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Roon Music Player and Library Management Software Review

astr0b0y

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allows for fully isolated (from the internet) operation while still providing its most useful features.
Not really. Need's to phone home to check that server has correct credentials (active subscription, only active on one device at a time). Their privacy statement is fairly straightforward and readily available. They do collect data.

Screen Shot 2020-02-09 at 1.27.49 pm.png

Source: screen capture of a Roon forum thread reply number 4.

A couple of threads on their forum discuss data privacy etc..

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/what-information-is-roon-server-collecting-from-me/76878/2
https://community.roonlabs.com/t/do...-available-to-other-firms-or-entities/71407/3
 
OP
amirm

amirm

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On every new piece of content you add to your library, data needs to be sent up what it is to get metadata. So that can't be avoided. And unless they say otherwise, they probably track statistical data on their servers for this.

What they do with radio feature, I have not looked. Or suggestions. Either may be cloud based and data going back and forth.
 

DuxServit

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Soooo ... I'm intrigued by the idea of what Roon does, but I have reservations. Specifically, I have a severe allergy to business models that include behavioral data collection.

Might need to stop using Google search, Amazon, YouTube, hosted email services, Uber, etc. etc.
 

Olli

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I really enjoy Roon with Qobuz integration. I feel like a kid in a candy store! I have it running on a headless miniPC using the convolution engine for a 3 way digital tri-amped system.

I would love to see a loudness control added. Also the ability to use VST plugins, but my understanding this is not possible in the existing software architecture.

Great to hear that you are enjoying Roon now as well! Can‘t wait for new hacks from you how to eg integrate Room Shaper with Roon?
 

Karister

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Hi,

Just came here for some gear advices and found this topic. Hope someone finds this post useful. I started using Roon about three months ago and I am stunned by it. It is awesome with my headphone gear and made my old stereo shine again. I spend a year on looking for a proper streaming solution of my ripped CD collection. I have tested several DLNA solutions and they are far from perfect. In short, wrong meta data handling, frequent errors, long playback start times plus no basic functions like jumping to a given moment of a song using seek bar. Some example issues that I had with DLNA solutions: Serviio did not share playlists to players. Emby displayed duplicated artists. Denon Heos reordered playlists giving no control over it. Just awful.

Roon uses own protocol named RAAT instead of DLNA and it is so good. It simply works and causes no issues with playback at all. It does not ignore my files mata data plus nicely enriches them. It allows basic stuff like jumping to a particular song time via seek bar and offers functions that I would never dream of in DLNA solutions. Roon software DSP is amazing. Parametric EQ, crosfeed and automatic volume leveling. Last one is a killer feature as modern CDs tend to be 10-20dB louder than ones from 80s. I have always been struggling with playlists composed from old and new songs due to loudness war. Now problem solved! Love it! And it is possible to have separate settings for each audio system.

The only drawback is very poor Android support. If you have Android-based DAP and want to use it with Roon system, there is going to be a lot of problems. Roon is reworking Android piece of software but currently it is no go. My DAP (iBasso DX160) needs frequent restarting when working with Roon. Otherwise starting playback takes half a minute and gets interrupted after a while. Unusable. According to Roon forums Fiio M11 performs much better. There are also issues with lossless playback as Roon has some problems with accessing Android DAP hardware and some work is performed by software. Not sure about details.

Going back to good things. Roon created well prepared software installers for popular operating systems: Windows, Linux, OSX. There is also a good choice in 3rd party Linux distributions which work nicely as Roon players. This is very good news as Roon Nucleus and Roon compatibile network players prices are high. I was able to cut cost by 75% with some DIY. It is possible to go down to 80% when choosing cheaper components. For Roon Server I picked Intel NUC8i3BEK in passively cooled case (Akasa Turing) working on Ubuntu Server 18.04. It also works as a router that manages Roon Wi-Fi network. My streamers are based on Raspberry Pi 4 with HFiBerry Digi+ Pro working on Ropiee (custom Linux distribution dedicated for Roon). It works perfectly and is very cost effective. I am adding some photos (click to enlarge) of my custom built devices.

Server:


Player:


This is how software looks like:
 

JoachimStrobel

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I did come across a lot of software during the last 40 years, and Roon is one of the finest pieces have seen so far. Totally agree with the review. Initially I thought that I would need not something like that, but am totally sold now. I use it simply on a Pc attached via HDMI to an Oppo103 and so on. Works great. Late in the evening I can simply start my bedroom Raspberry and continue listening to Roon. Something to be proud about in the audio community.
 

