If you’re struggling, consider therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp. Click betterhelp.com/cheapaudioman for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy with a licensed professional specific to your needs Roon Nucleus One bit.ly/3UZqCmb
Becareful with betterhelp randy. Their is alot of drama involving them. Basically in short that ended up in court and issued with a huge fine for selling people's information with us highly illegal in their industry. Lots of information online about their unethical behaviour. Love your channel so mean no hate by this. Just giving you a heads up as I'm sure you have no idea about them. I only found out as I needed mental health help due to depression hance I looked.
Many of us already pay a fee to UA-cam to avoid advertisements. Pretty soon content creators will be extorting money from us to NOT torture us with advertising. This sucks.
Remember when the kids destroyed the record industry via file sharing? Here's hoping this next generation destroys the slow bleed of endless subscription services.
Yes, I don't mind a sub to Spotify or Tidal or whatever for a source, but in my opinion it is so easy to do one's own curation and everything else, I just don't see the logic or need to have endless subs for such things like Roon, etc. I mean your streaming services do curation built-in anyway. Of course, they do a lousy job of it, but Roon and others are no better really. A five second google search does better curation than any sub service.
Bad service by the record industry killed the record industry. I always wanted to buy the music but it wasn't available. Piracy exists because bad service exists. Music is a human right. -me, a DJ/producer/sound engineer
Bad service? WTF are you talking about? Before the industry was killed, one could buy anything in print, from majors to indies via retailers, mail order (viva Cruz and SST), or used shops. Music is a commodity. If you think it is a right, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that you don't understand the nature of rights.
@user-jn5sz4oj8d I didn't say bad service, and I haven't legally downloaded music in over a decade. But a streaming service is easier and more convenient than buying cds and easier and more convenient will win every time.
Roon is a serious luxury product. If the Nucleus included a lifetime license then fair enough but for what it is, it's well overpriced. Never could understand how the subscription to roon is more than the subscription to the music streaming service being used. Roon should be a third of the price to accompany the music service, not the other way around. Crazy to promote Roon.
Well, then Roon isn’t for you. It’s not “overpriced” if you have extensive local libraries and you’re deeply interested in links and stories behind the music. For many of us it’s neither a luxury nor a waste. De gustibus non est disputandum.
@@umiami91 What a statement: “Roon isn’t for you.” Tell me, who is it for? I’ve tried it, and while I liked the functionality I thought the price was hilarious. No, Roon is made by a bunch of boomers charging boomer prices for something that should cost maybe a quarter of what it costs monthly. They provide almost nothing, but pander to fools known as “audiophiles.” That’s why they charge so much. Full stop. Nothing it “offers” is worth anywhere near the price.
$500 for what? "Nucleus One is a budget-friendly music server." Not a streamer! This can not connect to my system without additional equipment. HDMI out only, really? Plus, a subscription ($150 a year) is required to use. I own all my music, but if I want to play through Roon I need to ad my own storage as well. This product is really targeted to be a server for a already existing Multi channel AVR (Home Theater) setup. Not Stupid Cheap!
do you all looks stuff up before you talk..you can pay monthly. Nobody said you had to pay the yearly fee. If you dont want it...then go on somewhere. You guys are the worst...just click off
I recently became a Roon convert. Originally I installed using my PC as the Roon server (using the free trial offer). My initial impression (within the first day) was positive. After seeing a few vids about using Intel NUCs as Roon servers I was intrigued and purchased a used NUC with installed memory and SSD for $160. I’m not a techie, but installation of the free ROCK software went relatively smooth and the entire setup works great!
thats false. Thing is there isnt a ton of cheap audio gear that actually measures well, built properly and a true value. Eventually all reviewers of cheap gear are gonna hafta move upmarket...its the way it is in the audiophile space without going to the Best Buy/Adorama/Cruthcfield budget markets which are a tier down $500 and under is still budget.
All the cheap stuff has been discussed to death anyway...until the next product comes along. It's always "get this, get that"...2 months later, "get this instead". 😄
@@erics.4113I have over 28 years of real computer & primarily x86 “IBM” experience! Relative to the current rate of inflation with our fiat currency system $500 is not expensive for what is essentially an entire computer. Godspeed🫡😀
I feel you 100%. Alas, $500 is not quite allot of money anymore relative to inflation for this. I don’t agree that it’s”stupid cheap” but it’s not expensive. To bad it’s made in China and not the USA🇺🇸🇺🇸One day it will be in a thrift store for $20.😂😂
@@erics.4113 an entire computer would have email, word, excel, computer games, etc...da fk are you on about. A cheap cpu chip is less than $100, Dell et all has $500 real computer laptops all day long.
Roon has been my best hifi purchase bar none, I have run it on all sorts of kit. I connect a 4TB SSD with my Music backed up on my NAS. I was a bit sceptical about Roon initally so I did the free trial, then I went monthly for a while and then finally bought a liftime sub. Its excellent for linking you own muisc (I have about 5000 CDs ripped), then discovering more via either Qobuz or Tidal, and if I like something I then go off and buy (ideally from the artists directly, or bandcamp). Anyway, before buying just try a demo on existing kit and you can then decide if you before buying.
I went the Mini-PC route where I can host both Roon and my Weather Station software. I would be more open to the Nucleus One if it also offered some type of subscription discount for the life of the product. Overall, what's limiting customer growth for Roon isn't the software or hardware but the subscription price. As much as I like Roon, it's subscription price is too high. It doesn't sit well with me that we're all paying more a month/year for Roon than we are for music services such as Tidal or Qobuz.
I would kill for a local streaming solution that used ONLY my metadata and was reliable as hell. I'm currently using plex and somehow it keeps assigning the wrong artist to my songs... for no reason.
I used to be a Roon user. It's got some great features, but it felt more like a college project than a commercial product. Every time we wanted to play music somewhere, I had to reset something, reload a component, whatever. Always having to mess with it to get it working again. Can't see paying a fairly substantial subscription fee for something that isn't stable. I swapped out my Roon stuff for WIIM streamers. Easy, reliable streaming to my multi room distributed music system with no added costs, aside from the streaming service itself.
Me too. I liked the concept of Roon in theory but reliability and “hassle factors” let it down in practice. Yes, it always seemed to require resetting. Too complicated and too pricey. I find it easier to just plug thumb drives into the back of each streamer - an auto back up process and always reliable. When i listen to music, if i want to read up on bands, i just browse RATE YOUR MUSIC using my ipad.
Didn’t Better Help just get badly shamed for selling their vulnerable customers’ personal data so they could be more easily targeted by advertisers? Really disgraceful practices!
Yes! Also many of the so-called "therapists" are not licensed or seasoned in any way. Their vetting is lack luster. There have been people eventually kicked off for extremely bad practices. (key word "eventually"). It is basically an expensive peer to peer thing, not too different from 7 Cups and the like. Unfortunately, real therapy is prohibitively expensive in the US and that is the real problem!
What Randy didn't say is that MOST people start by installing Roon on their PC and using that as their server. You absolutely don't need this stand-alone box to get started. I'm upgrading to it only after years of running Roon on my PC. Give Roon a shot for a month. You can cancel it anytime. If gear is your jam then Roon might not be for you. If your music collection means everything to you, then I highly recommend Roon.
I'm midway through a 2-week trial, with Roon Core installed on my PC. No problems whatsoever. Maybe if I had a few thousand, instead of a few hundred, ripped CDs, and was running 10 end-points instead of 3, the Nucleus One would be necessary. Like Roon itself, I'm thinking the Nucleus One is a niche product, but for the true power users among Roon's 100K subscribers.
I got an Intel NUC running (Roon) Rock. Feeding my Node2i as endpoint. Best thing I ever did. Roon is brilliant. Both myself and my wife love using it. Sitting on Friday nights, both adding songs to the queue. Using the room correction and using volume matching also changed things for us. Yes expensive. But for price of a six pack a month it’s worth it.
I did the same with the mini-PC I picked up on the cheap and following John Darko's glowing reviews of ROON decided to give it a try. Keep my digital music on a small 250GB USB-C NVMe drive and love it. The Nucleus does look VERY cool though.
I put together an Intel NUC to run Roon ROCK a few years ago and it's been absolutely solid. If the Nucleus One was available at the time I would have purchased it instead of the NUC. Highly recommended.
