m not listening to music, the USB HDD is spinning and the heads are clicking. I realize that the “normal” fix for this would be to open the OS on the Mac mini, close Roon, and eject the USB HDD. But that means that when I want to hear music again, I have to wake up the Mac mini, power up the HDD & let it be recognized by the OS, start Roon again and let it identify the library disc, and then power up the iPad and start Roon Remote. This sequence is a PITA. Is there any way to automagically turn off the external USB library disc when Roon isn’t using it, and then have Roon spin it up again when Roon Remote reconnects? That external drive runs HOT, and I’m sure that the heat can’t be good for the service life of the drive. Whatever is causing the drive heads to click (and lights flicker) while I’m not using Roon means that at least something in the computer is calling on the external drive at about one second intervals. Have you tried setting the Mini to sleep? You will still need to wake it up and then pick up your IPAD but it works for me. My HDD has a light that flashes about every second or so but I can’t hear mine. (WD)
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 24, 2021 4:57:16 GMT -5
Hi novisnick - Yes, I've put the mini to sleep, but even then, the hard drive doesn't stop spinning. I've also tried using the power-saving option "put hard drives to sleep when possible," but it works only on internal drives, not external USB ones.
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Post by Boomzilla on Sept 24, 2021 5:54:04 GMT -5
I've about concluded that there are but two solutions to this issue: 1. Use the computer's internal SSD drive (no moving parts) and allow the machine to sleep (subject to "wake on LAN"). This maximizes convenience, but simultaneously limits the music library to the amount of free space on the internal SSD. or 2. Manually shut down the computer and external drive after each use. This would mean that every time I wanted to hear music again, I'd have to manually restart the system from its sleep state by: a) turning on the television b) switching TV inputs to the Roon computer c) using the wireless mouse to wake the Roon computer d) using the wireless keyboard to enter the Roon computer's password e) starting the external USB drive and waiting for it to spin up f) waiting for the Roon computer to recognize the external USB drive g) starting Roon and waiting for it to recognize the external USB drive h) starting the iPad and waiting for it to connect to the wireless network i) starting Roon Remote on the iPad and waiting for it to connect to the Roon core j) waiting for the album artwork to synchronize between the Roon core and Roon Remote k) turning off the TV for the duration of the listening session Apparently, the only good solution to this is to await the availability of inexpensive, large capacity (4TB or greater) SSD chips. An intermediate alternate might be to use what storage is available on the internal SSD and simultaneously use an external SSD for the remainder of the library. That would eliminate the external drive spinning continuously (and the accompanying heat issue). In fact, multiple external USB SSDs might be used simultaneously to reduce cost... Just a thought. The sweet spot, cost-wise seems to be 1 or 2TB SSD drives. I can buy 4TB of storage in no-name Chinese ones for $40. I already have USB3 port expanders laying around, so I'd just plug them in and distribute the music among the drives. Roon can use them all simultaneously as sources. In fact, I could also plug a bunch of the cheap drives in and then use Mac OS to form them all into a virtual RAID with data redundancy. That way, even if a stick failed, I'd just plug in a fresh one, and the RAID would repopulate the data. If I wanted to do RAID in hardware instead of using the Mac software, I've already got the RAID box. To use the hardware solution, though, I'd want to use RAID-10 (that provides but half the actual storage space of the RAID). So 8TB of actual space would provide 4TB of fully-redundant data. The goal, ultimately, is to maximize convenience and simultaneously eliminate the wear and tear of having drives spinning continuously. I think that SSD is going to be the only feasible solution. So I've ordered two of these. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RXQSFKP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Since these will be "write-once, read-many" devices, the reliablity should be pretty good.
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Post by fbczar on Sept 24, 2021 7:48:49 GMT -5
I've about concluded that there are but two solutions to this issue: 1. Use the computer's internal SSD drive (no moving parts) and allow the machine to sleep (subject to "wake on LAN"). This maximizes convenience, but simultaneously limits the music library to the amount of free space on the internal SSD. or 2. Manually shut down the computer and external drive after each use. This would mean that every time I wanted to hear music again, I'd have to manually restart the system from its sleep state by: a) turning on the television b) switching TV inputs to the Roon computer c) using the wireless mouse to wake the Roon computer d) using the wireless keyboard to enter the Roon computer's password e) starting the external USB drive and waiting for it to spin up f) waiting for the Roon computer to recognize the external USB drive g) starting Roon and waiting for it to recognize the external USB drive h) starting the iPad and waiting for it to connect to the wireless network i) starting Roon Remote on the iPad and waiting for it to connect to the Roon core j) waiting for the album artwork to synchronize between the Roon core and Roon Remote k) turning off the TV for the duration of the listening session Apparently, the only good solution to this is to await the availability of inexpensive, large capacity (4TB or greater) SSD chips. An intermediate alternate might be to use what storage is available on the internal SSD and simultaneously use an external SSD for the remainder of the library. That would eliminate the external drive spinning continuously (and the accompanying heat issue). In fact, multiple external USB SSDs might be used simultaneously to reduce cost... Just a thought. The sweet spot, cost-wise seems to be 1 or 2TB SSD drives. I can buy 4TB of storage in no-name Chinese ones for $40. I already have USB3 port expanders laying around, so I'd just plug them in and distribute the music among the drives. Roon can use them all simultaneously as sources. In fact, I could also plug a bunch of the cheap drives in and then use Mac OS to form them all into a virtual RAID with data redundancy. That way, even if a stick failed, I'd just plug in a fresh one, and the RAID would repopulate the data. If I wanted to do RAID in hardware instead of using the Mac software, I've already got the RAID box. To use the hardware solution, though, I'd want to use RAID-10 (that provides but half the actual storage space of the RAID). So 8TB of actual space would provide 4TB of fully-redundant data. The goal, ultimately, is to maximize convenience and simultaneously eliminate the wear and tear of having drives spinning continuously. I think that SSD is going to be the only feasible solution. So I've ordered two of these. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RXQSFKP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1Since these will be "write-once, read-many" devices, the reliablity should be pretty good. Have you considered setting up a NAS? You can place it anywhere, heat is no issue and space is no issue if you plan well and set up as a RAID they are great for music library’s. You can use an SSD in a NAS, but the available spinning drives like the WD Red are economical.
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