SPOautos

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Does Roon still not integrate with DLNA? If not, what is the best alternative? I probably would need something I can work with a nas only as I only have laptops that come and go, no fixed computer....so looking for a nas that's can run the library, ethernet and USB 3.0, and would like it to have phone apps to play my music on phones and even away from the house. Lastly, I really need DLNA so itll work with my Yamaha wxc-50. I was looking at PLEX, but how does it compare to Roon? Is there any way that I could achieve all this with Roon?

Also, the wxc-50 can see a thumb drive that's plugged into my wifi router and play the music....so I might could just put a nas hooked up to the network with no software and browse/play it with the wxc-50....BUT I'll have around 8TB of music and In pretty sure itll be inadequate just using a file directory type setup that I manage myself as opposed to a awesome library manager/organizer like Roon. So that is why I've started down this path.

Anyway, maybe I should have started a new thread but primarily I'm wondering if Roon can accomplish the things Im looking for.

Thanks!
 

rwortman

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I really need DLNA so itll work with my Yamaha wxc-50. I was looking at PLEX, but how does it compare to Roon? Is there any way that I could achieve all this with Roon?

Anyway, maybe I should have started a new thread but primarily I'm wondering if Roon can accomplish the things Im looking for.

Thanks!

According to the manual your WXC-50 supports Apple Airplay. So does Roon. Playing to it shouldn’t be a problem. It sends music via Airplay to my Yamaha AVR just fine.
 

SPOautos

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According to the manual your WXC-50 supports Apple Airplay. So does Roon. Playing to it shouldn’t be a problem. It sends music via Airplay to my Yamaha AVR just fine.

If a lot of my music that would be on Roon is flac will that hinder? The wxc-50 can play flac, but I dont think Apple Airplay does do not sure what would happen. Also, isnt the Apple Airplay basically mp3 sound quality?
 

rwortman

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If a lot of my music that would be on Roon is flac will that hinder? The wxc-50 can play flac, but I dont think Apple Airplay does do not sure what would happen. Also, isnt the Apple Airplay basically mp3 sound quality?

All my music is FLAC and no Airplay is not mp3 quality. It is limited to 16/44 which is CD quality and for almost all recordings audibly indistinguishable from higher bit depths and sample rates. Roon will take care of whatever needs to happen with FLAC data to stream to Airplay. Look, if you want to go buy more gear, or complain to Roon about not supporting the dying DLNA protocol, have fun. Roon will play audio to your WXC-50 in high enough audio quality to be no different than plugging a USB stick into it.

They have a 14 day free trial. Try it. But my advice is not to try it unless you are prepared to buy it.
 
Last edited:

Dominique-T

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All my music is FLAC and no Airplay is not mp3 quality. It is limited to 16/44 which is CD quality and for almost all recordings audibly indistinguishable from higher bit depths and sample rates. Roon will take care of whatever needs to happen with FLAC data to stream to Airplay. Look, if you want to go buy more gear, or complain to Roon about not supporting the dying DLNA protocol, have fun. Roon will play audio to your WXC-50 in high enough audio quality to be no different than plugging a USB stick into it.

They have a 14 day free trial. Try it. But my advice is not to try it unless you are prepared to buy it.

I have just installed a Roon Rock and a Ropieee player. Fairly nice and impressive... Very simple and effective, and finally low cost...
 

SPOautos

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All my music is FLAC and no Airplay is not mp3 quality. It is limited to 16/44 which is CD quality and for almost all recordings audibly indistinguishable from higher bit depths and sample rates. Roon will take care of whatever needs to happen with FLAC data to stream to Airplay. Look, if you want to go buy more gear, or complain to Roon about not supporting the dying DLNA protocol, have fun. Roon will play audio to your WXC-50 in high enough audio quality to be no different than plugging a USB stick into it.

They have a 14 day free trial. Try it. But my advice is not to try it unless you are prepared to buy it.

I'm not so sure about the sound quality thru a 16/44 Airplay being no different than DLNA or usb stick when playing a ripped SACD.

