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My current state of my downsizing is modem/router to Nucleus with Ethernet to KEF LS60 and HDMI to Sony HT A9. Control is via iMac, iPad, or M2 MacBook Air. Could I eliminate the Nucleus and the Ethernet, and run Roon core on the iMac or MacBook and rely on WiFi to active speakers?
A future possibility is that audio from Roon might go to the LS60 in the living room and to an LS X II or LS50 Wireless II in the bedroom via WiFi if I move to a one bedroom apartment in a deluxe retirement community.
Follow Ups:
If I move to a one bedroom apartment at the local retirement community, the Nucleus will connect to the LS60 via Ethernet in the living room. eARC from the 75" Sony TV will connect to a KEF LSH II in the bedroom. Roon recognizes the Nucleus, Sony TVs, LS60, and HT A9, and I suspect it will recognize a Roon-ready LSX II as well.
The remaining decision is a vintage setup comprised of Ayre C5 disc player, AX7e integrated, with KEF Reference 1s along with LS60 and HT A9 in the living room of a small apartment. I suppose I could try it, and if it's too much abandon the idea. The components could sit with the Nucleus in a small rack below the 85" TV, but 3 pairs of speakers?
That's a lot of gear for a 1-bedroom Apt! Maybe set a goal to get your primary setup configured and working perfectly then tinker with the less important secondary system.
Good luck!
I don't really want a vintage setup, just reluctant to let the KEF Reference 1s go. In the living room I envision the LS60s flanking the 85" Sony with the front Sony HT A9 speakers a bit outboard. The Nucleus and Ayre DX-5 DSD will reside in a small rack below the TV. In the bedroom, a pair of KEF LSH IIs will flank the 75" Sony and use eARC.
With 3 meals a day, fitness, and other activities, I may not spend much time in the apartment. Casa is based in a Montecito mansion on a large estate to which buildings and facilities have been added. A number of the units are used as retreats by the got-bucks folks.
Staying in house rather than moving to retirement community, but still downsizing.
I use Roon on my iMac and with Sonos Five speakers and Sub over WiFi virtually without issue and have for the past five years.
I learned that lesson moving to gigabit fiber where my access points were able to operate as designed delivering between 250-650 Mbps.
My garage system has always been bandwidth bound. Didn't work at all in semi-attached location without placing an access point there. Nor did our security camera for that matter. And still required that I supplement the RPi3's internal WiFi with an external unit. For many years, I was getting only about 20-30 Mbps in that space. Experienced occasional buffering with even 96/24 content when first selected.
After replacing the access point with a faster multi channel one used previously for work, I was now getting about 250 Mbps. Discovered that I no longer needed the external USB antenna on the RPi for sustained 192/24 content. Non issue now.
Using new, high bandwidth access point(s) or mesh systems should work just fine for most content.
I have been streaming Hirez over WiFi for several years w/o any issues. My router/WiFi transceiver is on the second floor and I have a Decco mesh network set up with a wireless "node" on my system's rack on the first floor. It can work with good equipment, signal and reasonable bandwidth. I do not use Roon.Due to my houses geometry running a LAN cable is very challenging.
Gsquared
Edits: 08/06/24 08/06/24
I drilled holes to accommodate Ethernet in my house but doubt I can do that in an apartment at the retirement community. Ethernet in the living room would be easy.
I have an unused M2 Mini I bought to replace my iMac but then discovered how expensive displays are. I could run Roon core in the Mini and send WiFi to active Roon-ready speakers in the bedroom. Alternatively, Roon sees the Sony "smart TVs" and eARC provides high quality audio via HDMI that might drive Roon ready KEF LSX II or LS50 Wireless II. Is my 88 year old thinking flawed?
Why don't you connect the Mac Mini to the Sony TV using an HDMI cable, then use the Sony TV as your Mac display.
I could connect the M2 Mini to the Sony, but for now I like the 2015 iMac, but it can't run the current OS nor an ap or two I've encountered. Nevertheless, I'll continue using it until I break down and buy a replacement iMac-equivalent display for the M2 Mini. I do use the 85" Sony to display Roon when I'm using the iPad as controller.
If you were looking at Apple displays for your Mac Mini then yes they are pricey! I think my LG brand 27-inch display was about $200. They have some that are a little more and a little less. I use the LG display on my office Mac Mini that I'm using right now to post this message.If you drill a small hole in the wall just above the baseboard maybe behind a piece for furniture or fake plant I don't think anyone will notice. And when they do notice you'll probably be "checking out" anyway! Not to sound disrespectful but probably true. Worse case is they charge you a few bucks to patch the hole. No wait! Worse case was the "checking out" part. Sorry ;-)
Edits: 08/06/24
What you propose should work as long as the iMac or MacBook running the server (core) meets the minimum hardware specs and your wifi is solid. It doesn't take much (see graphic).
Would you also be relying on wifi for the server-to-router connection or would that be ethernet? I'd recommend hardwiring as much as you can manage. The Roon community generally prefers wired connections over wifi, but there are plenty of folks using wireless with good results. It's more to do with reliability than sound quality. Why not do some experimenting now?
I've never tried to use Roon in a KEF environment, but the reports are uniformly positive.
. . . in theory, practice and theory are the same; in practice, they are different . . .
I think Roon is (rightfully) very conservative on their Roon Server (core) requirements. I say that because I am easily able to use my modest Synology NAS with low-end Intel Celeron J4125 4-core 2.0 GHz CPU for Core and no SSD for the Roon database.
It works perfectly fine with no issues BUT... In this NAS setup I don't run any DSP or sample rate conversions and my Library is a modest 12,000 tracks or so. If I'm experimenting with DSP and sample-rate conversions I'll run Roon on the Mac Mini M1.
You can do everything you mentioned including streaming via Roon over WiFi to the KEF speakers using native Roon RAAT protocol as those speakers are certified Roon Ready.However, I would not recommend running Core on a computer that is used for other everyday tasks. Sure it will work, but my strong preference is to use a dedicated computer.
As an aside, for streaming / computer based audio I will always choose hardwired Ethernet over WiFi when possible even though WiFi might work perfectly fine. I have seen more users with music streaming problems that point back to network issues than anything else.
It is always simpler to troubleshoot hardwired Ethernet as it generally either works great or it doesn't work at all. WiFi has so many more unknown variables 'in between'. There is a higher likelihood of dropouts over WiFi vs Ethernet especially with higher resolution music. And this is not just 'theory' as some inmates right here in the Asylum have reported exactly that, having to revert to lower resolution playback. But I'm talking about CD quality or 24/96 vs pushing the envelope with higher-res content. This applies to Roon or any other streaming protocol.
Edits: 08/06/24
I use only wired ethernet in my setup. I have a pair of KEF LS50Ws in my bedroom and wifi, even with an extender doesn't work reliably. I just don't think using wifi for a hifi system in advisable at all. Wire it up.
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