My most recent upgrades have been to the digital front end in adding the Sonore Signature Rendu Optical SE (or whatever its called), changing my MacMini for a fanless NUC as Roon core, and upgrading my power supply for my eR to a Hypsos adjustable power supply.
I’m wondering about some further tweaks I can do.
I remember reading that the designer of Sonore suggests moving the Roon Core as far away from the streamer as possible. Have any of you done this with positive results?
Also, if I move it upstairs, I will have to connect the NUC to my network via my Eero mesh system into the eR. Has anyone had trouble with connecting through the WiFi system? As long as the eR is in between the streamer and the network it shouldn’t matter right?
Congratulations! How do you like the sound so far? What else do you have in the chain?
I use Roon Nuclues+ which is essentially a fanless NUC. I chose to add SSD drive to Nucleus and placed at in the rack about 3 feet from the streamer. However, in between I have Melco S100 switch. I never tried the optical ports on the Melco as I do not have an optical streamer. However, I tried relocating Nucleus to another room, but did not hear any improvement.
Connecting your Roon core through your mesh network shouldn’t be an issue so long as you currently have a stable internet connection through that part of the house. Your streamer (in your case the Sonore) can also be hooked up through the mesh if that’s more convenient for your setup.
When I started streaming 12+ years ago wifi repeaters were a nightmare and you lost at least half the signal strength, and have had a wired system ever since. I bought a Nighthawk Meat system a few weeks ago and the diagnostics show strong wifi everywhere, so it should not be an issue at all.
If you want a further tweak, buy some Monacor foam, cut to size and place under your NUC etc. It will only cost a few $. If to makes no difference, it only cost you a few $.
My “streamer” is an iMac/Bridge II combo, with Roon and JRiver Media Center as rendering/control software. I also use eero mesh system for the in-house network connection.
The iMac containing the music files and rendering software is in the kitchen on the first floor. The router, cabling, switches, etc. are in the Hi-Fi/HT room on the second floor.
FWIW, my system is stable and works great. I like to think the Wi-Fi connection helps with suppressing any noise the iMac might otherwise introduce to the signal path.
many opinions on wifi or not. i prefer wired, with utp, which in theory gives electrical isolation due to transformers at each end being built in to the ethernet spec.
mainly because it cuts down the RF noise close to the streamer and is probably easier on the streamer cpu as well hence less self noise.
The easiest approach would be to go with Roon’s own Nucleus or Nucleus + cores which are reliable and easy to set up. You can find them used from time at a little bit of a discount from the new MSRP amounts.
I’ll second the Roon Nucleus+. I had one running 24/7 without a glitch for a couple of years and replaced it with my Pink Faun just for fun but it was a rock solid device.
I’ve always had this config so can’t comment on the sonic benefits except for the fact my Core lives on a 1U rack mount server with blowers so I’m glad its on the other side of the house, very loud.
Few things to watch out for. If you can, connect the Core wired to one of the mesh devices and let the mesh devices handle the wifi between themselves. This will work better than enabling wifi on the core. Next, the big problem with wifi is you can’t control RF. It may work excellent today, tomorrow, 3 months… a year and then bam! Your neighbor installs something weird or you get a new TV maybe even hang a picture wrong and things stop working. Just be aware of this. I’ve got plenty of neighbors and when performance on my Wifi starts to dip Roon is the first thing on the network with issues.
I’d put your silent NuC in the listening room before I would deal with Wifi issues on a regular basis. It’s worth the experiment though.
I’ll echo the experience of my Nucleus losing connection from time to time when wifi performance is lagging. It hasn’t been enough for me to want to get the core back being wired to the primary router though. I’ve decided that if this ever gets worse, then I’ll just pony up the money and increase my bandwidth with my internet provider. (I’m currently on one of the lower tiers.)
I don’t understand paying the NUC+ prices for ROON’s fanless case. A few hours and an Akasa case with a shiny new i7 Nuc and you’re in business and you’re pocketing $1500. Here’s mine I just changed it to vertical for simple USB connections.
