Harman acquires Roon

[staticV3]

Harman acquires Roon

https://news.harman.com/releases/harman-acquires-roon-a-popular-multi-device-multi-room-audio-technology-platform

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[AdamG]

Harman acquires Roon

https://news.harman.com/releases/harman-acquires-roon-a-popular-multi-device-multi-room-audio-technology-platform

www.audiosciencereview.com

Duplicate threads merged here. Thank you for helping us keep the office organized Sir.

 

[Galliardist]

Has there been an email from Roon to their subscribers yet? The most recent emails I received from Roon were about 3 months for $3…

I took the three months for $3 offer, and two days later...

The likely route is that it is on its way back to running on special hardware as I understood Sooloos did. Why would a big audio company want something that runs on generic computers?

The other point not made yet is that an audio company with apparently no licensing experience is acquiring this. That will make all those other companies with Roon Ready reevaluate that option, given that Roon has sometimes required pretty big changes to products to get there, and can lock a product out at any time, as already demonstrated.

This could also be the start of a trend. HEOS does not have a good reputation - will Masimo be tempted to pursue Audirvana or even Volumio to compete? Or even one of the lossless streaming services?

I find myself looking at this as another move like the BMI sale that could fragment audio streaming and provision. Maybe the Lenbrook acquisition of MQA falls into this picture as well.

We could wake up one day soon and find ourselves having to run multiple devices to get multiple streaming services for different catalogues, going from a much better situation than video streaming to an even worse one.

Anyway, I'm a cynic and overthinking this, but we should at least keep our eyes open.

 

[Galliardist]

I just had two emails from Roon, asking me to take up the offer I already did. Maybe the takeover will lead to better communication with customers, if not on day one?

 

[suttondesign]

Question: I use roon to access my headless mac mini music server with Tidal through ipads and iphones. Is there anything besides roon for that? Jriver only accesses my stored music, but most of my music now is tidal.

 

[Matias]

Question: I use roon to access my headless mac mini music server with Tidal through ipads and iphones. Is there anything besides roon for that? Jriver only accesses my stored music, but most of my music now is tidal.

WiiM Pro.

 

[norcalscott]

Roon acquired by Harman International

Roon acquired by Harman International In 2015, our tiny team of Sooloos/Meridian veterans created a one-page website that teased a new way to browse, discover, and listen to music. In nearly nine incredible years since, we’ve introduced ten successive versions of Roon, built the world’s broadest...

community.roonlabs.com

Lot of glad handing and overbaked optimism in the comments for this posting. I suspect that not much will change right away, but eventually a lot will change, and based on my experiences with acquisitions like this, probably not for the good.

 

[NiagaraPete]

Question: I use roon to access my headless mac mini music server with Tidal through ipads and iphones. Is there anything besides roon for that? Jriver only accesses my stored music, but most of my music now is tidal.

Plex

 

[BillG]

Question: I use roon to access my headless mac mini music server with Tidal through ipads and iphones. Is there anything besides roon for that? Jriver only accesses my stored music, but most of my music now is tidal.

Logitech Media Server. Its current DSP plug-ins aren't as sophisticated as Roon's DSP engine, but they're sufficient for the vast majority of end users.

 

[Chrispy]

Interesting development. Curious how it will work out (or not). I never found any value in Roon so never bought in myself.

 

[theREALdotnet]

Question: I use roon to access my headless mac mini music server with Tidal through ipads and iphones. Is there anything besides roon for that?

Audirvana.

 

[JSmith]

I don't think there is much to worry about... Harman will use Roon to compete with Sonos in the multi-room streaming arena.


JSmith

 

[Galliardist]

Question: I use roon to access my headless mac mini music server with Tidal through ipads and iphones. Is there anything besides roon for that? Jriver only accesses my stored music, but most of my music now is tidal.

In terms of applications - Audirvana. It doesn't have the DSP capabilities of Roon, you'd need plugins, and the interface isn't as detailed. I trialled Audirvana once and it had issues with DLNA connection to my old Oppo used as a DAC, that is apparently solved now.

I wouldn't quit Roon just yet though.

 

[beeface]

TBH over the last six years, Samsung hasn't been as brutal about gutting Harman as I expected them to be. Revel's home speakers for example probably make up a fraction of one percent of Samsung's overall revenue.

My immediate thought is that Harman is just buying Roon for their tech so they can start making JBL soundbars and speakers to compete with Sonos. It will be interesting to see where that leaves legacy users, though.

 

[Galliardist]

I don't think there is much to worry about... Harman will use Roon to compete with Sonos in the multi-room streaming arena.


JSmith

Harman will use Roon technology to compete. Do you think they really want to take on supporting a multifaceted piece of multiplatform software that currently only has a "community" support model?

Some changes, at least, are coming. Maybe the best we can hope for is a cheaper, improved Nucleus.

 

[Steven Holt]

“Our team is ecstatic to join HARMAN, a visionary company that has been leading the audio industry forward for decades,” said Enno Vandermeer, CEO of Roon. **Bullshit meter goes thru the roof** I suspect that the only thing this guy is estatic about is the multimilliion buyout package he's getting.

 

[mhardy6647]

We could wake up one day soon and find ourselves having to run multiple devices to get multiple streaming services for different catalogues, going from a much better situation than video streaming to an even worse one.

Like watching "television"!

 

[kemmler3D]

“Our team is ecstatic to join HARMAN, a visionary company that has been leading the audio industry forward for decades,” said Enno Vandermeer, CEO of Roon. **Bullshit meter goes thru the roof** I suspect that the only thing this guy is estatic about is the multimilliion buyout package he's getting.

Probably not total BS. At least to the extent that "ecstatic" can be an appropriate word for how you feel about a business acquisition. Nobody forced them to sell, plus Harman actually has advanced the industry quite a bit.

I think we are all concerned about mismanagement by Samsung, but I don't see that they've interfered too much with Harman so far, disrupting a sub-subsidiary would probably not be worth the bother.

 

[AudioJester]

I suspect that the only thing this guy is estatic about is the multimilliion buyout package he's getting.

If thats true - well done! I mean Ronn is not quite 10yrs old, good for him, savvy business

 

[Open Mind Audio]

HARMAN Acquires Roon, a popular Multi-Device, Multi-Room Audio Technology Platform

STAMFORD, CT – November 27, 2023 – HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer, and enterprise markets, today announced the acquisition of Roon, the music management,...

news.harman.com

At least the Verge guy reporting on this (Nilay Patel) has a sense of humor: "People who can afford to pay for a high-end music service that works with their high-end music gear love change so we’ll see how this goes!"

Roon, the popular high-end music streaming system, has been acquired by Samsung subsidiary Harman.

If you’ve ever poked around the world of high-end audio, you’ve come across Roon — it’s basically a very fancy riff on the classic iTunes app that can stream to all sorts of fancy devices. Well, it just got bought out by Harman, the parent company of JBL, Harman Kardon, Infinity, and others...

www.theverge.com