Denon/Marantz - the end is near (or not)

[Tom C]

Other than being wound down Samsung are about the worst possible place this could have ended up. They wrought wanton destruction on whole swaths of Harman’s professional brands. Samsung care about car

I’m seeing this as good news.

 

[AudioJester]

This is pretty exciting. Denon+Roon Ready, here we come.

Harman have basically done nothing with Roon since taking over. Prior to that Roon was constantly innovating and evolving.
Does not bode well for Sound United....

 

[Chrispy]

FWIW I care little for Roon aspect, don't see any value in that, more interested in what will happen to the various brands under the Sound United umbrella.

 

[ban25]

Wow, that is quite the haircut...

 

[BeeKay]

Harman have basically done nothing with Roon since taking over. Prior to that Roon was constantly innovating and evolving.

Wouldn’t read as much drama into this. Leaving Roon being Roon in my book is a plus. Also, it keeps improving and innovating. Maybe not at SOL, but it does not feel bad.

 

[Chrispy]

Harman have basically done nothing with Roon since taking over. Prior to that Roon was constantly innovating and evolving.
Does not bode well for Sound United....

What can you particularly do with Roon that Harman didn't address?

ps what is exciting about roon?

 

[ban25]

Wouldn’t read as much drama into this. Leaving Roon being Roon in my book is a plus. Also, it keeps improving and innovating. Maybe not at SOL, but it does not feel bad.

I agree. Now that they added the ability to block artists not in your library and improved Roon Radio, I ask nothing more from them. It's perfect, don't touch it....LOL

 

[BeeKay]

ps what is exciting about roon

Roon is a comprehensive toolset with a uniform, ergonomic user interface that combines many, if not all, features for audio playback. Sure, you can fall back on a multitude of other tools and build a cheaper solution like Frankenstein. But why should you?

 

[Chrispy]

I agree. Now that they added the ability to block artists not in your library and improved Roon Radio, I ask nothing more from them. It's perfect, don't touch it....LOL

Blocking artists just because they're in your library sounds wack.

 

[Chrispy]

Roon is a comprehensive toolset with a uniform, ergonomic user interface that combines many, if not all, features for audio playback. Sure, you can fall back on a multitude of other tools and build a cheaper solution like Frankenstein. But why should you?

Because I can do that for myself for free. Just don't see the value in paying for it.

 

[BeeKay]

Because I can do that for myself for free. Just don't see the value in paying for it.

Fair enough. Well, you were asking

 

[Chrispy]

Fair enough. Well, you were asking

I was only asking in case I missed something from before....which I doubted. Roon use just seems a waste to me for what I can do on my own and have done on my own since I started collecting back in the early 70s

 

[BeeKay]

I am totally fine with your decision. May I still use Roon?

 

[Moderate Dionysianism]

Harman have basically done nothing with Roon since taking over.

I beg to differ. There hasn't been a revolution / major overhaul, but what they've done recently is far from nothing. Automated headphone correction and 'Listen Later' have been quite useful to me. And stability improvements! A ~year ago the client would freeze/crash for me at least twice a day. Today I'm on the same hardware, and not seeing those issues anymore.

ps what is exciting about roon?

Dunno if exciting, but AFAIK it's hard to find other PC apps that allow you to DSP the lossless Tidal streams without using the Windows audio stack. Library filtering, playback queue management, and writeups in the music catalog are quite nice too. OTOH it's definitely overpriced considering the drawbacks it has, the missing features compared to free software, and the flaky technical support. If they added PEQ, crossfeed, and convolver to the official Tidal app I'd probably cancel my Roon subscription.

 

[rah]

Sure, you can fall back on a multitude of other tools and build a cheaper solution like Frankenstein. But why should you?

Because Roon doesn't provide source code.

 

[BeeKay]

Because Roon doesn't provide source code.

Certainly a criteria that is valid for a very few only. It’s IP to them so why would they open the doors to infringement? And the advantage is which? Proof reading and verifying wether Roon devs did to your liking?

 

[rah]

Clearly you're new to the concepts of free software. I encourage you to read https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.en.html or watch any of the talks here https://www.gnu.org/audio-video/philosophy-recordings.html .

Certainly a criteria that is valid for a very few only.

The advantages of having source code are shared by everyone.

It’s IP to them so why would they open the doors to infringement?

Providing source code doesn't imply infringing IP.

And the advantage is which?

Making it better, learning, helping oneself, helping the community, etc.

 

[BeeKay]

I do know the concept of free software. And GNU isn’t new to me. A valid way to develop and share.
But if a company decides not to give away free lunches to freeloaders (assuming there are more users of free software than devs contributing) it’s valid as well.

 

[rah]

it’s valid as well

Not if you value being respected by software and in control, rather than being controlled.

Edit: original comment: Not if you value the four freedoms.

 

[BeeKay]

Not if you value being respected by software and in control, rather than being controlled.

We will (ab)use Teddy Roosevelt to get free access to IP? Really?

Edit: your answer was „Not if you value the four freedoms.“ before editing