What's the attraction of Roon?

[ianlenco]

I see frequent references to Roon but given its price and the fact that you still need to subscribe to a streaming service I wonder why so many people think it's worthwhile subscribing.

[struth]

its a good orginiser of your music, and your steaming all in one place. it links all your stuff to info about them and other music to try etc. you can link lots of endpoints too.
its not the bee all to be honest and i do have jriver that i use , mostly now for ripping etc but if i can afford it for now i will keep roon.
there will no doubt come a point where i cant. jriver is decent second best and miles cheaper(plus you own it)

[Stratmangler]

I see frequent references to Roon but given its price and the fact that you still need to subscribe to a streaming service I wonder why so many people think it's worthwhile subscribing.

Because it organises everything for you, and can pull up all sorts of background information on what you're playing, and what you might also like to listen to.

The last bit is something I detest (I'd rather not hear something that sounds like someone it's not), the middle bit is something I do myself if I want to learn more, and the first bit I do anyway when I rip stuff.
On top of that you need a decently specced machine to run the core on, and then there's the subscription.

I run LMS, have Qobuz and Spotify running on it, and have a large local library that I organise and control.

[mikeyb]

I've had about 5 trials of Roon and just don't get it, just a glorified search engine as far as I'm concerned, now using Logitech Media Server with the Material Skin and that gives me more than Roon offers, and it's free, although I've donated a few times for LMS, Material Skin and Moode Audio that I use.

[Boyse6748]

I see frequent references to Roon but given its price and the fact that you still need to subscribe to a streaming service I wonder why so many people think it's worthwhile subscribing.

Hi Ian, a very difficult question to quantify unless you actually use Roon.
I have been a Roon subscriber almost since inception and the hold for me is that all my music is in one place regardless of where its actually located. Obviously, I also subscribe to Tidal and Qobus and well as my collection of NAS or Cloud Flac files.

The Roon interface seamlessly integrates all of my digital music in a way no other program that I know of can do.

The interface also has the ability to integrate almost any Source / DAC with total ease and todate has been faultless and just gets better at every update.

Roon Radio is a revelation and appears to play music that is in my head before it even plays. ( Very Cleaver).

The are too many good virtues to mention and very few bad. Yes, I agree the lifetime subscription is expensive, but I still consider this interface to be great value.

My system consists of NUC ( Roon Server) into a Microrendu / Myteck Brooklyn DAC.

Roon Remote is either my Microsoft Surface or Ipad or Android S20+

As you may have already gathered.... I'm a bit of a fan.

What intreques me is MQA and or High resolution music files against standard Red Book files.... which are often just as good.

Additionally, The Meta data information is almost as good as reading a Vinyl album, although being digital..... yer can't touch it .

I still play a lot of Vinyl... but that's because I'm an old bloke and have a fairly large collection, however, no regrets going down the Roon path.

Here endeth the sermon

No doubt many would disagree, but I personally love it.



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[Edward]

I see frequent references to Roon but given its price and the fact that you still need to subscribe to a streaming service I wonder why so many people think it's worthwhile subscribing.

I use Roon extensively and others have summarised the good (and bad points).

Why not try Roon and either Tidal or Quboz and see for yourself? All three services offer decent free trials (and I think without having to give your payment details).

What hardware you got? You don't need much. I set someone up (a user here) on a duo-core celeron machine and that works just great (for years).

[ianlenco]

Hi Guys, many thanks for your detailed replies. I currently use a RPi 4 running Volumio and have had a subscription to Qobuz for quite some time. Qobuz has biographies of artists, suggestions I might like and many Hi Res albums. I also have a powered USB hard disc containing about 400 ripped CD's. I'm not interested in multi-room abilities so this set up works very well for me. I don't think I really need Roon so thanks for your help.

[Rocky]

The main advantages for me

1, I can control all my speakers and systems from one interface. So if I want Bob Dylan on the Naim NQ in the kitchen, I press a few buttons, while I also have Nine Inch Nails on my Audio Pro C5 in my bedroom etc. No other programme does this. Full control of all my audio devices is just bliss. The ability to 'group' systems also, from different manufacturers is brilliant.

2. The interface/OS is light years ahead of anything else, and just works so politely and brings so much else, even lyrics to the party. You can also have the interface on your TV using a ChromeCast.

3. The storage and organisation is simple, effective and just works.


The downsides

1, You need to have some able technical knowledge to problem solve.

2. the Roon forum is full of fanboys that would burn your house down if you dissed Roon

3. Roons arrogrance overall, especially with the price hike

[Paulie72]

Hi Ian, a very difficult question to quantify unless you actually use Roon.
I have been a Roon subscriber almost since inception and the hold for me is that all my music is in one place regardless of where its actually located. Obviously, I also subscribe to Tidal and Qobus and well as my collection of NAS or Cloud Flac files.

The Roon interface seamlessly integrates all of my digital music in a way no other program that I know of can do.

The interface also has the ability to integrate almost any Source / DAC with total ease and todate has been faultless and just gets better at every update.

Roon Radio is a revelation and appears to play music that is in my head before it even plays. ( Very Cleaver).

The are too many good virtues to mention and very few bad. Yes, I agree the lifetime subscription is expensive, but I still consider this interface to be great value.

My system consists of NUC ( Roon Server) into a Microrendu / Myteck Brooklyn DAC.

Roon Remote is either my Microsoft Surface or Ipad or Android S20+

As you may have already gathered.... I'm a bit of a fan.

What intreques me is MQA and or High resolution music files against standard Red Book files.... which are often just as good.

Additionally, The Meta data information is almost as good as reading a Vinyl album, although being digital..... yer can't touch it .

I still play a lot of Vinyl... but that's because I'm an old bloke and have a fairly large collection, however, no regrets going down the Roon path.

Here endeth the sermon

No doubt many would disagree, but I personally love it.



Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

I could not better sum up how i like Roon. I too use it with both Qobuz and Tidal. I have multiple devices connected. I can even use Roon on my phone wil using in my car.

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