Harman acquires Roon

[Keith_W]

They could have just bumped the opening price and rolled in the lifetime sub.

It boggles my mind that they would do that. Subscriptions are a big no-no for me (and I suspect, for a lot of people). The difference between software and hardware is that a "lifetime subscription" for software is transferable from one device to another. With hardware, you expect that it will work for the lifetime of the hardware. I am sure all those MiniDSP + Dirac users don't expect their Dirac licenses to be transferred to their PC if their hardware dies, so why can't Roon implement a model like this for their hardware?

But before we go any further - has it been confirmed that they expect you to pay a subscription to use this hardware?

 

[elvisizer]

the prices on their nucleus PC's have always been CRAZYBADINSANE

 

[elvisizer]

As to Roon specifically, it still doesn't support BBC Sounds, so that eliminates it totally from my consideration as much of my listening is BBC Radio 3. I'm also surprised at how few other streamers support BBC Sounds, which in the UK at least would make them unattractive.

I'm listening to BBC Radio 3 through roon right now- there's probably like 40-50 different BBC radio streams through roon's internet radio listings

 

[Mnyb]

Logitech bougth slimdevices and actually brougth forward some new hardware and rebranded the slimserver to LMS but in the end they killed the product line.

But due to the open source nature of the LMS and the squeeze(box,lite))Player software. It still survives and thrives today

Even ROON support playback to squeezeboxes

And a lot of third party stuff like some WiiM players can access an LMS server

 

[vert]

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 All are flawed or outdated.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.

 

[diablo]

I'm listening to BBC Radio 3 through roon right now- there's probably like 40-50 different BBC radio streams through roon's internet radio listings

That's Radio 3 live, which will currently broadcasting the morning show, which I don't care for, at 96kbps on Roon.
I'm now listening to a lunchtime concert from some days ago on BBC Sounds, at 320kbps.
I doubt it is worth their while to incorporate that service, even if the BBC would co-operate, for the likes of me and @sergeauckland, unfortunately.

 

[Soniclife]

That's Radio 3 live, which will currently broadcasting the morning show, which I don't care for, at 96kbps on Roon.
I'm now listening to a lunchtime concert from some days ago on BBC Sounds, at 320kbps.
I doubt it is worth their while to incorporate that service, even if the BBC would co-operate, for the likes of me and @sergeauckland, unfortunately.

Are catch up radio stations common around the world? It would be a good addition to roon, but I'm guessing they would want the broadcaster to supply the metadata, and whatever is required for the DRM. So not something they could just unilaterally add.

 

[Soniclife]

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.

Those were my thoughts years ago, it's worked out for me, so far.

 

[elvisizer]

which will currently broadcasting the morning show, which I don't care for

hahaha ok this is definitely offtopic then

I'm now listening to a lunchtime concert from some days ago on BBC Sounds, at 320kbps.

interestingly, radio 3 is the ONLY channel on bbc sounds that's broadcast in unprocessed AAC 320kbps- that's a really nice quality stream!

What is HD Sound? | BBC Sounds

The phrase HD Sound is used to describe audio where we have taken specific steps in the distribution and transmission chains to maintain the quality and fidelity of the original source material. For online content this generally means three things:

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[brucedgoose]

It boggles my mind that they would do that. Subscriptions are a big no-no for me...

...But before we go any further - has it been confirmed that they expect you to pay a subscription to use this hardware?

I doubt that Harman (or Samsung, as the case may be) will continue with a subscription model. why? They want to compete with Sonos and Bluesound, neither of which requires a sub.

 

[Keith_W]

I doubt that Harman (or Samsung, as the case may be) will continue with a subscription model. why? They want to compete with Sonos and Bluesound, neither of which requires a sub.

I did a bit of digging to find out. It appears that the old, superseded model (Roon Nucleus) was less than half the price and required a Roon subscription. Roon's own announcement made no mention about subscription, but this article from What Hi-Fi suggests that a subscription is needed.

I also found this thread in Roon's user forums. If you want a bit of a laugh, go read it It seems as if those guys are reacting with a mixture of hilarity and disbelief ... $3699 for a NUC that can only do one thing? I can't help but think that Roon/Harman are taking the piss here, who is going to buy a machine like this?

 

[dadregga]

As long as I can run my own server/endpoints, they can sell all the overpriced hardware they want. The software is good and does exactly what it should.

If that goes, then I will.

 

[somebodyelse]

I also found this thread in Roon's user forums. If you want a bit of a laugh, go read it It seems as if those guys are reacting with a mixture of hilarity and disbelief ... $3699 for a NUC that can only do one thing? I can't help but think that Roon/Harman are taking the piss here, who is going to buy a machine like this?

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?

 

[Mulder]

I doubt that Harman (or Samsung, as the case may be) will continue with a subscription model. why? They want to compete with Sonos and Bluesound, neither of which requires a sub.

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.

 

[AdrianusG]

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.

Hi,

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

 

[Matt_Holland]

I also found this thread in Roon's user forums. If you want a bit of a laugh, go read it It seems as if those guys are reacting with a mixture of hilarity and disbelief ... $3699 for a NUC that can only do one thing? I can't help but think that Roon/Harman are taking the piss here, who is going to buy a machine like this?

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.

 

[Mulder]

Hi,

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

I used JRiver for many years, and while it has a lot of functionality I think it is also bloated. But worse is that it is to complicated. It is not very user friendly.

 

[vert]

Hi,

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

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.

 

[sweetsounds]

Logitech bougth slimdevices and actually brougth forward some new hardware and rebranded the slimserver to LMS but in the end they killed the product line.
But due to the open source nature of the LMS and the squeeze(box,lite))Player software. It still survives and thrives today

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.

Combine it with iPeng on your phone for remote control and you have a multi-room music system with NUCs, NAS and Raspberry Pi and you have not even spent $10 on software.

Kudos to Roon however: Material Skin is great for your music library, but it doesn't merge Tidal and a local collection into one seamless usage and you get artist's bio, but not all of the musicians for instance. But for free, it is excellent.

 

[sergeauckland]

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.

Combine it with iPeng on your phone for remote control and you have a multi-room music system with NUCs, NAS and Raspberry Pi and you have not even spent $10 on software.

Kudos to Roon however: Material Skin is great for your music library, but it doesn't merge Tidal and a local collection into one seamless usage and you get artist's bio, but not all of the musicians for instance. But for free, it is excellent.

I see Roon as a poor man's LMS, as it doesn't have LMS's functionality. No BBC Sounds makes Roon and many others useless for me.

S.