Good intro to an updated product. When the product becomes available hope you do an updated deep dive into the quality of the hardware, what "some DSD" streaming functionality means, big screen display functionality, other software functionality and potential features still missing. For example, the fact that it still runs with a cpu cooling fan means it's still stuck using outdated cpu technology.
I got a mini pc recently and put Roon on there with the Windows core. No need to install-a new OS, anyone who has installed software onto a Windows machine before can do it. Cost about $150 and is a big improvement in performance now that it is on a stand alone computer. I really like Roon, but have had a terrible history of my system breaking after software updates. Their customer service consists of an online forum and posts are often not responded to for a long time. I hope Harmon fixes their customer service model. It's extremely frustrating to be left hanging for days with a paid software that is not working.
Thank you for covering this new Roon product. I am a serious music lover and have used Roon for a while now and while I hesitated for a few years to buy in, I’m glad I did. The intelligence of the software is remarkable and I haven’t dug deep into all of the features yet. Can you do without Roon? Definitely, but if you want to organize your music your way (on a NAS, thumb drive, whatever) and be able to sync it up through your home systems (portable speaker, home theater receiver, etc.) and have easy access to the tools, band info (thank you for the producer reference), EQ, technical settings, etc., you’ll find that Roon does it and does it well. There are drawbacks. It doesn’t integrate with Spotify (I’ve heard of workarounds), it takes some work to set up streaming radio stations of your choice, and other small nit-picks, but for most applications it is like magic. And for many folks, the Nucleus One Roon core is an easy way (setup) into a Roon system. If this it was available when I got started with Roon, I would preorder the Nucleus One.
Roon is an awesome piece of software, but it's not at all worth the monthly subscription fee. It would be if it also offered it's own streaming music, but you still have to pay for Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify on top of it.
I've tried it three times each time i thought is should give it another go when i read about ARC. But its still unreliable so i ditched it and just use VOX plus multi thunb drives plugged i to individual streamers/usb connections.
Thanks for the review Randy. 🙂 I don't need a Roon Nucleous at this time but I wanted to show appreciation vs some of the outright hate seen in some of the comments.
Way too complicated for a simple man like me. My idea of playing music is to put a record on a turntable or a CD on the transport, tweak the amp and enjoy. For streaming, I don't go beyond Pandora, Spotify or Amazon, but streaming is a far second to using physical media and that includes well recorded Blu Ray videos as well. Finally, as someone already pointed out, good luck to keep that fancy top clean! $500.00 bucks for that? No thanks!
Once set up it elevates your listening experience. Its great being able to select a song/album from the roon interface on any mobile device and if you have a large cd collection it makes sense to rip it all to a hard drive as it cuts out the loss in sound quality all cd players suffer from and as others have said, you don't need to buy the roon core you can use your pc/laptop
@@martinhardstyle Still, I have no clue above all of the above. Again, all of my music is in physical format and I have no issues with that, why complicate my life? To each their own! If needed, I would/could use those $500 to add to buy a better phono pre-amp, that's my territory and not "ripping" CD's to a hard drive.
so let me add this up all together, feel free to correct me lets just say that you used this for one year Rune Nucleus One: $500 Rune: $80 Tidal: $121 (thank god they lowered the prices) An entry level IEM to listen on it: $20 DAC (needed for most phones, screw you apple): $50 (Moondrop Dawn Pro) Total: $771 Total (if your phone has a headphone jack): $721 damn that is expensive
Apple sells a $10 dongle DAC in both USB-C and Lightning that most folks, in testing, have found to be quite better than adequate. It’s durability isn’t stellar, but at $10, it’s cheap enough to keep one in your bag and attached to each set of wired headphones…
Ultimately it’s if you want to listen to music as a background task or if you want to immerse yourself in it. Roon builds deep intelligence into moving around a music collection and it does it locally. Like I said in a previous post. I can start by playing Genesis. It will have links for, say, Phil Collins. I follow that through and see he not only produced Frida, Clapton, and Adam Ant, but he also sat in with Peter Gabriel on the Melt record. What about Mike Rutherford? Obviously, Mike & the Mechanics, but on his solo record Smallcreep’s Day, he used Ant Phillips as a player. Steve Hackett? Well, sure, he played on GTR, but he also is listed as an influence on Eddie Van Halen and Brian May for his two-handed tapping technique. And on it goes. All I can say is give the free trial a try and decide for yourself.
Randy, You spent about 30% of this 10 minute video hawking your sponsor’s product. That’s way too much. Give them a 30 second commercial like we see on TV and move onto the review and the actual substantive discussion about the audio product. I am not begrudging you the right to commercialize your videos and make a better living for yourself, I am complaining that your commercial was simply far too long and boring to those who don’t need your sponsor’s services.
I’m not saying that the product Randy is repping here is a bad one or not helpful to some viewers. I am merely stating that when I come to watch an audio and hi-fi video and put my phone down, I don’t want to have to pick it up again to skim ahead. If the product hawking was for 30 seconds I can deal with that, but 2 1/2 to 3 minutes of ads is unreasonable. I’ve been subscribing to the CAM channel since it was a relatively new UA-cam channel and I am willing to give Randy somewhat of the benefit of the doubt, even though I think his content over the last 3 to 6 months has become diluted and weaker. However, someone new to the channel would probably be permanently turned off and would click the back button to go to a different channel’s video rather than listen to three minutes of product sponsorship or try to skim forward past the commercial. Keeping the commercials to a reasonable, concise level is not just a service that longtime subscribers deserve, but it’s also common sense for Randy if he wants to add new subscribers rather than turn them away. If you guys didn’t think the length of time Randy spent hawking the sponsor’s services was unreasonable, why did you skip ahead? There are always some brown-noser types who take pride in defending the status quo, even when circumstances have changed significantly. I bet some of you guys would read a comment telling you the chemical plant up river is polluting your water supply and you’d still post your passive aggressive little “Shrugs” and “meh” comments, even if your own children were born with six toes per foot and a tail.
@@WisGuy4 I did not notice the lenght of the ad because I always skip ahead of ads, therefore I don't know their lenght (or if the ad is about pollution or not).
By my calculations is not just the cost of the Roon Nucleus, but it’s the monthly costs for the subscription service which still requires another subscription to either Tidal or Qobuz. So all in, it’s $500 + another $400/year in perpetuity.. Don’t get the value proposition?
From my point of view, it only makes sense if you have a TON of local files. If you mainly use streaming services, the value proposition is pretty small for the cost
Or you spend $500 for an appliance you don’t ever have to worry about updates or incompatibilities with because it’s a turnkey system that just works. You don’t have to worry about it getting bricked by something Microsoft did that breaks the system.
@@umiami91 yeah right, seen these "turnkey" systems, no updates after warrantee , then some changes on backend and you have a $500 brick - spotify bricked their own device called "car thing"
Yeah? Spotify is a garbage company that hasn’t done anything innovative in years. They still haven’t figured out how to roll out lossless for heaven’s sakes. Yeah, turnkey system based on a homebrewed Linux that is optimized for Roon and contains nothing more than is needed to run Roon. That appliance that has been running on a NUC in my basement for something like six years, getting constant updates and running great. This is their own take on a NUC that simplifies it even further. When they update their “ROCK” distribution, I get a notice in the Roon app. It updates, and I get new features. I don’t have to worry about security updates to a hundred different services wholly unnecessary to running a local music library. I don’t have to worry about Microsoft AI crap. I don’t have to worry about anything and if, hypothetically, Roon ever went away, I still have a NUC. Comparing Spotify to Roon is apples-to-oranges. And the performance on my six-year-old NUC running ROCK is going to run circles around a current ‘basic laptop” burdened with Windows.
@@umiami91 And pay a monthly fee, and pray the service will be around more than 5 years. Never in my life have I had a computer be bricked because of "something Microsoft did". That's just ridiculous.
I'm glad you got one of these to play with. I pre-ordered on in March when it went on line with the promise of may 15 shipping. Not! No notification that they have "supply chain issues." I contacted Roon and got the "supply chain" story. Now have to wait till after June..meanwhile the have my money for the last several months. Maybe the unit you got or John Darko got to review could have been sent to us consumers who paid for for it. I am pretty disgusted at this point...hope you are enjoying the unit.
When I use Roon with my NAD50 streamer as an endpoint, it sounds better than when I use the Bluesound software in the streamer. So, the better sound quality is the reason I use Roon, not the interface. Also, the EQ in Roon can sometimes be handy.
