[Signal2Noise]

Hey folks!

I’m seeking out ideas to switch out my current streaming set up with a solid alternative. I’ve been running ROON ROCK on a bare bones Intel NUC (Core I7, 16 GB DDR4) for a couple of years. I now want to see what else is out there in the audio streaming world. I want to keep the NUC os-less, i.e. no Windows and I’m a complete luddite when it comes to Linux.

I was looking at installing/trying Volumio, JRiver, Daphile, and/or Audirvana (or other recommendation) to the NUC. This will run headless, as ROCK does, and access via an iOS or Android app. I think Volumio can be flashed direct to the SSD in the NUC. JRiver and Daphile could be installed via a pseudo OS called “SnakeOil” which I’m just learning about. Audirvana I think can only be installed on top of Windows or via Mac OS.

ROON has good documentation for NUC but other services, not so much.

Sure I could stick with ROON but the yearly sub is $$, lifetime even more $$$ and questionable longevity considering the Harman Kardon buyout. I’m willing to spend less money on another streamer software subscription option If needed.

Rest of the system that NUC pulls from and feeds to:

Synology NAS for audio libraries
Bluesound Nodes
SONOS
Eversolo DMP-A8
Qobuz
Amazon Music HD

I bought a new 250GB NVME M.2 to test out other streamer installs. I wanted to preserve the current NVME in the NUC with the ROCK installation in case things don’t pan out and can just slap it back in.

Thanks in advance for reading, offering any suggestions and shared experiences!

 

[jcn3]

Hey folks!

I’m seeking out ideas to switch out my current streaming set up with a solid alternative. I’ve been running ROON ROCK on a bare bones Intel NUC (Core I7, 16 GB DDR4) for a couple of years. I now want to see what else is out there in the audio streaming world. I want to keep the NUC os-less, i.e. no Windows and I’m a complete luddite when it comes to Linux.

I was looking at installing/trying Volumio, JRiver, Daphile, and/or Audirvana (or other recommendation) to the NUC. This will run headless, as ROCK does, and access via an iOS or Android app. I think Volumio can be flashed direct to the SSD in the NUC. JRiver and Daphile could be installed via a pseudo OS called “SnakeOil” which I’m just learning about. Audirvana I think can only be installed on top of Windows or via Mac OS.

ROON has good documentation for NUC but other services, not so much.

Sure I could stick with ROON but the yearly sub is $$, lifetime even more $$$ and questionable longevity considering the Harman Kardon buyout. I’m willing to spend less money on another streamer software subscription option If needed.

Rest of the system that NUC pulls from and feeds to:

Synology NAS for audio libraries
Bluesound Nodes
SONOS
Eversolo DMP-A8
Qobuz
Amazon Music HD

I bought a new 250GB NVME M.2 to test out other streamer installs. I wanted to preserve the current NVME in the NUC with the ROCK installation in case things don’t pan out and can just slap it back in.

Thanks in advance for reading, offering any suggestions and shared experiences!

if you're not going to use roon, then i'd just use your eversolo dmp-a8 and call it a day. everything i've read says its a great sounding streamer with a good selection of apps. no sense in making it any more complicated than necessary.

note: so says the person who has a synology nas (ripped library) > nuc running audiolinux/roon > nuc running hqplayer os > rpi4 running hqp naa . . ..

 

[markkr]

FWIW: Since I've added a DMP-A6MP, I've hardly used Roon.

 

[Signal2Noise]

The Eversolo app is fine. However, I find it very sensitive (iOS version on iPad) when, for example, browsing library and selecting tracks using the three dots to the right to add to the queue. Often instead of adding the track ends up playing, cutting off the track that was currently playing.

So what I'm really after is Music Player interface for browsing and sending to various devices. ROON does that well.

I have decided to load another M.2 SSD with Windows OS onto the NUC and try the likes of Audirvana and JRiver since they cannot be ran direct like ROON ROCK. Currently running Volumio which isn't too bad but does have its quirks and limitations.

 

[Mr Trev]

I've been a long time DAPhile user. Been working out well for myself.
DAPhile is a basic Gentoo install running LMS (Logitech Media Server), so it's pretty mature. A few things to consider… the build of Gentoo it's based on doesn't seem to be the most up to date, so there can be issues getting it to run on more modern hardware - I'm using an old i7 6700H laptop and don't have much issue, but some folks with newer wifi, etc. cards have been having connection issues. Also, there hasn't been any updates since last Jan. It is pretty stable, so that isn't too much of a problem, but LMS has just been updated to v.8.4 so that's not up to date anymore. Finally it's x86 only, but it sounds like your NUC should be good to go
The best thing is you can just create a bootable USB to try it out before installing it.

Since it's LMS based, there are plenty of apps that'll control it. Personally I use SqueezeCtrl, but there is also Squeezer and the Material Skin plugin (web based) that are free options.
I've tried Volumio a couple times on the same laptop, and it's always failed miserably. Half of the times I can't even get it to boot off the USB or install, the other half of the time it constantly freezes up

 

[Signal2Noise]

^
Very informative, Mr Trev. I have come across Daphile in my searches but the whole Linux thing scared me off. I shall revisit it. “Gentoo“ is a flavor of Linux I gather?

I gave up on Volumio. Too many limitations. I have a couple of weeks left on Audirvana Studio trial. I actually like it but too bad it’s completely Windows/Mac computer-based. I don’t really want to throw Windows onto the NUC if I can avoid it. It also doesn’t see a lot of my endpoints. I am still considering it just to run on a single desktop computer just for specific listening thru my Schiit Lyr+ setup.

 

[Mr Trev]

Gentoo is indeed a flavour of Linux (IIRC Volumio is based on Ubuntu).
The setup is pretty straight forward, no need to get your fingers dirty with typical Linux stuff (I loathe using Terminal).
My music is stored on my NAS, so I have it setup as a CIFS share - you can also use SMB if needed.
My primary DAC is a Topping D30 and its been absolutely bulletproof. Using my portable DAPs can be a bit wonky at times, but usually a quick reboot is the worst I need to do to sort it out

I'd say the biggest thing to consider is what gen. NUC you have. Some of the more recent models might not have a supported Wifi card(if you're not using wifi, that could be irrelevant), owing to the older Gentoo build. You could probably SSH into DAPhile and update the drivers yourself, but that's the sort of thing I hate having to do (and why I'm still using Windows).
I'd say the best thing would be to use Macrium (or something similar) to take an image of your existing build before you switch. I made sure to do this and when Volumio crapped the bed on me, I could restore my DAPhile to exactly as it was before.

 

[Signal2Noise]

I'd say the biggest thing to consider is what gen. NUC you have. Some of the more recent models might not have a supported Wifi card(if you're not using wifi, that could be irrelevant), owing to the older Gentoo build. You could probably SSH into DAPhile and update the drivers yourself, but that's the sort of thing I hate having to do (and why I'm still using Windows).
I'd say the best thing would be to use Macrium (or something similar) to take an image of your existing build before you switch. I made sure to do this and when Volumio crapped the bed on me, I could restore my DAPhile to exactly as it was before.

This is the unit I bought way back in 2021 for ROON. Added 16GB DDR4 2400MHz. It’s been solid. Have it all on ethernet, no wifi for the audio stuff.

10th Generation Intel Core i7-10710U (NUC10i7FNH1) with Intel UHD Graphics 300 MHz – 1 15 GHz

I shall do some more investigating. Cheers!