[Zuman]

I've been running Roon with three Windows-based Cores since 2016; first with a dedicated but very underpowered Asus mini pc I stuffed myself, then with an i5-based desktop that was used for general home office work as well, and - for the past year - with a powerful i7 laptop designed for gaming, but which I use for photo storage and editing (it has a 8TB internal drive and 32GB RAM).
But I've always been annoyed by Windows' updates and restarts, and with the multiple demands on the laptop, it can be just plain inconvenient. Additionally, the fan on my laptop has recently been driving me nuts during music listening. So I decided to buy a NUC and configure it for and with Roon's ROCK to serve as my Roon Core.
I could have done it a bit cheaper, but I watched this video and bought the same NUC from Amazon:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djzWU_gA07M
Rather than buying the M.2 drive and RAM separately, I just bought the NUC already loaded with a 512GB M.2 and 16GB of RAM for $639. Not exactly cheap, but only 1/4 the price of a Roon Nucleus+. I overspec'd it a bit to allow for a bit of extra margin for future Roon resource demands that may arise. I didn't need any internal music storage because the Core controls an NAD M50.2 digital vault/player that houses all my tracks.
Anyway, I'm very happy. It took me about an hour to get it up and running, and it hasn't hiccupped at all, including with DSP demands. I don't fully understand all of the tech, but it can happily play 352.8kHz HD tracks. And...according to just about everyone, it just quietly sits there, running and not shutting down and failing to automatically restart and relaunch like happened so often with Windows. It sits near my equipment rack, and either the thermally-activated fan isn't running or it's vewwy, vewwy qwiet.
If you're thinking about a dedicated Roon Core, it's definitely worth checking out.

[GeorgeAb]

Congrats! I have been running a 7i5 NUC for a number of years. I have the fanless case, but I have used a NUC with fan and I couldn't hear it at my listening position. I can run multiple zones with complicated 11 band DSP with 2,700 albums and 33,000 tracks and 7i5 is not even breathing heavy. It just gets by at DSD 128 so I use DSD 64 for few albums I have in DSD. Good indicator of how efficient the Roon Linux based operating system is. Turn it on and forget it. It has just been flawless.

Now you can start tweaking. I did not notice a differene with a linear power supply (YMMV, I do use with linear power supply). I do have Singxer Su-6 DDC between NUC and DAC. It improved things a tad, but could be because of use of I2s vice USB. I did like the DDC enough to get another SU-1 for raspberry pi I use for another endpoint.

[jpm]

I did not notice a differene with a linear power supply.

I guess this is one to file under YMMV - until about 6 weeks ago I ran a NUC6i5 that I felt enjoyed a small benefit from running off my HDPlex power supply. My new NUC11i7 has run from the HDPlex from day 1 so I can't compare with / without on that.

As regards ROCK, my hat's off to ROON for enabling us to build cores so affordably that run so reliably. Never a hint of a problem ever with mine.

[artur9]

Within the last 2 weeks I just got a super cheap PC with Ubuntu on it for the same purpose.  I replaced Ubuntu with Debian and installed Roon Server/Core.  Loaded a backup and so far, so good!

With ROCK, can the NUC also be an NFS server?  That's the only reason I didn't use ROCK.

[Mike B.]

I recently ditched Win 10 on my I-7 NUC. I am currently using Linux Mint. I am new to using the Terminal commands and was not able to get Roon to load.

[Zuman]

I'm using neither Windows nor Linux on my NUC...except that Roon ROCK is a custom version of Linux with one sole purpose. I have very little idea of what I'm talking about, so here's Roon's summary of ROCK:
-It is completely free ($0)
-It is an alternative to Windows/MacOS/Ubuntu/Arch/etc...
-It runs Roon (The stock Linux RoonServer to be exact), but does not come with a Roon membership.
-It is an extremely lightweight Linux-based operating system. Much more on the scale of an embedded machine than a desktop or server operating system
-It is a turn-key image with all required pieces to make a Linux based Roon appliance without any prior knowledge of Roon or Linux
-It auto-updates in an experience similar to Roon, integrated fully into the Roon Remotes' Settings->About  page
-OS updates will blow away any "custom" changes you may have made to the OS, so we do not recommend you try to tweak the OS
-It provides a web browser-based configuration for networking setup, factory reset, power/reboot, etc...
-It can not run additional software, nor does it support any customizations or modifications to the operating system
-It has working multichannel digital audio output support (if the hardware has a working HDMI or DisplayPort connector).

[artur9]

I recently ditched Win 10 on my I-7 NUC. I am currently using Linux Mint. I am new to using the Terminal commands and was not able to get Roon to load.

I use Debian because it doesn't come with anything extra that might interfere with my objectives (old unix hand here).  Even Ubuntu presented problems with its auto update.

The instructions Roon provides for installing RoonServer/Core worked fine.  I'm curious what you run into?
Then again, if you don't mind wiping the NUC you might just want to boot off a thumb drive with ROCK on it.

[Mike B.]

I use Debian because it doesn't come with anything extra that might interfere with my objectives (old unix hand here).  Even Ubuntu presented problems with its auto update.

The instructions Roon provides for installing RoonServer/Core worked fine.  I'm curious what you run into?
Then again, if you don't mind wiping the NUC you might just want to boot off a thumb drive with ROCK on it.

I might go that route. I had hoped to keep a minimal desktop application as well.
I am downloading the application. It does not automatically unpack. I have tried several sudo commands like sudo apt install and sudo dpkg. I regularly update. 

[artur9]

I might go that route. I had hoped to keep a minimal desktop application as well.
I am downloading the application. It does not automatically unpack. I have tried several sudo commands like sudo apt install and sudo dpkg. I regularly update.

I think I know what you're referring to.  I apt-installed ffmpeg and cifs-utils (samba).  After running the installer I uninstalled cifs/samba as I don't want those.  Roon continued to work fine.

The oddity about the installer is that it requires (iirc) a particular sh program, I think bash or gnu sh.

I'd have to run through it again to confirm.   Feel free to send me the output you get and that'll jog my memory.