General thoughts, cost/benefit of Roon Nucleus and Nucleus+

[awkaplan]

I've never had a problem with Roon using ethernet from my server to my Devialet. That has worked flawlessly. I routinely stream DSD64 that way using Roon AIR but if I go to Devialet's site and l look at what they say about feeding DSD to the Devialet, they say that they don't recommend you use Devalet's AIR protocol for DSD because it can be unreliable. If ethernet was going to be a problem with Roon, I would expect DSD to show that problem up and it hasn't.

I have had problems with control. I control Roon from an iPad which communicates with my network over wifi. When I have problems they're wifi problem and I lose control but if I'm playing a record and there's tracks in the queue, the music keeps playing, Roon keeps streaming the data. Ethernet isn't where my problems occur, it's with the wifi connection from my iPad to the network.

You say ethernet via Roon is a "stuttering mess" but nothing else. If you want help or advice you have to tell us what's actually going wrong and saying it's a "stuttering mess" tells us nothing about what's going wrong. How are things connected (describe the wired connections and any wifi connections in the network path). When do the problems occur (during music playback, while you're performing control operations, when background operations are happening on your server and/or computer) and how do they manifest,and so on. Simply saying it's a "stuttering mess via Roon" gives us no information at all which would enable anyone to identify what the problems may be or come up with any suggestions which could help you.

Very good point about my Ethernet comment.  I had AT&T in because my unit is hardwired for CAT6.  They identified the cabling behind this metal panel, which simply hides the 5-6 leads coming from the CAT6 jacks, as well as the fiber connection point and CATV.  The installer identified the appropriate cable for the jack I wanted to use, using some sort of electronic tool.  Tonight, I plugged in that cable to Ethernet port 1 on my modem, and ran a CAT6 lead they left me to the Devialet from the wall.  I launched the configurator and made a profile disabling WiFi, loaded it up.  Roon recognized the Devialet and I was able to play tracks, but they would take ten or so seconds to load, and would cut in and out every few seconds.  I hope this all makes sense.

It was worse than any WiFi experience.  I’m not sure if it’s shoddy cabling and have no way right now of testing it out.  I could try another cable from the wall.  Ideally, I’d find a more powerful WiFi router that shows the actual strength of the connection to the Devialet.  Getting it to -45dBm would likely guarantee flawless playback, as it’s solid even up to 24/192 at -65dBm now.  I’ve been listening all day with almost flawless performance—a pop or drop here or there.

That describes the ethernet connection between your modem and the Devialet. It says nothing about the connection between Roon and your network but from your first post it seems that you're running Roon on a MacBook and that is connected to the network by wifi and you have mentioned wifi issues.


Since it seems that you're using the MacBook as your control for Roon, I'm going to suggest a different setup for you. Get a 5 port unmanaged ethernet network switch. Connect both your MacBook and your Devialet to it and connect it to your ethernet wall point. This is going to give you wired connections all the way and no need for a wifi connection. If that solves your problems then your problems aren't ethernet related, they're related to your wifi connection. Whatever the problem is, I think it's network related and using the switch to connect both Devialet and the MacBook to your network via a wired ethernet connection is the best network setup I can think of and definitely better than one which has that actual music being streamed over wifi for part of the signal path from MacBook to Devialet.

Perhaps I can get AT&T back out here.  Using iPhone primarily to control Roon.  Something has to be going on from my modem through the wiring in the wall to the Devialet to cause that performance issue.  Furthermore, I’d need a usb dongle for Ethernet.  If I can get the desk area wired as well as the issue solved with the Devialet-area outlet, that would be ideal.  But if the preexisting wiring is poor, I’m out of luck as the alternative is a mess of wires going across rooms.  I’m starting to think a wired NUC/Nucleus would take some pressure off the wireless router/modem, or a different wireless router, or both.  I just need to find the correct one with internal software that shows real-time dBm values.