Roon Nucleus

I ditched analog completely but that’s another discussion...I have been using Bluesound for the past 2 years, Node and Vault, but have found it almost as buggy as iTunes on a PC, and the Blue OS App is nothing special, essentially mimicking iTunes.  With all the Bluesound crashes I began to realize that storing my CDs in a proprietary HD was a problem.  Much better to have them on a NAS and then I could pick the playback mechanism, etc.
  So Bought a Synology NAS and was able to transfer the Vault contents to that and have resumed ripping CDs.  Since Roon is the flavor of the month I tried the free download.  It took forever for Roon to scan the 800 CDs on the NAS., almost 24 hours.  The Mac Air overheated and kept freezing up until I removed the Roon software.  I was also unimpressed sonically, with a distinct flattening of the soundstage.
  I know bubkes about IT, but it appeared that the Roon software, which must be extensive, overwhelmed the Computer.  I am guessing that I am not the only person that has had this issue and that Roon has realized that their product may perform better on a dedicated Linux Computer optimized to run their product.  I am also guessing that they just don’t want to come out and say this, because they don’t want to discourage people from buying the software.
  I do find it annoying that the Audio Reviewers, including J.A., choose not to even pose the ?why? question in their reviews.  When it comes to collusion, the Audiophile mags and the manufacturers could show Trump and the Russians a thing or two...
 At any  rate, I am wondering if the sonic issues that I and others have noted with Roon are improved with the Nucleus

I am glad that there are a lot of happy Roon users out there.  All I’m saying is that I seem to suspect that there also people like me, where it doesn’t so smoothly....it’s a big mother of a program, after all.  And I still haven’t seen an explanation as to why Roon is now selling hardware.  I seem to recall their CEO in their early days stating that their goal was partner with as many hardware companies as possible, but not to compete with them

Just saw the May 2018 issue of hi fi + featuring a review of the Nucleus by Chris Matthews.
”I had been running the Roon software...for over a year now and one of the issues has been that running it requires a decent amount of processing power.  A tablet won’t do it, so I have been using a MacBook.  It works well enough but that essentially means that the computer is out of bounds while the music is playing.  What has been needed is a separate and dedicated computer for running the Roon Core, linked to the network to assemble and collate the metadata as well as providing an extensive view of the library through your tablet.  Utilizing the Mac also led to some occasionally clunky and irritating reboot moments...”

Pretty much confirms what I thought.  Roon almost fried my computer and ran quite poorly.  Matthews then goes on to extol the virtues of the Nucleus +.  Regrettably, he doesn’t compare the sound of Roon from his Mac vs the Nucleus +

I second that.
I have spent a significant amount of time these Holidays dealing with yet another Bluesound snafu..  I have wasted more time with this product and am looking to move on...plug and play sounds good to me.