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PostPosted: January 21st, 2021, 9:05 pm 
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Somehow my last post didn't post, so try again...

Since the Roon Nucleus+ has an Intel NUC motherboard as its basis, I would expect it to sound better than the RPi4 based on my experience with Daphile on a NUC running both as a server and Squeezelite endpoint with music files residing on a Synology NAS that was CIFS mounted. It sounded even better as just an endpoint though with the NAS running LMS since the CPU does not have to do anything other than render the music files to a USB digital data stream. I did have a linear power supply on the NUC, I assume the Roon Nucleus+ has some additional filtering to clean up a switching supply (or does it have a linear supply?). After a day or so of running it, I completed my build of the Atom based endpoint described above which was clearly much better, and then adding the Roon server (ROCK) was the icing on the cake.

But try out the Pi, you might feel it is an improvement. One thing is to keep the USB bus traffic to a minimum, the only connected USB device should be the USB output to the DAC. I suggest only using ethernet, not WiFi. I started with a WiFi to ethernet bridge for my system, so connecting the Pi via ethernet to the bridge, and then finally got Gigabit ethernet installed in the listening room (really an ethernet over COAX network extender). The whole idea is remove any bottlenecks and minimize CPU load so the rendering can be a priority task on the system.

David


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PostPosted: January 21st, 2021, 10:25 pm 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 11:12 am
Posts: 738
I would expect the Nucleous+ to be better unless the advantages of running a standalone endpoint just means more than the quality of a single do-it-all device?

I have a Fios Gigabit connection so Roon runs fine over ethernet or WiFi. I decided that ethernet sounded a bit better than Wifi but that changed recently when I "upgraded" my router to a Fios G3100. Now I think Wifi sounds better than ethernet. So I wonder about running Roon core in Nucleous on ethernet and a wifi capable endpoint? But there are so many system setup possibilities so the RPi4 is as good a place to start as anything else.


David McGown wrote:
Somehow my last post didn't post, so try again...

Since the Roon Nucleus+ has an Intel NUC motherboard as its basis, I would expect it to sound better than the RPi4 based on my experience with Daphile on a NUC running both as a server and Squeezelite endpoint with music files residing on a Synology NAS that was CIFS mounted. It sounded even better as just an endpoint though with the NAS running LMS since the CPU does not have to do anything other than render the music files to a USB digital data stream. I did have a linear power supply on the NUC, I assume the Roon Nucleus+ has some additional filtering to clean up a switching supply (or does it have a linear supply?). After a day or so of running it, I completed my build of the Atom based endpoint described above which was clearly much better, and then adding the Roon server (ROCK) was the icing on the cake.

But try out the Pi, you might feel it is an improvement. One thing is to keep the USB bus traffic to a minimum, the only connected USB device should be the USB output to the DAC. I suggest only using ethernet, not WiFi. I started with a WiFi to ethernet bridge for my system, so connecting the Pi via ethernet to the bridge, and then finally got Gigabit ethernet installed in the listening room (really an ethernet over COAX network extender). The whole idea is remove any bottlenecks and minimize CPU load so the rendering can be a priority task on the system.

David


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PostPosted: January 21st, 2021, 11:00 pm 
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Joined: February 28th, 2013, 1:19 pm
Posts: 914
Pete,

I heard that the new Verizon router has a lot better WiFi, so that could have made a difference. I have the older G1100 Gigabit router, which I bought rather than rent, so not so inclined to get replaced. The COAX network extender has better WiFi capability than my router, which is great for coverage in the house, so all in all, it works for the best for me without spending to replace the router. I think the main problem with WiFi is getting a clear channel that isn't the same as the neighbor's, I had alot of trouble with initially with WiFi due to that. If it works for you, great!

I will download a couple of endpoint distros to SD cards for you to tryout, all you need to do is shutdown and change out the SD card. I will put RoPieee on one, and perhaps PiCorePlayer on the other, so long as you enable LMS on your Nucleus+. The main thing is making sure it sees your USB input on your DAC, you might need to do some configuration. Oh, one thing, these are designed to run headless, so there will either be a web interface (for PiCorePlayer) or possibly ssh for a terminal interface.

David


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PostPosted: January 21st, 2021, 11:08 pm 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 11:12 am
Posts: 738
I had the G1100 before upgrading to the G3100. I ran a utility which helped select the clearest, least congested channel. Sound good on the options, thanks.


David McGown wrote:
Pete,

I heard that the new Verizon router has a lot better WiFi, so that could have made a difference. I have the older G1100 Gigabit router, which I bought rather than rent, so not so inclined to get replaced. The COAX network extender has better WiFi capability than my router, which is great for coverage in the house, so all in all, it works for the best for me without spending to replace the router. I think the main problem with WiFi is getting a clear channel that isn't the same as the neighbor's, I had alot of trouble with initially with WiFi due to that. If it works for you, great!

I will download a couple of endpoint distros to SD cards for you to tryout, all you need to do is shutdown and change out the SD card. I will put RoPieee on one, and perhaps PiCorePlayer on the other, so long as you enable LMS on your Nucleus+. The main thing is making sure it sees your USB input on your DAC, you might need to do some configuration. Oh, one thing, these are designed to run headless, so there will either be a web interface (for PiCorePlayer) or possibly ssh for a terminal interface.

David


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PostPosted: January 21st, 2021, 11:29 pm 
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Joined: February 28th, 2013, 1:19 pm
Posts: 914
Pete,

There is a good RoPieee Guide to start off:
https://codexwilkes.com/downloads/ropie ... inners.pdf

PiCorePlayer website:
http://www.picoreplayer.org/

Good to read through these resources to understand how to setup and configure. It appears to me that RoPieee will be the easiest.

David


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PostPosted: January 22nd, 2021, 9:18 am 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 11:12 am
Posts: 738
Ropieee does seem very straight forward.


David McGown wrote:
Pete,

There is a good RoPieee Guide to start off:
https://codexwilkes.com/downloads/ropie ... inners.pdf

PiCorePlayer website:
http://www.picoreplayer.org/

Good to read through these resources to understand how to setup and configure. It appears to me that RoPieee will be the easiest.

David


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PostPosted: January 22nd, 2021, 3:56 pm 
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Joined: February 28th, 2013, 1:19 pm
Posts: 914
Pete,

I am downloading Ropieee right now and should have the image on an SD card later in the afternoon. Already have PiCorePlayer on an SD Card. The best thing to do is hand these over to you unconfigured so that when you plug it in, it will configure to your network and find your Roon Nucleus+. It can be a pain to try to change network settings after the fact on a headless device. I can try out Ropieee on another SD card just to make sure it works OK, since I have not personally used it before.

So anytime this weekend I am free for the handoff. I have a 2GB RPi4 in a thermal heatsink case (no fan), actually the same Pi as I used in my system until I built the Atom-based renderer, so know that it works.

David


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PostPosted: January 22nd, 2021, 5:59 pm 
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Pete,

Piece of cake to get Ropieee working. Just be patient, have a nice IPA waiting for it to initially boot up.

David


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PostPosted: January 22nd, 2021, 6:06 pm 
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Joined: March 12th, 2013, 11:12 am
Posts: 738
Cool. If you are around late Sat. afternoon, I could drop by to pick this up? Thanks.


David McGown wrote:
Pete,

Piece of cake to get Ropieee working. Just be patient, have a nice IPA waiting for it to initially boot up.

David


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PostPosted: January 22nd, 2021, 8:29 pm 
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Works for me


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