Roon has long offered hardware servers to complement its subscription-based service, enabling its users to store and stream their music library whilst taking full advantage of Roon's software.

The company recently acquired by Harman has already launched its flagship Nucleus Titan server and is now introducing the much more affordable Nucleus One, chopping US$500 off the Titan's entry price.

The Nucleus One replaces the previous, pricier Nucleus server with “updated hardware” and “cutting-edge performance”, according to the company. Roon touts the new Nucleus as an “attractively-priced turn-key device specifically intended for Roon's library management, music exploration, and multi-room music player software”.

The Nucleus One accommodates a 2.5-inch internal SATA drive (SSD or HDD) for an 8TB storage capacity, which you could load with roughly 10,000 albums or 100,000 tracks. Of course, Roon will sniff out your networked storage (NAS). The Nucleus One is equipped with two USB-A 3.0 ports, which allows more external storage to be included. Additionally, there is an audio-only HDMI socket.

The Nucleus One can also facilitate up to six zones of multi-room streaming. Under its modern matte black, high-quality polycarbonate enclosure (which resembles the Titan's chassis), a quiet internal fan helps keep the CPU within performance levels, while dual vents concealed in the wings of the enclosure ensure cool running.

Roon founder Enno Vandermeer told StereoNET:

That product [2007's Sooloos Music Server] had a five-figure retail price, and we've been on a mission ever since to develop something we could recommend to our friends and families. Nucleus One is the culmination of all our experience up to this point: a dedicated Roon server for the price of an off-the-shelf mini PC.

The Roon Nucleus One is available for pre-order, priced at US$499.

Visit Roon for more information