Harman acquires Roon

[Purité Audio]

I send BBC ‘sounds’ to my streamer appears to work flawlessly, I am a big fan of Roon, ymz multi-room and really sophisticated EQ is extremely useful, and it has been by far the most solid playback software.
LMS was that something to do with Slim Devices?
Keith

 

[Keith_W]

For those who can live with a poor man's Roon, LMS is still an excellent, well maintained choice, even 12 years later. The material skin gives you access to allmusic meta data.
It is the amazing voluntary work of Ralph Irving, Craig Drummond and others that makes it so versatile.

Can you use LMS with streaming services? I am keen to try it.

 

[somebodyelse]

LMS merges Qobuz favourites and the local collection into the same interface, uses them in random playlists etc. Not tried Tidal but IIRC it still goes via mysqueezebox.com rather than being a local plugin, which may account for the difference.

iPeng is for iOS devices. For Android there is Squeezer, among others. Or you can add a launcher icon for the Material Skin interface in a fullscreen browser. Assorted home automation systems can interact with it too.

For an 'appliance' style device there's daphile for PC hardware (old laptop, thin client etc. for the cost conscious, or something prettier if you prefer) and piCorePlayer on a Pi. There may be others too.

My impression is that Roon does a more limited subset of things in a way that's accessible for the less technical user. LMS can do a wider range of things but needs more knowledge and effort

 

[Emlin]

Can you use LMS with streaming services? I am keen to try it.

Yes

 

[somebodyelse]

LMS was that something to do with Slim Devices?

Yes - they were bought by Logitech and the name changed to Logitech Media Server.

 

[sweetsounds]

Can you use LMS with streaming services? I am keen to try it.

I use it with the Tidal plugin, several others (Qobuz, Spotify ...) and Internet Radio Stations work as well of course.

I know that you personally believe in low overhead solutions and LMS - while it's Jama based - has quite low load and bit-perfect streaming (decoding can happen at server or end-point).

Just don't expect Roon's overall smoothness and you will have a usable solution.

 

[somebodyelse]

Can you use LMS with streaming services? I am keen to try it.

Plugins for Tidal (via a free account at mysqueezebox.com), Qobuz, Deezer, Spotify, Bandcamp and probably a few more I've forgotten. Works with a mix of endpoints too.

 

[jhwalker]

I hate subscriptions too and am about to buy a Roon subscription, here's why: I've tested almost everything available and Roon is able to do everything I need a music player to do easily while others are not. The time (thus money) I lost trying to make others solutions work I could have spared by getting Roon directly. All are flawed or outdated. I'd prefer not to use a subscription service but there you go.

I have a lifetime subscription I bought hours after Roon made it available (I had been involved in the 'beta' program and knew I wanted it), and long before it was over $500 USD.

That said, I'm pretty sure I'd buy a subscription NOW if I were just starting - compared to the other choices, Roon is so much easier to use and does ALMOST everything I want it to

 

[mhardy6647]

If we are now to speculate, it might be that they withdraw subscription access to the software completely and only offer it on gadgets that they themselves manufacture and sell. The lifetime customers, who bought a lifetime license, get to keep their software, but ROON stops developing it for this customer category. On the other hand, ROON only makes sense if you own a ripped CD collection or downloads. People with a large CD collection is not a long term source of new customers. For that reason they have to "force" the existing customer base to pay over and over again.

Presumably (??) there would be some sort of "unforeseen circumstances" disclaimer in the license terms that would let "them" (i.e., ROON or its business successors) make such a change. Alternatively, ROON's new owner might decide to violate the terms of the agreement and let litigation sort out compensation if suit were brought against them.

Obviously, I am just speculating, but Samsung vs. some early-adopter audiophiles will probably make lions vs. Christians look like a fair fight.

Did you try JRiver?, almost just as good and cheaper!

[emphasis added]

What a great advertising tagline!

 

[jhwalker]

If we are now to speculate, it might be that they withdraw subscription access to the software completely and only offer it on gadgets that they themselves manufacture and sell. The lifetime customers, who bought a lifetime license, get to keep their software, but ROON stops developing it for this customer category. On the other hand, ROON only makes sense if you own a ripped CD collection or downloads. People with a large CD collection is not a long term source of new customers. For that reason they have to "force" the existing customer base to pay over and over again.

The company have already stated their subscription program is not changing, specifically for lifetime subscribers.

That said, anything CAN change over time.

 

[AdrianusG]

Presumably (??) there would be some sort of "unforeseen circumstances" disclaimer in the license terms that would let "them" (i.e., ROON or its business successors) make such a change. Alternatively, ROON's new owner might decide to violate the terms of the agreement and let litigation sort out compensation if suit were brought against them.

Obviously, I am just speculating, but Samsung vs. some early-adopter audiophiles will probably make lions vs. Christians look like a fair fight.


[emphasis added]

What a great advertising tagline!

