morphsci

So I have been running Roon as my go to audio software for listening to my digital library and integrating it with Tidal and Qobuz. The software works very well and they have kept upgrades. I have been using a 2018 Mac mini to run my Roon server and it has worked very well though not without a few hiccups in keeping it running on a continuous basis. A picture of that setup is below. It consisted of the mac mini and a 10 TB USB disk to hold my library and Roon backups, a 27” monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse. The previous generation of Roon nucleus appliances were quite pricey compared to the Mac mini so I never really considered buying one. However when they announced the Nucleus One for $499 that changed everything. The nucleus has an advantage over the Mac mini as you can install an additional drive internally to hold your library so even with my $600 8TB SSD the price was actually less than the Mac mini and external USB drive. Obviously the Mac is capable of doing more than the Nucleus but I was only using it as a Roon server. So the primary goal was to simplify the setup and hopefully provide a more stable platform with higher up time. Replacing the Mac with the Nucleus One allowed me to get rid of the pieces below. This is all now doing duty as an additional workstation in our guest room. The new audio system is below. It has been very reliable and has been running continuously as long as power and the network is up. It also comes back up with absolutely no intervention when power/network connectivity is restored. It has also motivated me to reconfigure my network as we have both a personal network as well as the University network. Prior to this last week neither my Ropiee devices nor Roon Arc worked. But after a weeks worth of network reconfiguring and port forwarding hell, everything works correctly. I now have the Oppo attached directly to the network via a Ropiee device and I was able to use my iPad to connect to my Roon server from work using Roon Arc. I am happy with the purchase and most people with standard home networks should be able to get everything working in a day. The longest part will be transferring your library to the internal disk if you decide to go that route. It does have two USB ports on the back so you can also use an external disk. EDIT Note. Corrected price of Nucleus one from $599 to $499

Hah! That last one was my High School, but I was long gone by 1982!

Happy Birthday redux, Jose!

Happy Birthday, Jose!

Happy Birthday, Birgir!

I think I would have used the term didactic cuntery just because it sounds more descriptive, but that is me.

Happy Birthday, Kerry!

One of the true class acts in both sports and life. We lost a great one. Say hey to the big guy for me. You will be missed.

I hear The Donald is looking for work and he has tiny hands.

Built a vent board for our van AC unit that fits in the back window since they do not provide one and the only prebuilt one was really pretty cheap. This one is much more solid. Outside view inside view. We are almost ready for van life, which starts this Saturday.

Happy Birthday, Shelly!

So Thursday we drove to Manchester, VT and toured Hildene for most of the day and then went to dinner at The Copper Grouse where Karen had a super Coq au Vin and I had an excellent orange duck. On Friday we attended a one-day Fly-fishing course at Orvis which was a hell of a lot of fun. After the course was over we used our 20% off coupon to buy two of their mid tier fly-rods and reels. Then we went for dinner at The Reluctant Panther and had an excellent lobster and Brie fondue appetizer. Karen had a nice, thick bone-in pork chop and I had an excellent lamb sirloin steak. Drove home on Saturday and picked up the dogs from the doggie pet resort. Nice relaxing mini vacation that we both needed.

I agree with this 100%. I thought he was outstanding in that role.

A Belated Happy Birthday, Doug!

I can’t believe I missed this A very belated birthday wish for you. Cheers to another year of fabulous cocktails!

Well that was the Canadian side. I will say nothing more. It was a pretty whirlwind trip. We drove to Niagara Falls and stayed overnight on the Ontario side. The las photograph in the previous post was from our room on the 30th floor of the Marriott Fallsview Hotel. Tuesday we drove back over to the US side and went on a three-hour tour of the various state parks associated with the falls. Stayed overnight in Utica, NY which is approximately half way. Had an excellent lasagna pizza for dinner. We drove back today and picked up our new rescue dog, Junie and now we are chilling at home until we pick up BearCub from the Doggie Spa at 4:00 pm.

A Belated Happy Birthday, Nate!

Guess where we are

Happy Birthday, Naaman!

Belated happy birthday wishes, Dan!

Happy Birthday, Steve! or should I say Happy Birthday, Woody! 😮

Happy Birthday, Jeff!

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Happy Birthday, Adam!

I can actually see its value, but for me the actual value is way less than its price.