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Is Roon player getting too bloated and buggy too???

suttondesign

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For me, the upside has been worth it. I run two Roon servers and can access them from different systems around the house.
But yes, connecting to the server (a mac mini) reliably has been an intermittent issue.
 

Milesian

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No doubt ROON still has some bugs, but I would hazard a guess many issue are caused by Windows 10 if the core is being hosted there. For example, I recently wanted to copy some new music files from my laptop to my ROON core hard drive. I knew it was connected because I could see it on the router. But no sign of it on my laptop ‘s network map. After a few hours of searching with the usual suggestions about advanced sharing options I found the obscure solution. Turns out if you log onto Windows with a pin number, instead of a userid and password, you lose all other devices on your network. I had been using a pin for convenience. Once I entered my userid and password, all my network devices were visible and accessible. There has to more odd stuff like that.
 

captain paranoia

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I run two Roon servers and can access them from different systems around the house.

Any media server will do that. My NAS does it. My Android media box running BubbleUPnP does it. Any of my PCs running MediaMonkey or MusicBee does that. Hell, even my phone running BubbleUPnP does that...
 
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SKBubba

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Roon is the worst music player software, except for all the others.
 

DuxServit

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I’m running Roon core/server on MacMini and Roon Bridge on old MacBookPro. Both running well, no issues.

Its Apple that‘s the pain, wanting to auto-update every week. I’ve turned-off auto-update.
 

Frank Dernie

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The idea that Roon is created by music lovers for music lovers is nice, but they need to hire some software types to make it work!
When I tried it they certainly had made close to zero effort for classical music lovers (as indeed its predecessor Sooloos had not)
 

wtsz

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The problem was that it didn't work with the mobile phone application. I hope you can solve the problem.
 
OP
amirm

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@amirm did you find a resolution for #2?
It all seems to be related to network settings on both the core and the client system. I don't have a 100% handle on it but setting the network properties to private/public, etc. eventually gets it going. Windows update seems to be changing this setting making the problem come back.
 

wtsz

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It all seems to be related to network settings on both the core and the client system. I don't have a 100% handle on it but setting the network properties to private/public, etc. eventually gets it going. Windows update seems to be changing this setting making the problem come back.
I think so too. The problem is that Roon doesn't answer a few questions. That is why I was curious if it helps its potential clients.
 

bluefuzz

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I tried Roon for a week but didn't subscribe. If the lifetime sub was $100 or so then maybe. But $700 is a bit steep for software that does little more than scrape Allmusic and Musicbrainz which, in case anyone hadn't noticed, are both free to use otherwise ...
I installed the server on my OpenMediaVault box, controller on my Macbook and endpoint a NAD C658. It all worked well enough – I didn't experience any networking issues – and once my local library was indexed the interface was fairly responsive. However, I have my library already accessible in my Kodi box (Vero4k) and Bluesound app so there's little point in yet another interface that doesn't seem to add anything to the party. Spotify's recommendation algorithm is as good if not better than Roon's.
The elephant in the roon (sorry!) for me is the reliance on Musicbrainz for metadata. My local library is already well under control metadata-wise from using Bliss, Beetz and Songkong, all of which scrape their data (at least in part) from Musicbrainz. And that is the problem: Musicbrainz is OK if all you listen to is contemporary anglophone rock and pop, but for anything more esoteric then the metadata is either missing or just plain wrong. So if I want better metadata than I already have then it has to come from somewhere else than MB. And due to the obvious limitations of 'crowdsourced' metadata that probably isn't going to happen ...
 

Alobar

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For me, when it comes to listening to music, it's either at the end of the day or if I am working on a project, I sometimes like a little background. In either case, I just want to switch it on and have it PLAY! I do not wish to have to troubleshoot drivers, reboot pc's, routers etc. I don't want to do a bunch of reconfiguring because an update left me with a big mess. Roon is like this, to the point where if I want to stream something I most often now just use the Qobuz app. Or play my own music with jriver which never seems to have problems after updates.

I sometimes wonder if the idea of having a Roon Core is part of its reliability problem. With JRiver, I can have a copy of the program on multiple pc's, RPi's etc. Each can send files or receive them from the other players and the nas drive. With Roon, they maintain that 'one core per subscription' model with an iron fist and that it doesn't always work well is why I presume some Roon subscribers pay for a couple subscriptions. This model keeps Roon protected from subscriptions serving more than one person at a time, but it does not seem to do much for its reliability, and reliability, no matter the cost, is right up there with content, sound quality etc as very important to me.
 

dmac6419

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For me, when it comes to listening to music, it's either at the end of the day or if I am working on a project, I sometimes like a little background. In either case, I just want to switch it on and have it PLAY! I do not wish to have to troubleshoot drivers, reboot pc's, routers etc. I don't want to do a bunch of reconfiguring because an update left me with a big mess. Roon is like this, to the point where if I want to stream something I most often now just use the Qobuz app. Or play my own music with jriver which never seems to have problems after updates.