Well,

For what i know about Roon, which is not more than i read about currently (never used it) versus JRiver, which i know quite well, I know that I don't need Roon, even if Roon would be 20% better in it's use-ability i still don't need it since i only play local files, aka ripped content.

Now if prices were similar I might give it a try, but not with the "Roon" prices, pass!

Even if for some reason JRiver would stop or Disappear or whatever i would simply switch to Foobar, and not Roon.

 

[hvbias]

I did. It looks like software from a decade ago, which can have its charms and I could have lived with if everything else was solid, but I lost hours trying to make the DSP over DLNA feature work. After investigating the issue, including asking on this forum, it is confirmed not to work, but JRiver won't say so in their wiki nor admit to it on their forums, leaving prospective customers spinning their wheels. The feature was introduced years ago and is still not working, which isn't a good sign of ongoing development, so no JRiver for me.

Agree, JRiver really looks its age. They are charging for a new version every year so they need to do better than just these extremely minor tweaks with every new version. But on the flip side I can see people liking JRiver because it's old fashioned, some people (generally older) just really hate change.

I only put up with JRiver because Roon 2.xx is still not great with massive classical collections (about 6500 CD/SACDs).

 

[bloodshoteyed]

Agree, JRiver really looks its age. They are charging for a new version every year so they need to do better than just these extremely minor tweaks with every new version. But on the flip side I can see people liking JRiver because it's old fashioned, some people (generally older) just really hate change.

i wouldn't mind the looks if i didn't have random crashes on multiple versions and multiple rigs (all demo's, a paid version plus a few cracked ones)...they're not getting my money any time soon

 

[JEntwistle]

Can one of these streaming systems just make a simple device that can be connected to other components?

BluOS you need to buy a whole DAC or integrated amp from NAD or BluSound.
Roon you need hardware that has the Roon capability built in (if it stays around, given the sale to Samsung).
Sonos Port (I think it has a DAC in it)?

You don't need a $3,600 Nucleus to store files. You can do that with your existing PC; buy a dedicated PC "server" for $500; or even allow a $100 external hard drive to connect to it.

Why can't there be a Roon or BluOS "node", (not the Blusound Node with a DAC!), for $150 - $200? Roon is already available as a module in "Roon Ready" products!

Topping and Schitt can sell great DAC/Amps for less than $200. A streamer for $100 should be easy.

 

[Soniclife]

Why can't there be a Roon or BluOS "node", (not the Blusound Node with a DAC!), for $150 - $200? Roon is already available as a module in "Roon Ready" products!

You can use a raspberry pi as a room end point, or similar devices, it will output via USB to any DAC. If you want one box add a decent DAC to the pi.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Roon you need hardware that has the Roon capability built in (if it stays around, given the sale to Samsung).

Nope. You can install and run it on a wide variety of inexpensive PCs or laptops.

 

[elvisizer]

The bigger eye opener is that having music that Roon can't identify from online sources seems to cause performance issues _even_if_ you have it all well tagged. WTF?

huh? if it's tagged then it's identified, that makes no sense.
not an issue I've run into in years of using roon with lots of files that are not in roon's database and are only IDed from tags . . . shoot I have a bunch of unreleased things in my library, only possible way is with tags there.

 

[elvisizer]

My impression is that Roon does a more limited subset of things in a way that's accessible for the less technical user. LMS can do a wider range of things but needs more knowledge and effort

not aware of anything LMS can do that roon can't at this point actually- agreed on LMS requiring more effort.

 

[elvisizer]

Can one of these streaming systems just make a simple device that can be connected to other components?

BluOS you need to buy a whole DAC or integrated amp from NAD or BluSound.
Roon you need hardware that has the Roon capability built in (if it stays around, given the sale to Samsung).
Sonos Port (I think it has a DAC in it)?

You don't need a $3,600 Nucleus to store files. You can do that with your existing PC; buy a dedicated PC "server" for $500; or even allow a $100 external hard drive to connect to it.

Why can't there be a Roon or BluOS "node", (not the Blusound Node with a DAC!), for $150 - $200? Roon is already available as a module in "Roon Ready" products!

Topping and Schitt can sell great DAC/Amps for less than $200. A streamer for $100 should be easy.

run roon on any basic pc or nas, store your files on a hard drive or nas or file server and use raspberry pi's as endpoints. the only thing you actually have to buy from roon is the software.

 

[hvbias]

I’m guessing it’s aimed at the high-end custom install and hifi markets.

For custom install there are plugins for 3rd party control systems like Crestron and control4 and the plugins only work when the core is running on a Nucleus.

Why on earth anyone would use 3rd party control of Roon I have no idea! But it’s a thing.

I recalled your post when I spoke to an MBL dealer today to make an appointment to hear the 101e, most bizarrely this dealer also does high end custom kitchens, never heard of a hifi dealer doing that I could see Roon as being quite an attractive solution for these mega million houses that have all their smart home features controlled with tablets in every room.