The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

Joe Mac said:
Can there Ares Mini be a core? I thought it was only capable of being an endpoint?

Anyway, not connected to the hifi system so it reduced noise. Computers and hard drives are noisy both in terms of sound and electronically so theoretically that can feed back into the system.

I have the NUC running all the time as a core. So my Sonos or hifi or whatever can always access it. It sits in my hallway connected to the router by Ethernet. I then have a box connected to my DAC by USB that is the end point.
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Ah okay...yea I have an internal SS HDD in the Aries Mini with the music stored on it, but Roon is running on my home desktop computer which is always plugged in. I don't have Sonos or any systems like that, so the Mini is plugged into my living room sound system right now. I'll eventually get a different/better DAC but for now have waited on buying any components like that until I decide what I want...I have been pretty happy with the setup thus far though and if/when I add Roon full time to it, I'll be even happier.
 
botherly said:
Which NUC did you use? i3? How's the performance? And how much energy does it use all the time, did you notice that at all? I have a small collection right now so I'm leaning to i3 but I can be convinced to go big.
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I bought the i7 but amazon shipped me the i5 so I got a significant chunk refunded 😂

It’s performance is excellent, it’s energy usage is insignificant and it has no problem dealing with 1TB files and qobuz streaming to different endpoints in high res at the same time. I have 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD for the ROCK os and a 2TB hybrid HDD for my files.
 
MikeH said:
Ah okay...yea I have an internal SS HDD in the Aries Mini with the music stored on it, but Roon is running on my home desktop computer which is always plugged in. I don't have Sonos or any systems like that, so the Mini is plugged into my living room sound system right now. I'll eventually get a different/better DAC but for now have waited on buying any components like that until I decide what I want...I have been pretty happy with the setup thus far though and if/when I add Roon full time to it, I'll be even happier.
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Yeah the NUC is a dedicated core doing what your computer does when it’s on. Basically I rarely have my computer turned on so I wanted a core that didn’t involve it being booted on every time I wanted to stream. Therefore the NUC is ideal.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah the NUC is a dedicated core doing what your computer does when it’s on. Basically I rarely have my computer turned on so I wanted a core that didn’t involve it being booted on every time I wanted to stream. Therefore the NUC is ideal.
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Got it. My comp is almost always on as it's synced to my work comp via dropbox so I always keep it updated. A NUC seems like it would be in the cards eventually as I move from an apartment to a house one day.
 
Joe Mac said:
I bought the i7 but amazon shipped me the i5 so I got a significant chunk refunded 😂

It’s performance is excellent, it’s energy usage is insignificant and it has no problem dealing with 1TB files and qobuz streaming to different endpoints in high res at the same time. I have 8GB RAM, a 128GB SSD for the ROCK os and a 2TB hybrid HDD for my files.
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Awesome okay. I'm still on the fence between models but I'm psyched. Setting up the NAS was stupidly simple, so I'm using that for storage (music plus work stuff). I love these little home networking things. I thought about building a custom computer but the NUC is just so easy.
 
botherly said:
Awesome okay. I'm still on the fence between models but I'm psyched. Setting up the NAS was stupidly simple, so I'm using that for storage (music plus work stuff). I love these little home networking things. I thought about building a custom computer but the NUC is just so easy.
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it is, especially as Roon has built the ROCK OS for you so it just needs flashing onto the little m2 SSD inside the NUC! I can’t imagine going another way with Roon tbh! You need it connected to a monitor for initial set up but once that’s done it runs completely headless, can control and manage it from any Roon remote, be that your computer/iPad etc.
 
Joe Mac said:
it is, especially as Roon has built the ROCK OS for you so it just needs flashing onto the little m2 SSD inside the NUC! I can’t imagine going another way with Roon tbh! You need it connected to a monitor for initial set up but once that’s done it runs completely headless, can control and manage it from any Roon remote, be that your computer/iPad etc.
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Haha alright I'm totally convinced now. Next month, that's my project.

I was just looking at Acousticsounds and they have hi res downloads... like $20 for a 96/24 download of Fleetwood Mac, for example, which is waaaay more than I'd be willing to spend.
 
botherly said:
Haha alright I'm totally convinced now. Next month, that's my project.

I was just looking at Acousticsounds and they have hi res downloads... like $20 for a 96/24 download of Fleetwood Mac, for example, which is waaaay more than I'd be willing to spend.
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Oh god yeah, me too. I either rip a CD or get the free high res dl with the vinyl, otherwise I add the high res or lossless file from qobuz to my Roon library!
 
Joe Mac said:
Oh god yeah, me too. I either rip a CD or get the free high res dl with the vinyl, otherwise I add the high res or lossless file from qobuz to my Roon library!
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Bandcamp downloads are relatively cheap, under $10, but man, these things are not cheat on HDTracks too...

Yo ho ho guess I'm flying the jolly roger once again boys!
 
botherly said:
Bandcamp downloads are relatively cheap, under $10, but man, these things are not cheat on HDTracks too...

Yo ho ho guess I'm flying the jolly roger once again boys!
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Yeah I always love buying an album direct from bandcamp, or get getting a bandcamp dl card with my record, because I know I’m getting a good quality file too!
 
botherly said:
Bandcamp downloads are relatively cheap, under $10, but man, these things are not cheat on HDTracks too...

Yo ho ho guess I'm flying the jolly roger once again boys!
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Yea I use bandcamp +Qobuz but for some stuff use redacted or other sources...I get music from everywhere. A cheap plug and play CD has been great too for ripping CDs
 
botherly said:
Haha alright I'm totally convinced now. Next month, that's my project.
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You will never look back :-) I've done the same recently (i3 NUC with ROCK) and while I'm still ripping my CDs, it completely changed the way I listen to digital files, and even how I buy records (a 2€ second hand CD that I can enjoy with Roon liner notes vs an OK-ish vinyl repress with poor packaging for 16€...). I was also very impressed by how it recognises obscure albums, like the boxset below, and automatically creates playlists/radios.IMG_20200214_023043.jpg
 
i still plan on buying some grado or sennheiser open back headphones to replace my M50s soon... i'll have to test hi res AFTER i get those headphones just in case that makes an impact (as i said i could have just broken my headphones and I reaaally wanna be more than just a normie)
 
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duke86fan said:
i still plan on buying some grado or sennheiser open back headphones to replace my M50s soon... i'll have to test hi res AFTER i get those headphones just in case that makes an impact (as i said i could have just broken my headphones and I reaaally wanna be more than just a normie)
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Check out the Drop.com version of the Send 650, the Senn 6xx. I have a pair and they sound really amazing for $200.
 
duke86fan said:
I'm pretty sure I just can't hear a difference between DACs

Like I felt no real difference between the audioquest black 1.5 years ago (before it broke) and my laptop's native headphone jack.. am I just hearing the wrong things, I don't remember any differences and I am pretty sure m50s should tell the difference even in super low bitrate mp3
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The m50s should definitely be able to resolve any differences.

Frankly, if I couldn't tell the difference, I might be happier. Less money chasing an ideal.
 
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