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General thoughts, cost/benefit of Roon Nucleus and Nucleus+
#1
Hey team, so I'm dealing with a lot of stuff in my system right now, from the cosmetic (yellowing front button; Devialet said give the engineers a month) to the neighborly (how to avoid noise complaints) to the "practical" (new speakers or at least cable).  So glad to get help and support on this forum.

So, I was on the fence about Roon.  I first tried it with release 1.5 and wasn't thrilled with the sound as compared to the Devialet AIR app.  My listening is almost entirely Tidal.  Sacrilege, I know.  I canceled my Roon trial, and was subsequently offered an extra 30 days at any time if I wanted to return. 

A few days ago, I took them up on the offer, as I had been experiencing dropouts almost daily with AIR.  I'm in a weird spot—I like the way AIR sounds over WiFi (even with the app) both ways (computer <-> router <-> Dev), no ethernet.  My unit is new construction and actually hardwired (albeit arguably improperly) with Cat6 of uncertain quality.  It's ready to go as I had a service call dealing with it.  I use AT&T fiber and their included modem/router, which has surprisingly good software but limited antenna strength.  It allows some deep tinkering, and shows the signal strength to each device—something I can't seem to find in consumer WiFi routers.  

So, for now, I have a -60dBm avg signal to my Devialet on the 5ghz channel showing no transmission errors, sharing the radio only with my laptop, an improvement from -79dBm when I had it stowed away near the control panel in a closet.  I hear the occasional disturbance, but that's typically if I'm queuing something up.  I have some generic Cat6 on deck if I want to really try the hardwire route for a few days.  I keep the channel fixed and the 2.4ghz radio at reduced power.  All other devices besides the Dev and the laptop (Nest, iPhones, etc.) go on the 2.4ghz network. 

I went back to Roon, and I feel that 1.6 really pushed the sound quality forward.  It just sounds better.  Even with the laptop.  I'm using my (don't laugh) 2011 MacBook Air i7 as the core, connected via WiFi (don't want to use an ethernet dongle, but there's a port just by my desk), the iPhone as the remote, and WiFi for Roon AIR.  I keep the laptop running lean, and it seems speedy enough.  Not a massive library.

So here are my questions.  Trust me, I've been admonished enough for not using ethernet by my cable guy, but here's what I'd pose:

1.  Would I see a marked improvement in audio performance over the laptop if I went for a Nucleus or Nucleus+ and paired it with an excellent ethernet lead?  I was thinking going with the Nucleus+ to have some headroom and Synergistic's entry-level 1m lead.  Or would this be absolute overkill in a system at the near-10k mark?  I like Synergistic because they're down the street from me and are pretty direct about the benefits of their products, in my experience.  

2.  Is the quality of the cable in the wall a reasonable deterrent to using ethernet if I have a relatively stable WiFi signal?  Devialet suggests at least -55dBm if not -45dBm, but that has been seemingly difficult with 5ghz.   2.4ghz has too many transmission errors, but can achieve a stronger signal.  I'm also surprised Devialet doesn't display numerical signal strength in the menus.  I'd like to keep the Dev connected via WiFi if I can—one less cable.  And I don't want to snake 2 grand of cable through my unit to avoid the wall wires and perhaps see a marginal improvement.

3.  I'm willing to invest in a monster WiFi router if I can get the Devialet below -55dBm, but I need the software to show me the signal strength of connected devices.  I'd like to be able to tuck the router away again.  Any thoughts?  Haven't seen the feature on consumer routers—display of real number. 

I'm sure more questions will come up.  If I don't touch my speakers this year, I'll have plenty budgeted for the Nucleus or Nucleus+ and other less substantial upgrades. 

Thanks in advance—I know there's been some discussion of the Nucleus, so I hope these questions aren't redundant.
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General thoughts, cost/benefit of Roon Nucleus and Nucleus+ - by awkaplan - 12-Feb-2019, 04:46

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