Of course the elephant in the room (roon) is: Is that cool little sculpted square on top of the device removable for cleaning? Otherwise, that would fill up with dust after a month in my house.😆
STILL no explanation for WHY a guy, who STREAMS music (as of late) and who previously amassed a massive collection of crap, MP3 music from the days of Napster and Pirate Bay, would be interested in dumping all that shite, on to a streaming hard drive, when I can skip that device and just stream the SAME music, in MUCH higher quality formats, from the services I subscribe to? Who needs the device, and who needs ROON?!
Great work on promotion the mental health support. It's a very healthy thing to do and making it a normal (and not awkward) topic is important to getting rid of the stigma. Thanks for spending time on the topic. The rest of the post was also very interesting - especially when considering the new offering from Wiim
I've found roon is ok for my massive library, but it's not that easy to navigate. Finally they've added Folders so you can navigate specifically to your library via folders, however TIDAL in roon is lacking many features I would use within Tidal itself. Roon definately sounds different to Tidal connect as does other forms of local library streaming. Roon seems to clean up the image a bit so it's sound is quite inviting, overall. However, at $180 AU a year or nearly $1300 to buy I wont be going past my 1 year half price trial.
My perspective is that somebody would have to be a truly obsessed streaming fanatic to go for this. It’s a cool premise and those were great examples (ie:drill in producer to see their songs) to illustrate the value prop, but I’m not convinced that the ‘mainstream audiophile’ will be swayed. That being said people buy McIntosh when Emotiva exists so who knows.
Randy, I definitely plan to buy this new core. It was a pain to run it on a computer. I was very happy when I saw the price. The past Room Cores started at about $1500 so I could not afford them before.
Does the casing feel and look cheap in person? The old models were all anodized aluminum and felt premium. The sound and the look are both important. I built my own Roon server PC with fanless anodized aluminum case that is a big heatsink itself and it looks decent and absolutely quiet (physically).
My situation is that I have a Buchardt A500 with the WISA stereo hub. I hate the hub, it just rarely works correctly. I want to replace it with something stable and useful. This kind of product looks interesting. So my question is, can I pair this with the wireless Buchardts?
How did the designers miss the opportunity to spell ROON out inside that funky design on the top? Kind of like Mytek designed their logo into the vent holes on the top of their awesome Liberty DAC.
Roon does not interest me because of the high subscription fee. Weren’t people running Roon off $75 Raspberry Pi units a couple of years ago? Yes, I’m sure this $500 device allows for easier and more seamless use than running the app off some other type of computer. There is absolutely value in a good and easy to use interface - - that’s why I stopped wasting so much time with my home theater PC , and instead have a Roku device attached to every TV in my house. But the total I’ve spent on five Roku units is slightly less than half of what a single one of these Roon units cost.
Sort of different use cases, this is the computer you would put your music on to share to Wiim endpoints. If you're happy with Wiim streaming alone, you'll still need to put your music somewhere. I'm not sure if Wiim devices can read an external hard drive or similar, but if so that may be your option. You could just set up a DLNA server on a PC and be done as well.
@@Paul-tw3yi it can be a steep initial learning curve, though Roon are trying to simplify it here. As Randy said you can go down the route of getting your own hardware, installing an operating system, and then whichever server software, or you can get a turnkey device like this. You're paying for the ease of someone else doing the lifting. If you have the requisite family tech person, they could work out what is best, and hopefully get things a bit creeper.
Not for me thanks. Too much technology between me and my music. I feel I can audition, explore and research music pretty well just using Tidal and Google.
I have been wanting to get into Roon but it has become more and more expensive and now that Harmon has bought it…. It’s just going to be a another bluesound or Sonos, maybe a little more high end, featureful, and luxurious for audiophiles, but it’s going to become more closed and be proprietary and be expensive with audiophile pricing. Too bad. Really disappointed they got bought.
😱😱 Boy am I ever old school, really old school - ancient school would be more accurate. But then again I don't use any streaming services cept UA-cam unpaid. There is so much music there I find it has the worlds music library within. I especially like the HQ and Lossless etc music as they make my audio absolutely jump to life especially my speakers as the endpoint of sound. My next system will have a receiver as I switch back and forth between the internet and an old favorite radio station via the airwaves on a tower on top of a nearby mountain for what amounts to a PBS station in Canada. Thanks Randy for helping me figure modern equipment out👍 - 👍
A few years ago I bought a lifetime roon account. For me, it had 3 demerits. Maybe they’ve all been fixed, I don’t know. It’s been awhile since I’ve used it. Its strength was always integrating your own music (ripped CDs, downloads). But it would get the artwork or version wrong too often. I wanted to try a music service, however the services all treat it like a phone: Individual user. This means there’s no point in buying a family account because the “home HiFi” would still be treated as one user. Even for just using Roon as a CD library, its lack of proper user accounts was absent. Like I said, maybe some or all of that has changed, I don’t know.
I just build roon core on a small form factor pc. Call it a day. I guess until they decide to not support it any longer. Roon is about convenience but definitely no necessity. There are alternatives, although I like the flexibility. Audirvana and J River are some other options, though they are different.
Been running Roon for years on a QNAP NAS. Love Roon software. The NAS kept breaking (hardware & software) down, so I was always frustrated. I couldn’t afford a Nucleus so I bought a sonicTransporter i5 (Gen 3). An attractive alternative for running Roon. MUCH better than a QNAP NAS and way cheaper than a Roon Nucleus. It has better specs than the new overpriced Roon One and is therefore, a better value as a digital server.
Can you use this product wireless ? Only put the plug in ( no wifi plug in ) and will it connect to my wifi and than stream with apple airplay ??greatings from the Netherlands
Personally? Tried it, loved it. But the cost of the subscription is prohibitive, so I don’t use it now. WiiM pro plus together with my stereo amp work well enough for now.
After watching this I still don't really know what it is. There's no obvious audio outputs on the back aside from possibly HDMI. You mentioned "endpoints", but I have no idea how endpoints work in this scenario. I mean it kind of needs to push audio somewhere over the network I guess, but what constitutes an endpoint?
There are many little details in your video which are not entirely accurate. I run my Roon server on an ancient Lenovo X220 i5 laptop and it runs perfectly, and has done for almost two years. It is insanely easy to install. It cost me nothing, because I already had the laptop. X220s go for next to nothing. That is the cheapest way... Not the core. Cheap audio man. The Nucleus is a LOT.
Ok, so couldn't you do the same thing with a NAS storage unit and a Wiim Pro? I just can't justify the cost of this thing. $200 to $300, yes. $500, no.
I bought this Nucleus One, it has been trouble free and takes my 2 channel listening to another level. I have tried the PC and Mac mini route a few times with poor results. So, I said what the heck, $499 is the price of a small computer without all of the headaches. So far, the Nucleus One has been rock solid with my Volumio Rivo network bridge streamer and even the WiiM Ultra. This Nucleus One takes the WiiM Ultra to another level, not as good as the Rivo, but darn close. This is one heck of a combination, the Roon Nucleus One and the WiiM Ultra, for under a grand. The Roon takes the sound quality to another level with its upsampling and other magic it works. This was well worth the $499 entry fee, and monthly subscription.
Hans or anyone in the community can you tell me how one might be able to get the Roon player on a TV?This device seems to only have HDMI music output (same with Wiim player I was going to start out with). noticed some like the Volumio or I hear that NAD have output but for sound quality I was thinking of a Orchard Audio Pecan Pie.I guess my main volume would be through Roon and I'd like to see albums on a display.I am new to all this.
OK. So I need this Roon device, I need a Roon subscription, I need music on a drive or, if I need meta data, I need some music subscriptions. Then I can use this. Seems like a lot.
Do I need a streamer when I have my PC connected to my DAC? Am I not just feeding the same Qobuz or Spotify files? Please help... I am not an expert here... (I am not asking about convenience....just method)
You're on the upgrade path that is never ending and impossible to answer. Should you get a streamer, is just like asking should you get a better DAC, a better amp, a better computer, etc., etc.
I don't see anything related to Roon as "cheap'. Given that a required subscription basically doubles your monthly streaming costs, it's pretty spendy right there. With the new Nucleus, the entry on the dedicated hardware side is now cheaper, but it's still $500 for a "dedicated computer", and that doesn't include any local storage. That's extra Of course, you could just pick up a used Mac mini at $300 or so, and load the Roon software in, with the added benefit of getting a few hundred gb of music storage space. A bit more hassle for sure, but still pretty easy. I do like Roon, but really feel its appeal is limited to the highly dedicated music enthusiast that wants to dig much deeper into their music options. You really have to be in that space to justify it, IMO. The interfaces that come with BluOS, WiiM, and others are really quite decent these days. I picked up a Bluesound system because my wife, an absolute computer klutz, felt comfortable using the app. Prior to that, I had a Squeezebox system that worked fine, but it needed constant updating, and she hated using it.