I sometimes wonder if the idea of having a Roon Core is part of its reliability problem. With JRiver, I can have a copy of the program on multiple pc's, RPi's etc. Each can send files or receive them from the other players and the nas drive. With Roon, they maintain that 'one core per subscription' model with an iron fist and that it doesn't always work well is why I presume some Roon subscribers pay for a couple subscriptions. This model keeps Roon protected from subscriptions serving more than one person at a time, but it does not seem to do much for its reliability, and reliability, no matter the cost, is right up there with content, sound quality etc as very important to me.
I stream JRiver at work,in the streets at the Market and of course at home,hell I can stream JRiver anywhere in the world.Oh I forgot to mention it's cheap too.
 

Alobar

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I stream JRiver at work,in the streets at the Market and of course at home,hell I can stream JRiver anywhere in the world.Oh I forgot to mention it's cheap too.
I have not tried that yet. Glad to hear it works for you.. I wonder if Roon will do this? My guess is that I does (or should), but again how much aggravation is required to make it happen? If I can't get it to play to my phone from across the house I don't know about town or across the country!
 

JohnKay

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The 'flu' analogy also applies to my Roon experience. I have used it for the past 3 years and I am always tinkering / debugging something. The power of Roon for me is the ability to EQ /DSP each end point separately but also the ability to manage my library with dynamic playlists (bookmarks), etc. I also find that it also sounds better through various endpoint (bluesound speakers in my case).

The DSP for each end point is vital for me as I don't have a dedicated listening room and in the family living room I prefer improper speaker placement (for aesthetic reasons). Roon is the only software that allows me to correct the sound and avoid boomy bass, spiky treble etc.

- Initially I used Roon with my Sonos setup but I foudn that EQ / DSP cannot be applied when grouping sonos speakers (which is what I wanted).
- I then switched to Bluesound (3 rooms) and quickly discovered the infamous Roon / Bluesound sync bug (speakers going out of sync). A lot of support ping pong about this and it took 18months for the bug to be sorted by Bluesound. In the meantime I had switched completely to RPi3 streamers (Allo Digi).
- I used RPi3 streamers for a while and that was a smooth Roon experience but it meant I lost multiroom playback for spotify which was my family's preference. Also, while it is no problem using RPI3s in the main hifi, building an RPi3 end point to go on a bedside table... forget it.
- Switched back to the updated Bluesound (2i) speakers. Roon sync bug fixed but other problems appeared(playback start delay of 5-10seconds, wifi instability when skipping tracks etc etc. Lots of debugging via Bluesound and Roon (including blame ping pong) and ended up using powerline ethernet for all Bluesound.
- New problems then appeared when using Roon Core on my Windows 10 PC (similar to Amir's) . Lots of time spent again with Roon support with blame towards Bluesound again. Another round of ping pong with Bluesound support blaming Roon.
- Final stable(ish) solution is Roon Core on a Mac and Bluesound with powerline ethernet.
- New problem (unfortunately) is the iphone remote becomes unresponsive and crashes 1/5 times. It is not the end of the world but it does not inspire confidence going forward. This problem appears to be more severe for Android users (lots of support calls in the Roon forum).

I love the great sound quality and the DSP power that Roon offers but I also need a stable / reliable experience.
While the benefits are significant, the constant debugging, troubleshooting, tinkering and support forum back and forth ... it has been a massive time sink for me and I cannot afford this continuing indefintely. I have a lifetime subscription so no subscription pressure but the amount of time and energy spent on debugging is making me think again on whether I should just use Spotify / Tidal via Airplay 2 with some Sonos and be done with it. Not sure what my next step will be yet.
 
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dmac6419

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I have not tried that yet. Glad to hear it works for you.. I wonder if Roon will do this? My guess is that I does (or should), but again how much aggravation is required to make it happen? If I can't get it to play to my phone from across the house I don't know about town or across the country!
Roon won't stream outta the house,I would have brought Roon on a impulse buy but they raised the price before i got the impulse.
 

