QNAP NAS that can run a roon core. Much Cheaper than 1.
Reading the forums seems to indicate Ethernet connection to either 1 or 2. Running through an uptone audio etherregen switch. Option 1 or 2 would be on side A of the switch with Side B running into Rossini.
So basic question is whether to expect a SQ benefit in option 1 vs option 2? Again reading the forums here by using ethernet, nothing matters until it hits the final buffer in the Rossini so other than the time and energy of me having to rip everything manually and mess around with metadata is there any reason to spend 5x/10x/20x for option 1 vs 2.
Thanks in advance and very happy w first week of Rossini/Clock.
Congrats and welcome! Option 2 will afford more flexibility and save a lot of cost. Your files will essentially be the same. dbPowerAmp is reliable ripping software. Whether you run a good UPnP solution like Minim or as turnkey package like Roon, you’ll deliver bit-perfect files to your a Rossini. The EtherREGEN may or may not be necessary, but it does help resolve concerns about noise entering your DAC. Enjoy!
I use JRiver to rip CDs onto my PC’s library drive. Then I transfer a copy of the album to my Roon Nuc (home-built, higher spec version of a Nucleus Plus at less than half the price).
Based on the forums here, it seems that if you want to spend more money than that, do so elsewhere in your system, e.g. speakers, amp…
Goodstuff have you posted the spec for your home built Nucleus +? Considering Nucleus + as an option 3 to my first post after reading more about some of the potential challenges with the NAS based approach.
I’ve set up Roon on everything from a Mac mini to several different Synology NAS devices to a NUC and finally to a Nucleus+. I won’t use anything else besides an N+ now.
Any guidance on Nucleus vs Nucleus +. Wouldn’t we want to use the upsampling and conversions on the DCS vs Roon?
Also, do you put your files (CD rips/Hi Rez) on the Nucleus internal drive or on a separate USB HD connected to Nucleus? Seems like folks recommending both ways but then it doesn’t make any sense to buy the larger HD versions of Nucleus or Nucleus +?
I installed an 8tb internal SSD in my Nucleus+. Works well. I opted for + before I bought my Vivaldi stack. I wanted max capability. What Roon does and what the Vivaldi does are two different things.
I use the internal drive since it is a cleaner install. But I see the appeal of an external SSD, since you can just unplug it and easily move it anywhere you want and create a copy.
As to the regular Nucleus vs. Plus, I only have ~2k albums but chose the Plus spec to make sure it’s not going to be obsolete in a few years. I just think about all the cell phones I’ve had. They became obsolete in a very short time as the software grew bigger and more demanding
Very helpful guys thank you. And both the Nucleus Plus and homemade Nucleus approach simply sit on the network for best performance. No USB output to Rossini. Looking at many folks with Nucleus or Nucleus plus they are all going to USB DACs.
For sure USB is the preferred connection for many brands of DACs. But one big reason why I moved to DCS is that ethernet is the preferred connection. I would never go back to USB.
Yes, but what does that mean? Very little, without context. USB can in fact be done very well, if one focuses on fixing problems that network audio does not have. dCS invented asynchronous USB, but dCS will tell you that their implementation of Ethernet audio is even better. The folks at MSB will tell you that they think their USB implementation is as good as, if not better than, their network implementation. Part of the reason for that is their implementation of asynchronous USB over fiber network. But because the clocking in the MSB DAC is so good (and it is the master clock), all the silly money that USB server builders charge for multiple clocks and rechecking, etc., is a waste of your money. And they count on audiophoolish paranoia to sell stuff that doesn’t make your SQ better. If, for some reason, someone just wanted to run a USB server and not use network audio, and they wanted max SQ on USB, for some reason, I would tell them to run Roon on whatever server they wanted over an MSB ProUSB connection. It’s the only thing I have heard in the same league as dCS/MSB network audio. There is simply no reason to invest in 5/10/15/20k servers that do things a quality DAC does not require. Find the DAC with the sound you love. Feed it a bit perfect stream over whatever input it has that is electrically isolated, or that you have found a way to isolate. Relax & enjoy the music.
Heartily agree with the comments here about networking vs. USBing. It has been a huge load off not dicking around with USB. And I can’t tell the difference between a $1k Ethernet cable and a Blue Jeans Cat 6 into the Bartók. Happy days.
You mentioned metadata editing. One of the things I would love to have told the younger me is:
“Rip in dBPowerAmp, but use Yate for metadata.”
Yate is fantastic. It seems boggling to start with, but the developer provides hands-down the most helpful, kind support I’ve ever had for a software product.
Just to add that dbpoweramp may be bought bundled with PerfectTunes for metadata.
So all the OP needs to do is load his CD and dbpoweramp will display one of the metadata selections on the home page. Accept it or click to the metadata page and all four will be displayed for individual selection as an alternative or editing. The selection may include the metadata from MusicBrainz which is the source for Yate. Cover art will be displayed but this can be rejected and if so another selection made from the online resources that is then displayed.
I am not saying that Yate isn’t terrific ( I haven’t tried it). However I have found PerfectTunes increasingly good as the quality of the information in the selection of databases drawn upon has improved over time. Yes editing is still needed but less frequently than 5 years ago.
That’s the real outcome. dBpoweramp’s built-in metadata retrieval is what I would now call excellent. Yate is good, though when I first tried it, I still preferred Metadatics for individual album/track tagging, especially my DSF files. PerfectTUNES is a definite value add. I did not buy the bundle, as I already owned dBp. I bought it individually.
So any guidance on just using Roon’s Ripper on a Nucleus plus vs dBpoweramp or other software and then transferring files to Nucleus +?
Does Roon actually use the metadata retrieved via dBpoweramp/PerfectTunes etc or does it go out and do it’s own thing anyway when it finds the files on the hard drive?
I cannot add much as I am not a Roon user. I do not know therefore how good the Roon ripper is for metadata ( OK, I admit I didn’t even know that it had one).
AFAIK Roon allows a choice between using its online metadata or that retrieved from the user’s own files. I guess that the latter kind of defeats the object.