I don’t understand the value of this product. I have a streamer with search and play ability on my phone or iPad. What is this product giving me that I don’t already have?
Bluesound Node is an endpoint, this is a Roon music server. If you're using Roon already, you must have the server software running somewhere, this would replace that.
@@umiami91 ah ok. So a cloud replacement. If I was going in that direction ide be more inclined to just have a nas with some stuff like that running in docker containers. What's the benefit of this sort of thing over just using Spotify tho? You still have to buy the music and pay a subscription free and buy a dedicated server if you want that right?
That's a deal, 😂, that's funny. I just broke down and bought a wiim mini for my smsl su1 there's no way I would spend $499 or whatever that is. I'm saving for a better amp DAC
I'm still not exactly sure how this thing works. Sounds like I buy this, then buy a subscription, then I need to have a computer or something to actually "see" (with a monitor) what music to select, then I need an "endpoint" to connect to my stereo to actually hear anything, correct? Oh, and it doesn't seem to work with my current Spotify account. I'm still Roon-curious and not a hater, but it seems complicated and a lot of moving parts.
If it came with lifetime subscription, possibly. I tried Roon, didn't do anything more than I can already do with the tech I have. I say too soon for Roon, way over-priced for what is being offered. My advice is to stick with Wiim and your smartphone.
I'm wondering how this is stupid cheap compared to a Rasperry Pi and Volumio or Moode. I fully understand that not everyone will be comfortable installing and configuring the Pi, but it is no doubt a lot cheaper to go with a Rasperry Pi.
You didn't say what other equipment you were using and whether you were using a separate streamer or going straight into a DAC. A SQ comparison with a standalone streamer (eg., Eversolo) would be nice too.
Question I have Roon and my core is something I built much like you described. It’s stable, well as stable as Roon can be. Roon sell this Nucleus One as being really stable blah blah blah. So is it an upgrade to what I already have or should I just stay with the core I have BTW $499 (£378 equiv ) in US $750 in the rip off UK
As you say a good start in this ecosystem for a layman. Not really for me, though. Pro: Pretty case. Con: No drive redundancy (remember RAID is not a backup) Remember kiddies backup your data.
As a server for my own music files on my own hard drive, what does this subscription nservice offer me that my ancient SLIM Server device doesn't? Has there been ANY progress in this "space" since Slim Devices was acquired by a behemoth?
Help, is the Dragonfly cobalt obsolete as a portable DAC or do you think it is still just as valuable and good. It is now about $200 on sale. I have a Fiio btr5, and I have looked at some other small portable DACs, none of them are nearly as strong as the cobalt .Thank you and happy work
Interesting but I dont get why its better than say a laptop and an external hard drive which I already have, streaming to a hifi amp. And is that very attractive dust magnet on the top removeable for cleaning? If not, within a year or so its going to look pretty gnarly!
What an amazing business model! Here, let's sell this contraption that people don't need for... let's say, 500 bucks... then they can pay on top of that a subscription to a service they don't need... YES! what a great idea!
That’s the business model for the entire audio business. Not sure why you think Roon is different. The media companies are absolutely thrilled to charge you a fee every month to listen to your music too. Short of a CD player and a library of your own, I don’t know what you’re looking for.
Great turnkey product. I went from Roon on a Mac Mini to a purpose built NUC. I too would have bought this but probably needed an i5 or better because of the size of my library. I don't think many will replace their NUCs with the new Nucleus. It is a viable option for those buying/building new servers though.
I also have a lifetime subscription. The advantage of having a NUC running Roon ROCK or the Roon Nucleus is that it is basically becomes an appliance. It just sits there ready to play music and it doesn't have to deal with the constant updates of a normal windows PC. It's always on and it rarely if ever needs to restart. If you're happy with your PC/Mac running core then there probably isn't a reason to get the Nucleus.
I don't get wanting to pay more to access the music I already own. Apple or Spotify music discovery comes 'free of charge' and includes the infinite libraries of those services. As long as it makes sense for other people, I'm happy for them.
The first time I encountered your channel, you slammed me with a Better Help commercial, a plea to join your Patreon, and more, before saying really even one thing that was useful. I’ll never come back. This is also the last time I’ll watch your channel.
I'm having problems with searching all artists and albums with my wiim mini. I have amazon music. I never have a problem in my car or bluetooth, only wiim. Wiim man can you do a video on Amazon music for Wiim dummies. I can't find a video anywhere. I got some music on wiim from Amazon, but not able to work now. Can anyone help me?
I don't need another monthly subscription so I'll stick with my Bluesound Node 2i which was also $500. Honestly, my nVidia Shield Pro w/ Tidal on it sounds very good and has no issues with Atmos music tracks as connects to the AVR via HDMI cable. The dac is noticeably better than the Shield but I could see why many would be more than satisfied for a much lower price point.
If you’re struggling, consider therapy with my sponsor BetterHelp. Click betterhelp.com/cheapaudioman for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy with a licensed professional specific to your needs
Roon Nucleus One bit.ly/3UZqCmb
Tried Roon, Musiccast, DTS Play Fi ▶️
Chose BS Node N130 BluOS
interface is user-friendly w Android 😊
Becareful with betterhelp randy. Their is alot of drama involving them. Basically in short that ended up in court and issued with a huge fine for selling people's information with us highly illegal in their industry. Lots of information online about their unethical behaviour.
Love your channel so mean no hate by this. Just giving you a heads up as I'm sure you have no idea about them.
I only found out as I needed mental health help due to depression hance I looked.
If you pay for roon then yeah you need Therapy
Im sorry i just feel like im watching 2 commercials
You don't like a 5 minute commercial followed by another 5 minute commercial for a "cheap" music streamer? /s
Many of us already pay a fee to UA-cam to avoid advertisements. Pretty soon content creators will be extorting money from us to NOT torture us with advertising. This sucks.
@@danmarjenka6361 agreed. it sucks.
@@danmarjenka6361 This is called Patreon
Remember when the kids destroyed the record industry via file sharing? Here's hoping this next generation destroys the slow bleed of endless subscription services.
Yes, I don't mind a sub to Spotify or Tidal or whatever for a source, but in my opinion it is so easy to do one's own curation and everything else, I just don't see the logic or need to have endless subs for such things like Roon, etc. I mean your streaming services do curation built-in anyway. Of course, they do a lousy job of it, but Roon and others are no better really. A five second google search does better curation than any sub service.
Bad service by the record industry killed the record industry. I always wanted to buy the music but it wasn't available. Piracy exists because bad service exists. Music is a human right.
-me, a DJ/producer/sound engineer
@@andredeketeleastutecomplex as Gabe Newell said, "piracy is a service issue
Bad service? WTF are you talking about? Before the industry was killed, one could buy anything in print, from majors to indies via retailers, mail order (viva Cruz and SST), or used shops. Music is a commodity. If you think it is a right, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that you don't understand the nature of rights.
@user-jn5sz4oj8d I didn't say bad service, and I haven't legally downloaded music in over a decade. But a streaming service is easier and more convenient than buying cds and easier and more convenient will win every time.
Sponsored content went on so long, its affected my mental health.
That made me chuckle.
Two asprin & chive on 😎
Theres another channel telling that is an scam. Dont know, just careful.
haha. thats what the progress bar is for ;)
You mean the full video? lol
Roon is a serious luxury product. If the Nucleus included a lifetime license then fair enough but for what it is, it's well overpriced. Never could understand how the subscription to roon is more than the subscription to the music streaming service being used. Roon should be a third of the price to accompany the music service, not the other way around. Crazy to promote Roon.
Tried Roon, didn't like interface 😮
Exactly, especially when the same or similar functionalities can be achieved in several different ways.
Well, then Roon isn’t for you. It’s not “overpriced” if you have extensive local libraries and you’re deeply interested in links and stories behind the music. For many of us it’s neither a luxury nor a waste. De gustibus non est disputandum.