Alobar

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Roon won't stream outta the house,I would have brought Roon on a impulse buy but they raised the price before i got the impulse.
I have had the idea that Roon was going to be this amazing media player that would be the end all, that it would replace JRiver as my source. My first trial over a year ago didn't go well because most of my music on my Nas drive was in ape format and Roon didn't see recognize them. 2 weeks went by and I canceled.

Since then I converted much of my music over to flac and the second trial I got extended to a month and about the same time they raised their rates to $700. That saved me from what I feel would have been a expensive mistake! There are a few things that I like about Roon, it's Roon radio being the biggest one, but the cumbersome interface just gets my hackles up every time I try to use it!

I decided to give it a year anyway , at which time I could either figure out what others are seeing in it, or dump it it. That hasn't worked out well so far either due to the issues with everything, from not being able to connect (and stay connected) with Qobuz reliably, to other issues with the connectivity to my other pc and my android phone. I can usually get a to work but I don't like fighting it. I need to have something that works every time. When I read about the issues on their forum, I'm not the only one. For the money charged, why would anyone put up with this?
 

Alobar

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The 'flu' analogy also applies to my Roon experience. I have used it for the past 3 years and I am always tinkering / debugging something. The power of Roon for me is the ability to EQ /DSP each end point separately but also the ability to manage my library with dynamic playlists (bookmarks), etc. I also find that it also sounds better through various endpoint (bluesound speakers in my case).

The DSP for each end point is vital for me as I don't have a dedicated listening room and in the family living room I prefer improper speaker placement (for aesthetic reasons). Roon is the only software that allows me to correct the sound and avoid boomy bass, spiky treble etc.

- Initially I used Roon with my Sonos setup but I foudn that EQ / DSP cannot be applied when grouping sonos speakers (which is what I wanted).
- I then switched to Bluesound (3 rooms) and quickly discovered the infamous Roon / Bluesound sync bug (speakers going out of sync). A lot of support ping pong about this and it took 18months for the bug to be sorted by Bluesound. In the meantime I had switched completely to RPi3 streamers (Allo Digi).
- I used RPi3 streamers for a while and that was a smooth Roon experience but it meant I lost multiroom playback for spotify which was my family's preference. Also, while it is no problem using RPI3s in the main hifi, building an RPi3 end point to go on a bedside table... forget it.
- Switched back to the updated Bluesound (2i) speakers. Roon sync bug fixed but other problems appeared(playback start delay of 5-10seconds, wifi instability when skipping tracks etc etc. Lots of debugging via Bluesound and Roon (including blame ping pong) and ended up using powerline ethernet for all Bluesound.
- New problems then appeared when using Roon Core on my Windows 10 PC (similar to Amir's) . Lots of time spent again with Roon support with blame towards Bluesound again. Another round of ping pong with Bluesound support blaming Roon.
- Final stable(ish) solution is Roon Core on a Mac and Bluesound with powerline ethernet.
- New problem (unfortunately) is the iphone remote becomes unresponsive and crashes 1/5 times. It is not the end of the world but it does not inspire confidence going forward. This problem appears to be more severe for Android users (lots of support calls in the Roon forum).

I love the great sound quality and the DSP power that Roon offers but I also need a stable / reliable experience.
While the benefits are significant, the constant debugging, troubleshooting, tinkering and support forum back and forth ... it has been a massive time sink for me and I cannot afford this continuing indefintely. I have a lifetime subscription so no subscription pressure but the amount of time and energy spent on debugging is making me think again on whether I should just use Spotify / Tidal via Airplay 2 with some Sonos and be done with it. Not sure what my next step will be yet.
JRiver has independent dsp implementation including crossovers and peq's for endpoints,. Also dynamic "smartlists" too that are very intelligently laid out and quite easy to use, but sadly doesn't stream.
 

JohnKay

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JRiver has independent dsp implementation including crossovers and peq's for endpoints,. Also dynamic "smartlists" too that are very intelligently laid out and quite easy to use, but sadly doesn't stream.

JRiver is indeed quite powerful and a good solution if one does not need multiroom streaming.
The main reason for using Roon (in my case): it is the only solution that allows multiroom streaming that also offers DSP for each end point. It is also the only solution I have found that allows for tweaking of sync across the end points. This means that and AVR (for example) can be incorporated in the multiroom system without having sync issues due to AVR's dsp delay. At the moment i cannot think of any system that offers the above in a multiroom use case.

I had a bit of a think and for now I will keep using Roon with my local library as I have a relatively stable system (for now). I removed TIDAL from Roon though... terribly convoluted playlist and track management when using both.
Cheers
 
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