Here is what Roon says on the subject from this page........

https://kb.roonlabs.com/AirPlay_Setup
AirPlay only accepts CD-quality (44.1kHz/16bit) audio. Furthermore, some AirPlay devices (notably, AppleTVs) convert the audio to 48kHz/16bit internally--not a very nice thing to do.
As a result, you will often see rather complex format conversions in Roon's Signal Path, like this one:
b92e654e-fe42-4fc6-b80e-324bbab33bdd.png

As such, while AirPlay can be a very convenient and easy to purchase solution, for the primary listening areas in your house, we recommend using a more quality-conscious option.
*******end paste*******

Given the above recommendation from Roon, and that EVERY other music serving software uses the 'dying' DLNA I will stick with it for a while longer. I have high resolution music I dont want reduced down. Audivarna connects perfectly using dlna, sounds excellent, and passes through the original bitrate without having to reduce it. I think I would prefer the desktop UI of Roon over Audivarna, but Audivarna has a Android app that works excellent on my phone....amazing app FAR better than every other one I've tried so far and I plan to always use the phone app....I do not want to deal with playing music with a computer, so the Android app is extremely important to me. But Roon may get my business one day if I decide to drop a chunk on hardware for just for them and they get their Android app working better.
 

rwortman

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It is assumed in the audiophile world that bit rates and bit depths above 16/44 are audibly superior. There is also evidence that this isn’t true. Suit yourself. Your house, your system. The two week trial is free.
 

sarumbear

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It is assumed in the audiophile world that bit rates and bit depths above 16/44 are audibly superior. There is also evidence that this isn’t true.

Why do you then think then the ENTIRE professional audio recording world use 20/48 or higher? There are NO professional audio equipment on the market that is limited to 16/44.1.

#think

#show-evidence
 

sarumbear

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@amirmm Have you tried Plex? It can be used for audio only, priced from free to subscription for extra facilities
 

BDWoody

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Why do you then think then the ENTIRE professional audio recording world use 20/48 or higher? There are NO professional audio equipment on the market that is limited to 16/44.1.

#think

#show-evidence

That's for mastering... Where it's useful.
It's not useful for listening.
 
Last edited:

ahofer

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I’ve been using Roon for about a month, and I’m sold. My old set up was DLNA/UPnP using mini server (which is awesome) and BubbleUPnP (pretty good) with a mix of DLNA and Chromecast endpoints. There were sporadic issues with dropping endpoints, being unable to find them, etc.

Getting the server hardware and configuring it was a bit of a drag. However, Roon has been rock solid In both my homes, and with an iPad Pro, is just a control-point dream. I also like the feature where you can past a “playing now” screen to any Chromecast-enabled TV In the house.

The way it “stacks” the Tidal, Qobuz, and Library versions of albums is also fantastic, and Roon’s tagging feature is also easy and useful. For instance, I am tagging the highest quality recordings, and eccentric performances.

I’m experimenting with the DSP now, having moved the Roon servers onto dedicated NUCs, with my Music storage on a separate RAID-enabled NAS, backed up to Amazon Cloud.

apropos of the last post, DSP on Roon looks like it resamples(?) up to 64-bit depth.
 

sarumbear

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I disagree and thankfully the most of the world.

A brick-wall is filter is not a useful addition to any signal chain.
 

dmac6419

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I'm not so sure about the sound quality thru a 16/44 Airplay being no different than DLNA or usb stick when playing a ripped SACD.

Here is what Roon says on the subject from this page........

https://kb.roonlabs.com/AirPlay_Setup
AirPlay only accepts CD-quality (44.1kHz/16bit) audio. Furthermore, some AirPlay devices (notably, AppleTVs) convert the audio to 48kHz/16bit internally--not a very nice thing to do.
As a result, you will often see rather complex format conversions in Roon's Signal Path, like this one:
b92e654e-fe42-4fc6-b80e-324bbab33bdd.png

As such, while AirPlay can be a very convenient and easy to purchase solution, for the primary listening areas in your house, we recommend using a more quality-conscious option.
*******end paste*******

Given the above recommendation from Roon, and that EVERY other music serving software uses the 'dying' DLNA I will stick with it for a while longer. I have high resolution music I dont want reduced down. Audivarna connects perfectly using dlna, sounds excellent, and passes through the original bitrate without having to reduce it. I think I would prefer the desktop UI of Roon over Audivarna, but Audivarna has a Android app that works excellent on my phone....amazing app FAR better than every other one I've tried so far and I plan to always use the phone app....I do not want to deal with playing music with a computer, so the Android app is extremely important to me. But Roon may get my business one day if I decide to drop a chunk on hardware for just for them and they get their Android app working better.
JRivers does that and than some
 

Soniclife

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apropos of the last post, DSP on Roon looks like it resamples(?) up to 64-bit depth.
As soon as it does anything to the signal, even a volume change, it converts to 64 bit float first, then at the end it dithers down to the max bit depth your device supports.
 
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