@@umiami91 What a statement: “Roon isn’t for you.” Tell me, who is it for? I’ve tried it, and while I liked the functionality I thought the price was hilarious. No, Roon is made by a bunch of boomers charging boomer prices for something that should cost maybe a quarter of what it costs monthly. They provide almost nothing, but pander to fools known as “audiophiles.” That’s why they charge so much. Full stop. Nothing it “offers” is worth anywhere near the price.
Agreed.
$500 for what? "Nucleus One is a budget-friendly music server." Not a streamer! This can not connect to my system without additional equipment. HDMI out only, really? Plus, a subscription ($150 a year) is required to use. I own all my music, but if I want to play through Roon I need to ad my own storage as well. This product is really targeted to be a server for a already existing Multi channel AVR (Home Theater) setup. Not Stupid Cheap!
do you all looks stuff up before you talk..you can pay monthly. Nobody said you had to pay the yearly fee. If you dont want it...then go on somewhere. You guys are the worst...just click off
I recently became a Roon convert. Originally I installed using my PC as the Roon server (using the free trial offer). My initial impression (within the first day) was positive. After seeing a few vids about using Intel NUCs as Roon servers I was intrigued and purchased a used NUC with installed memory and SSD for $160. I’m not a techie, but installation of the free ROCK software went relatively smooth and the entire setup works great!
Every audio channel inevitably goes from the “budget hero” to calling expensive things cheap once they have access to the high end stuff 😂
yep. is more profitabile...more margin.
thats false. Thing is there isnt a ton of cheap audio gear that actually measures well, built properly and a true value. Eventually all reviewers of cheap gear are gonna hafta move upmarket...its the way it is in the audiophile space without going to the Best Buy/Adorama/Cruthcfield budget markets which are a tier down $500 and under is still budget.
@SpartansTurf false...see my last comment in this thread
All the cheap stuff has been discussed to death anyway...until the next product comes along. It's always "get this, get that"...2 months later, "get this instead". 😄
Your right I don't need to spend $500 on another box
When did 500 bucks become "stupid cheap"??
It's an entire computer. That is inexpensive.
@@erics.4113I have over 28 years of real computer & primarily x86 “IBM” experience!
Relative to the current rate of inflation with our fiat currency system $500 is not expensive for what is essentially an entire computer.
Godspeed🫡😀
I feel you 100%.
Alas, $500 is not quite allot of money anymore relative to inflation for this. I don’t agree that it’s”stupid cheap” but it’s not expensive.
To bad it’s made in China and not the USA🇺🇸🇺🇸One day it will be in a thrift store for $20.😂😂
@@erics.4113 an entire computer would have email, word, excel, computer games, etc...da fk are you on about. A cheap cpu chip is less than $100, Dell et all has $500 real computer laptops all day long.
Imagine all the brands trying to bribe Randy to get their slightly more expensive gear "reviewed" on a channel called Cheapaudioman ?!!!!
Roon has been my best hifi purchase bar none, I have run it on all sorts of kit. I connect a 4TB SSD with my Music backed up on my NAS. I was a bit sceptical about Roon initally so I did the free trial, then I went monthly for a while and then finally bought a liftime sub. Its excellent for linking you own muisc (I have about 5000 CDs ripped), then discovering more via either Qobuz or Tidal, and if I like something I then go off and buy (ideally from the artists directly, or bandcamp). Anyway, before buying just try a demo on existing kit and you can then decide if you before buying.
I went the Mini-PC route where I can host both Roon and my Weather Station software. I would be more open to the Nucleus One if it also offered some type of subscription discount for the life of the product. Overall, what's limiting customer growth for Roon isn't the software or hardware but the subscription price. As much as I like Roon, it's subscription price is too high. It doesn't sit well with me that we're all paying more a month/year for Roon than we are for music services such as Tidal or Qobuz.
I would kill for a local streaming solution that used ONLY my metadata and was reliable as hell.
I'm currently using plex and somehow it keeps assigning the wrong artist to my songs... for no reason.
That top design is really cool, but cleaning the dust out of it would be a real pain.
until it gets white with uncleanable dust and whatnot
Eww why do you have so much dust? Clean your house friend
Plastic can look really cool
This was my first thought when seeing it.
Man vs. dust the eternal battle..neither side wins. Soldier on !
I used to be a Roon user. It's got some great features, but it felt more like a college project than a commercial product. Every time we wanted to play music somewhere, I had to reset something, reload a component, whatever. Always having to mess with it to get it working again. Can't see paying a fairly substantial subscription fee for something that isn't stable. I swapped out my Roon stuff for WIIM streamers. Easy, reliable streaming to my multi room distributed music system with no added costs, aside from the streaming service itself.
Me too. I liked the concept of Roon in theory but reliability and “hassle factors” let it down in practice. Yes, it always seemed to require resetting. Too complicated and too pricey. I find it easier to just plug thumb drives into the back of each streamer - an auto back up process and always reliable. When i listen to music, if i want to read up on bands, i just browse RATE YOUR MUSIC using my ipad.
Same here.
Didn’t Better Help just get badly shamed for selling their vulnerable customers’ personal data so they could be more easily targeted by advertisers? Really disgraceful practices!
Yes! Also many of the so-called "therapists" are not licensed or seasoned in any way. Their vetting is lack luster. There have been people eventually kicked off for extremely bad practices. (key word "eventually"). It is basically an expensive peer to peer thing, not too different from 7 Cups and the like. Unfortunately, real therapy is prohibitively expensive in the US and that is the real problem!
What Randy didn't say is that MOST people start by installing Roon on their PC and using that as their server. You absolutely don't need this stand-alone box to get started. I'm upgrading to it only after years of running Roon on my PC. Give Roon a shot for a month. You can cancel it anytime. If gear is your jam then Roon might not be for you. If your music collection means everything to you, then I highly recommend Roon.
yeah or a raspberry pi
At 6 minutes and 10 seconds he does in fact state that Roon Core can be installed on a laptop or PC.
I'm midway through a 2-week trial, with Roon Core installed on my PC. No problems whatsoever.
Maybe if I had a few thousand, instead of a few hundred, ripped CDs, and was running 10 end-points instead of 3, the Nucleus One would be necessary. Like Roon itself, I'm thinking the Nucleus One is a niche product, but for the true power users among Roon's 100K subscribers.
I got an Intel NUC running (Roon) Rock. Feeding my Node2i as endpoint. Best thing I ever did. Roon is brilliant. Both myself and my wife love using it. Sitting on Friday nights, both adding songs to the queue. Using the room correction and using volume matching also changed things for us. Yes expensive. But for price of a six pack a month it’s worth it.
I did the same with the mini-PC I picked up on the cheap and following John Darko's glowing reviews of ROON decided to give it a try. Keep my digital music on a small 250GB USB-C NVMe drive and love it. The Nucleus does look VERY cool though.
Plastic can look VERY cool
I put together an Intel NUC to run Roon ROCK a few years ago and it's been absolutely solid. If the Nucleus One was available at the time I would have purchased it instead of the NUC. Highly recommended.
Roon.. I run it, its so buggy... Arc never works. All depends on the update. I'm close to getting rid of it
That's exactly my experience. I ditched it too and find it easier to just attach thumb drives to each streamer. Yes, ARC never works!
Give Plex Amp a look. Its not feature parity but its rock solid and getting updates and features on a pretty regular basis.
Good intro to an updated product. When the product becomes available hope you do an updated deep dive into the quality of the hardware, what "some DSD" streaming functionality means, big screen display functionality, other software functionality and potential features still missing. For example, the fact that it still runs with a cpu cooling fan means it's still stuck using outdated cpu technology.
I got a mini pc recently and put Roon on there with the Windows core. No need to install-a new OS, anyone who has installed software onto a Windows machine before can do it. Cost about $150 and is a big improvement in performance now that it is on a stand alone computer.
I really like Roon, but have had a terrible history of my system breaking after software updates. Their customer service consists of an online forum and posts are often not responded to for a long time.
I hope Harmon fixes their customer service model. It's extremely frustrating to be left hanging for days with a paid software that is not working.
Thank you for covering this new Roon product. I am a serious music lover and have used Roon for a while now and while I hesitated for a few years to buy in, I’m glad I did. The intelligence of the software is remarkable and I haven’t dug deep into all of the features yet. Can you do without Roon? Definitely, but if you want to organize your music your way (on a NAS, thumb drive, whatever) and be able to sync it up through your home systems (portable speaker, home theater receiver, etc.) and have easy access to the tools, band info (thank you for the producer reference), EQ, technical settings, etc., you’ll find that Roon does it and does it well. There are drawbacks. It doesn’t integrate with Spotify (I’ve heard of workarounds), it takes some work to set up streaming radio stations of your choice, and other small nit-picks, but for most applications it is like magic. And for many folks, the Nucleus One Roon core is an easy way (setup) into a Roon system. If this it was available when I got started with Roon, I would preorder the Nucleus One.
Roon is an awesome piece of software, but it's not at all worth the monthly subscription fee. It would be if it also offered it's own streaming music, but you still have to pay for Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify on top of it.
Roon doesn't work with Spotify.
I’ve tried Roon twice now. It’s not worth it to me.
I've tried it three times each time i thought is should give it another go when i read about ARC. But its still unreliable so i ditched it and just use VOX plus multi thunb drives plugged i to individual streamers/usb connections.
Same. I'm thinking Audirvana might be better for me. Gonna give that a try.
Thanks for the review Randy. 🙂 I don't need a Roon Nucleous at this time but I wanted to show appreciation vs some of the outright hate seen in some of the comments.
Way too complicated for a simple man like me. My idea of playing music is to put a record on a turntable or a CD on the transport, tweak the amp and enjoy. For streaming, I don't go beyond Pandora, Spotify or Amazon, but streaming is a far second to using physical media and that includes well recorded Blu Ray videos as well. Finally, as someone already pointed out, good luck to keep that fancy top clean! $500.00 bucks for that? No thanks!
Once set up it elevates your listening experience. Its great being able to select a song/album from the roon interface on any mobile device and if you have a large cd collection it makes sense to rip it all to a hard drive as it cuts out the loss in sound quality all cd players suffer from and as others have said, you don't need to buy the roon core you can use your pc/laptop
@@martinhardstyle Still, I have no clue above all of the above. Again, all of my music is in physical format and I have no issues with that, why complicate my life? To each their own! If needed, I would/could use those $500 to add to buy a better phono pre-amp, that's my territory and not "ripping" CD's to a hard drive.
so let me add this up all together, feel free to correct me
lets just say that you used this for one year
Rune Nucleus One: $500
Rune: $80
Tidal: $121 (thank god they lowered the prices)
An entry level IEM to listen on it: $20
DAC (needed for most phones, screw you apple): $50 (Moondrop Dawn Pro)
Total: $771
Total (if your phone has a headphone jack): $721
damn that is expensive
Apple sells a $10 dongle DAC in both USB-C and Lightning that most folks, in testing, have found to be quite better than adequate. It’s durability isn’t stellar, but at $10, it’s cheap enough to keep one in your bag and attached to each set of wired headphones…
@@umiami91 agree but still , why would I need this?
Ultimately it’s if you want to listen to music as a background task or if you want to immerse yourself in it. Roon builds deep intelligence into moving around a music collection and it does it locally. Like I said in a previous post. I can start by playing Genesis. It will have links for, say, Phil Collins. I follow that through and see he not only produced Frida, Clapton, and Adam Ant, but he also sat in with Peter Gabriel on the Melt record. What about Mike Rutherford? Obviously, Mike & the Mechanics, but on his solo record Smallcreep’s Day, he used Ant Phillips as a player. Steve Hackett? Well, sure, he played on GTR, but he also is listed as an influence on Eddie Van Halen and Brian May for his two-handed tapping technique. And on it goes.
All I can say is give the free trial a try and decide for yourself.
Randy, You spent about 30% of this 10 minute video hawking your sponsor’s product. That’s way too much. Give them a 30 second commercial like we see on TV and move onto the review and the actual substantive discussion about the audio product. I am not begrudging you the right to commercialize your videos and make a better living for yourself, I am complaining that your commercial was simply far too long and boring to those who don’t need your sponsor’s services.
He is helping viewers. Kudos to that.
I just fast-forward, but I’ve always been kinda self sufficient like that.
*shrugs* I clicked a few more millimeters to the right than usual to skip the ad. I don't care either.
I’m not saying that the product Randy is repping here is a bad one or not helpful to some viewers. I am merely stating that when I come to watch an audio and hi-fi video and put my phone down, I don’t want to have to pick it up again to skim ahead. If the product hawking was for 30 seconds I can deal with that, but 2 1/2 to 3 minutes of ads is unreasonable.
I’ve been subscribing to the CAM channel since it was a relatively new UA-cam channel and I am willing to give Randy somewhat of the benefit of the doubt, even though I think his content over the last 3 to 6 months has become diluted and weaker. However, someone new to the channel would probably be permanently turned off and would click the back button to go to a different channel’s video rather than listen to three minutes of product sponsorship or try to skim forward past the commercial. Keeping the commercials to a reasonable, concise level is not just a service that longtime subscribers deserve, but it’s also common sense for Randy if he wants to add new subscribers rather than turn them away.
If you guys didn’t think the length of time Randy spent hawking the sponsor’s services was unreasonable, why did you skip ahead?
There are always some brown-noser types who take pride in defending the status quo, even when circumstances have changed significantly. I bet some of you guys would read a comment telling you the chemical plant up river is polluting your water supply and you’d still post your passive aggressive little “Shrugs” and “meh” comments, even if your own children were born with six toes per foot and a tail.
@@WisGuy4 I did not notice the lenght of the ad because I always skip ahead of ads, therefore I don't know their lenght (or if the ad is about pollution or not).
By my calculations is not just the cost of the Roon Nucleus, but it’s the monthly costs for the subscription service which still requires another subscription to either Tidal or Qobuz. So all in, it’s $500 + another $400/year in perpetuity.. Don’t get the value proposition?
From my point of view, it only makes sense if you have a TON of local files. If you mainly use streaming services, the value proposition is pretty small for the cost
@@jorgebravo7980 Compared to Tidal or Qobuz, the UI, metadata and management for the streaming service is MILES better.
Roon has a lifetime subscription for 829, so this will cost you 1330 to step in. Of course after that you only need to upgrade your core if necessary.
Thank you😀👍🇺🇸
You also need a Tidal or Qobuz subscription if you want to do any music streaming other than streaming your own purchased music.
@@ruudduppen That is pretty much a given these days.
$500? BS!!!
get a basic laptop and SPDIF it out to your equipment...your welcome
Or you spend $500 for an appliance you don’t ever have to worry about updates or incompatibilities with because it’s a turnkey system that just works. You don’t have to worry about it getting bricked by something Microsoft did that breaks the system.
@@umiami91 yeah right, seen these "turnkey" systems, no updates after warrantee , then some changes on backend and you have a $500 brick - spotify bricked their own device called "car thing"
Yeah? Spotify is a garbage company that hasn’t done anything innovative in years. They still haven’t figured out how to roll out lossless for heaven’s sakes.
Yeah, turnkey system based on a homebrewed Linux that is optimized for Roon and contains nothing more than is needed to run Roon. That appliance that has been running on a NUC in my basement for something like six years, getting constant updates and running great. This is their own take on a NUC that simplifies it even further. When they update their “ROCK” distribution, I get a notice in the Roon app. It updates, and I get new features. I don’t have to worry about security updates to a hundred different services wholly unnecessary to running a local music library. I don’t have to worry about Microsoft AI crap. I don’t have to worry about anything and if, hypothetically, Roon ever went away, I still have a NUC.
Comparing Spotify to Roon is apples-to-oranges. And the performance on my six-year-old NUC running ROCK is going to run circles around a current ‘basic laptop” burdened with Windows.
You're welcome. You're
@@umiami91 And pay a monthly fee, and pray the service will be around more than 5 years. Never in my life have I had a computer be bricked because of "something Microsoft did". That's just ridiculous.
I have always used my home office PCs as my Roon core. Works well and also easily streams to the local DAC. Never felt a need to buy a Nucleus.
I'm glad you got one of these to play with. I pre-ordered on in March when it went on line with the promise of may 15 shipping. Not! No notification that they have "supply chain issues." I contacted Roon and got the "supply chain" story. Now have to wait till after June..meanwhile the have my money for the last several months. Maybe the unit you got or John Darko got to review could have been sent to us consumers who paid for for it. I am pretty disgusted at this point...hope you are enjoying the unit.
When I use Roon with my NAD50 streamer as an endpoint, it sounds better than when I use the Bluesound software in the streamer. So, the better sound quality is the reason I use Roon, not the interface. Also, the EQ in Roon can sometimes be handy.
Of course the elephant in the room (roon) is: Is that cool little sculpted square on top of the device removable for cleaning? Otherwise, that would fill up with dust after a month in my house.😆
STILL no explanation for WHY a guy, who STREAMS music (as of late) and who previously amassed a massive collection of crap, MP3 music from the days of Napster and Pirate Bay, would be interested in dumping all that shite, on to a streaming hard drive, when I can skip that device and just stream the SAME music, in MUCH higher quality formats, from the services I subscribe to? Who needs the device, and who needs ROON?!
Great work on promotion the mental health support. It's a very healthy thing to do and making it a normal (and not awkward) topic is important to getting rid of the stigma. Thanks for spending time on the topic. The rest of the post was also very interesting - especially when considering the new offering from Wiim
I've found roon is ok for my massive library, but it's not that easy to navigate. Finally they've added Folders so you can navigate specifically to your library via folders, however TIDAL in roon is lacking many features I would use within Tidal itself. Roon definately sounds different to Tidal connect as does other forms of local library streaming. Roon seems to clean up the image a bit so it's sound is quite inviting, overall. However, at $180 AU a year or nearly $1300 to buy I wont be going past my 1 year half price trial.
My perspective is that somebody would have to be a truly obsessed streaming fanatic to go for this. It’s a cool premise and those were great examples (ie:drill in producer to see their songs) to illustrate the value prop, but I’m not convinced that the ‘mainstream audiophile’ will be swayed. That being said people buy McIntosh when Emotiva exists so who knows.
Careful. The paid content has reached the tipping point.
Over the tipping point, I'm out. See ya'
Randy, I definitely plan to buy this new core. It was a pain to run it on a computer. I was very happy when I saw the price. The past Room Cores started at about $1500 so I could not afford them before.
Does the casing feel and look cheap in person? The old models were all anodized aluminum and felt premium. The sound and the look are both important. I built my own Roon server PC with fanless anodized aluminum case that is a big heatsink itself and it looks decent and absolutely quiet (physically).
My situation is that I have a Buchardt A500 with the WISA stereo hub. I hate the hub, it just rarely works correctly. I want to replace it with something stable and useful. This kind of product looks interesting. So my question is, can I pair this with the wireless Buchardts?
How did the designers miss the opportunity to spell ROON out inside that funky design on the top? Kind of like Mytek designed their logo into the vent holes on the top of their awesome Liberty DAC.
Roon does not interest me because of the high subscription fee. Weren’t people running Roon off $75 Raspberry Pi units a couple of years ago?
Yes, I’m sure this $500 device allows for easier and more seamless use than running the app off some other type of computer. There is absolutely value in a good and easy to use interface - - that’s why I stopped wasting so much time with my home theater PC , and instead have a Roku device attached to every TV in my house. But the total I’ve spent on five Roku units is slightly less than half of what a single one of these Roon units cost.
Brief explanation of how it works would be nice. You need to plug it to TV? Web interface?....
No digital screen, no thanks. Rather try the wiim ultra for less money and buy a 2nd wiim pro to have same music playing in different rooms.
Sort of different use cases, this is the computer you would put your music on to share to Wiim endpoints. If you're happy with Wiim streaming alone, you'll still need to put your music somewhere. I'm not sure if Wiim devices can read an external hard drive or similar, but if so that may be your option. You could just set up a DLNA server on a PC and be done as well.
@@foznoth thanks for the clarification, I'm somewhat new to this hobby and still learning.
@@Paul-tw3yi it can be a steep initial learning curve, though Roon are trying to simplify it here. As Randy said you can go down the route of getting your own hardware, installing an operating system, and then whichever server software, or you can get a turnkey device like this. You're paying for the ease of someone else doing the lifting.
If you have the requisite family tech person, they could work out what is best, and hopefully get things a bit creeper.
Not for me thanks. Too much technology between me and my music. I feel I can audition, explore and research music pretty well just using Tidal and Google.
I have been wanting to get into Roon but it has become more and more expensive and now that Harmon has bought it…. It’s just going to be a another bluesound or Sonos, maybe a little more high end, featureful, and luxurious for audiophiles, but it’s going to become more closed and be proprietary and be expensive with audiophile pricing. Too bad. Really disappointed they got bought.
Is there a device that I can put all of my burned CDs on, can stream and also has RCA plugs for connecting to a vintage stereo?
Yes, your PC will do the job. Keep it simple initially and advance as the budget allows and you as you choose. Enjoy...
😱😱 Boy am I ever old school, really old school - ancient school would be more accurate. But then again I don't use any streaming services cept UA-cam unpaid. There is so much music there I find it has the worlds music library within. I especially like the HQ and Lossless etc music as they make my audio absolutely jump to life especially my speakers as the endpoint of sound. My next system will have a receiver as I switch back and forth between the internet and an old favorite radio station via the airwaves on a tower on top of a nearby mountain for what amounts to a PBS station in Canada. Thanks Randy for helping me figure modern equipment out👍 - 👍
A few years ago I bought a lifetime roon account. For me, it had 3 demerits. Maybe they’ve all been fixed, I don’t know. It’s been awhile since I’ve used it.
Its strength was always integrating your own music (ripped CDs, downloads). But it would get the artwork or version wrong too often.
I wanted to try a music service, however the services all treat it like a phone: Individual user. This means there’s no point in buying a family account because the “home HiFi” would still be treated as one user.
Even for just using Roon as a CD library, its lack of proper user accounts was absent.
Like I said, maybe some or all of that has changed, I don’t know.
So would you run the Roon Nucleus One into a DAC and then the DAC into your Stereo?
I use a NUC as my Roon server and that is exactly what I’ve done.
I just build roon core on a small form factor pc. Call it a day. I guess until they decide to not support it any longer. Roon is about convenience but definitely no necessity. There are alternatives, although I like the flexibility. Audirvana and J River are some other options, though they are different.
Been running Roon for years on a QNAP NAS. Love Roon software. The NAS kept breaking (hardware & software) down, so I was always frustrated. I couldn’t afford a Nucleus so I bought a sonicTransporter i5 (Gen 3). An attractive alternative for running Roon. MUCH better than a QNAP NAS and way cheaper than a Roon Nucleus.
It has better specs than the new overpriced Roon One and is therefore, a better value as a digital server.
Can you use this product wireless ? Only put the plug in ( no wifi plug in ) and will it connect to my wifi and than stream with apple airplay ??greatings from the Netherlands
May try this. I got the Powernode Edge recently but have experienced numerous connectivity issues and a dysfunctional app. Ugh...
Personally? Tried it, loved it. But the cost of the subscription is prohibitive, so I don’t use it now. WiiM pro plus together with my stereo amp work well enough for now.
After watching this I still don't really know what it is.
There's no obvious audio outputs on the back aside from possibly HDMI.
You mentioned "endpoints", but I have no idea how endpoints work in this scenario. I mean it kind of needs to push audio somewhere over the network I guess, but what constitutes an endpoint?
Your integrity got you here. Don't lose it over some sponsored ad. At least disclose when a post or video is sponsored.
Would be interesting to compare this against building your own multiroom streaming system using Arylic boards.
There are many little details in your video which are not entirely accurate.
I run my Roon server on an ancient Lenovo X220 i5 laptop and it runs perfectly, and has done for almost two years. It is insanely easy to install. It cost me nothing, because I already had the laptop. X220s go for next to nothing.
That is the cheapest way... Not the core. Cheap audio man. The Nucleus is a LOT.
Ok, so couldn't you do the same thing with a NAS storage unit and a Wiim Pro? I just can't justify the cost of this thing. $200 to $300, yes. $500, no.
I bought this Nucleus One, it has been trouble free and takes my 2 channel listening to another level. I have tried the PC and Mac mini route a few times with poor results. So, I said what the heck, $499 is the price of a small computer without all of the headaches. So far, the Nucleus One has been rock solid with my Volumio Rivo network bridge streamer and even the WiiM Ultra. This Nucleus One takes the WiiM Ultra to another level, not as good as the Rivo, but darn close. This is one heck of a combination, the Roon Nucleus One and the WiiM Ultra, for under a grand. The Roon takes the sound quality to another level with its upsampling and other magic it works. This was well worth the $499 entry fee, and monthly subscription.
Hans or anyone in the community can you tell me how one might be able to get the Roon player on a TV?This device seems to only have HDMI music output (same with Wiim player I was going to start out with). noticed some like the Volumio or I hear that NAD have output but for sound quality I was thinking of a Orchard Audio Pecan Pie.I guess my main volume would be through Roon and I'd like to see albums on a display.I am new to all this.
OK. So I need this Roon device, I need a Roon subscription, I need music on a drive or, if I need meta data, I need some music subscriptions. Then I can use this. Seems like a lot.
Do I need a streamer when I have my PC connected to my DAC? Am I not just feeding the same Qobuz or Spotify files? Please help... I am not an expert here... (I am not asking about convenience....just method)
Is your roon server on your pc ?
You're on the upgrade path that is never ending and impossible to answer.
Should you get a streamer, is just like asking should you get a better DAC, a better amp, a better computer, etc., etc.
I don't see anything related to Roon as "cheap'. Given that a required subscription basically doubles your monthly streaming costs, it's pretty spendy right there. With the new Nucleus, the entry on the dedicated hardware side is now cheaper, but it's still $500 for a "dedicated computer", and that doesn't include any local storage. That's extra Of course, you could just pick up a used Mac mini at $300 or so, and load the Roon software in, with the added benefit of getting a few hundred gb of music storage space. A bit more hassle for sure, but still pretty easy. I do like Roon, but really feel its appeal is limited to the highly dedicated music enthusiast that wants to dig much deeper into their music options. You really have to be in that space to justify it, IMO. The interfaces that come with BluOS, WiiM, and others are really quite decent these days. I picked up a Bluesound system because my wife, an absolute computer klutz, felt comfortable using the app. Prior to that, I had a Squeezebox system that worked fine, but it needed constant updating, and she hated using it.
I don’t understand the value of this product. I have a streamer with search and play ability on my phone or iPad. What is this product giving me that I don’t already have?
I made myself a roon rock with an intel nook. It is awesome ! ,aside from the monthly subscription requirement .:(
Would a better power supply, e.g. iFi Audio iPower Elite 19V, improve the SQ? LIke a good power supply does with amps, dacs and streamers.
i use a Bluesound Node to run Roon. doubt if this is better?
Bluesound Node is an endpoint, this is a Roon music server. If you're using Roon already, you must have the server software running somewhere, this would replace that.
Why you lying 🤥 😂
Why can't you just install this on the pc you will be using to listen to audio anyway? I do t understand why you need this or a mini pc
You can. But if you want something that is always on like an appliance to support streaming in multiple rooms/locations, this is more reliable.
@@umiami91 ah ok. So a cloud replacement. If I was going in that direction ide be more inclined to just have a nas with some stuff like that running in docker containers. What's the benefit of this sort of thing over just using Spotify tho? You still have to buy the music and pay a subscription free and buy a dedicated server if you want that right?
That's a deal, 😂, that's funny. I just broke down and bought a wiim mini for my smsl su1 there's no way I would spend $499 or whatever that is. I'm saving for a better amp DAC
I'm still not exactly sure how this thing works. Sounds like I buy this, then buy a subscription, then I need to have a computer or something to actually "see" (with a monitor) what music to select, then I need an "endpoint" to connect to my stereo to actually hear anything, correct? Oh, and it doesn't seem to work with my current Spotify account. I'm still Roon-curious and not a hater, but it seems complicated and a lot of moving parts.
If it came with lifetime subscription, possibly. I tried Roon, didn't do anything more than I can already do with the tech I have. I say too soon for Roon, way over-priced for what is being offered. My advice is to stick with Wiim and your smartphone.
Do you know when the Nucleus One will be available in the UK?
I'm wondering how this is stupid cheap compared to a Rasperry Pi and Volumio or Moode. I fully understand that not everyone will be comfortable installing and configuring the Pi, but it is no doubt a lot cheaper to go with a Rasperry Pi.
@cheapaudioman Thanks for this review! Appreciate you and the public service announcement as well
Plex with plex amp does the bulk of this with NO ISSUES. And is more reliable, and works far better.
You didn't say what other equipment you were using and whether you were using a separate streamer or going straight into a DAC. A SQ comparison with a standalone streamer (eg., Eversolo) would be nice too.
Comes with a built in dust collector
Awesome personal sharing on BetterHelp - Excellent message, Randy!
Product still not available in The Netherlands and perhaps in the whole of Europe 😢
Mid Q4 according to Roon. I am waiting too.
Question
I have Roon and my core is something I built much like you described. It’s stable, well as stable as Roon can be.
Roon sell this Nucleus One as being really stable blah blah blah.
So is it an upgrade to what I already have or should I just stay with the core I have
BTW $499 (£378 equiv ) in US
$750 in the rip off UK
As you say a good start in this ecosystem for a layman.
Not really for me, though.
Pro: Pretty case.
Con: No drive redundancy (remember RAID is not a backup)
Remember kiddies backup your data.
Plastic can look pretty
Did you connect the unit to the TV by HDMI or PC when you set that up?
I've had mine on preorder since April. Can't wait for it to be released!
When a company the size of Harman ... which was acquired by Samsung in 2017, talking about size.
As a server for my own music files on my own hard drive, what does this subscription nservice offer me that my ancient SLIM Server device doesn't? Has there been ANY progress in this "space" since Slim Devices was acquired by a behemoth?
Help, is the Dragonfly cobalt obsolete as a portable DAC or do you think it is still just as valuable and good. It is now about $200 on sale. I have a Fiio btr5, and I have looked at some other small portable DACs, none of them are nearly as strong as the cobalt .Thank you and happy work
In my opinion it is only obsolete when it is broken or does not have the inputs & outputs connections needed to hook up to your other devices.
Interesting but I dont get why its better than say a laptop and an external hard drive which I already have, streaming to a hifi amp. And is that very attractive dust magnet on the top removeable for cleaning? If not, within a year or so its going to look pretty gnarly!
New Marantz streamer looks just like a WIIM knockoff. WIIM must be really selling a lot of streamers. Big difference is that the Marantz is $1000.
You can even buy Marantz Stereo 70s for 750€ now, so I don't really see the point in buying the Marantz M1.
@@stefan_luptakI think it’s mostly for installers to place in areas without great ventilation. Best guess.
What an amazing business model! Here, let's sell this contraption that people don't need for... let's say, 500 bucks... then they can pay on top of that a subscription to a service they don't need... YES! what a great idea!
The YOU don't need.
That’s the business model for the entire audio business. Not sure why you think Roon is different.
The media companies are absolutely thrilled to charge you a fee every month to listen to your music too. Short of a CD player and a library of your own, I don’t know what you’re looking for.
Great turnkey product. I went from Roon on a Mac Mini to a purpose built NUC. I too would have bought this but probably needed an i5 or better because of the size of my library. I don't think many will replace their NUCs with the new Nucleus. It is a viable option for those buying/building new servers though.
I have a lifetime subscription. I’m using a windows pc as my core, pretty much all I use it for. What would be the advantage of using this instead?
Probably only power consumption, and that would depend on what PC you were running Windows on.
You gotta keep paying more for unnecessary technology products man.
I also have a lifetime subscription. The advantage of having a NUC running Roon ROCK or the Roon Nucleus is that it is basically becomes an appliance. It just sits there ready to play music and it doesn't have to deal with the constant updates of a normal windows PC. It's always on and it rarely if ever needs to restart. If you're happy with your PC/Mac running core then there probably isn't a reason to get the Nucleus.
I don't get wanting to pay more to access the music I already own. Apple or Spotify music discovery comes 'free of charge' and includes the infinite libraries of those services. As long as it makes sense for other people, I'm happy for them.
The first time I encountered your channel, you slammed me with a Better Help commercial, a plea to join your Patreon, and more, before saying really even one thing that was useful. I’ll never come back. This is also the last time I’ll watch your channel.
I'm having problems with searching all artists and albums with my wiim mini. I have amazon music. I never have a problem in my car or bluetooth, only wiim. Wiim man can you do a video on Amazon music for Wiim dummies. I can't find a video anywhere. I got some music on wiim from Amazon, but not able to work now. Can anyone help me?
Europe and RoW do not even exist for Roon as is true for their owner. What is the European release date and price?
I don't need another monthly subscription so I'll stick with my Bluesound Node 2i which was also $500. Honestly, my nVidia Shield Pro w/ Tidal on it sounds very good and has no issues with Atmos music tracks as connects to the AVR via HDMI cable. The dac is noticeably better than the Shield but I could see why many would be more than satisfied for a much lower price point.