Why do people like/use Roon?

[ahofer]

It's pathetic that I pay for Roon and they've only managed to integrate two services. Meanwhile, Sonos has zero subscription fees and they have integrated with every single streaming service known to man.

Would be super cool if the monthly subscription service could integrate with very common services like idagio, primephonic, etc.

yes. And Bandcamp, my kids would say.

 

[BillG]

My bottom line with Roon is after using it for a couple of years it always works, never drops and easy to use.
That is not been my experience with other systems such as Bluesound

That's been my experience with Emby and Chromecast/Android mobiles - it never drops not even when I'm streaming remotely at the grocery store, while commuting, or just watching the sunset at the local park.

And speaking of ease of use:

 

[digitalfrog]

It does ....

Roon doesn't display metadata for Radio Paradise. They claim that the FLAC stream doesn't provide it, yet LMS finds it with greatest of ease and is free and seemingly at least as well supported.

I thought metadata was one of Roon's things. Go figure.

 

[Emlin]

It does ....

Thanks for that. It seems that they've finally got round to it.

 

[ahofer]

Thanks for that. It seems that they've finally got round to it.

You don't notice at first because it's in the now playing bar/page.

 

[london_r]

Am glad that I am not the only one that is a bit indifferent to Roon. I get that it costs a lot to build and run a service, particularly one that fulfils a particular niche, but for the money I struggle to realise the value compared to native streaming services combined with the functionality in modern streamers (most of which support mult-room and/or have better integration with additional services - e.g. BluOS’ has the best Radio Paradise support in my experience and has a lot of great functionality in its playlist management etc).

 

[ahofer]

Am glad that I am not the only one that is a bit indifferent to Roon. I get that it costs a lot to build and run a service, particularly one that fulfils a particular niche, but for the money I struggle to realise the value compared to native streaming services combined with the functionality in modern streamers (most of which support mult-room and/or have better integration with additional services - e.g. BluOS’ has the best Radio Paradise support in my experience and has a lot of great functionality in its playlist management etc).

I've tried Volumio, MinimServer/BubbleUpnP, mOode, and some captive programs (Cambridge Audio, KEF). I found the Roon experience above and beyond all of those in terms of integration and user experience. The only other music software I've actually gained an affection for over time is MinimServer. I love the Roon integration (to volume control) in my KEF Wireless and Cambridge Audio streamers, federated search across Tidal, Qobuz, and my ripped music, and the DSP is really useful.

 

[Ron Texas]

It seems after reading this the big deal with Roon is integration with streaming services. I can't see paying for DSP because there are so many other ways to do that.

Someone mentioned Daphile, it looks interesting and it's free.

 

[DuxServit]

There might be some confusion is this thread between Roon as a software and DSPs (like Spotify and Tidal) as content providers.

I can equally complain about Tidal and Spotify not supporting device bridges, EQ, in stream conversion, support for DSD & 96/24, etc. etc. But I know that Tidal & Spotify are not software companies. They have a client to install in consumer computers and mobiles as a means to reach consumers, but strictly speaking they are in the content business.

 

[Jimbob54]

It seems after reading this the big deal with Roon is integration with streaming services. I can't see paying for DSP because there are so many other ways to do that.

Someone mentioned Daphile, it looks interesting and it's free.

Absolutely. Around 300 of my CDs I ripped arent on Tidal/ Qobuz but I now have a significant "library" if we can call it that on streaming that I havent got local files of. I now prefer to listen to a full shuffle of my whole collection rather than specific tracks or albums and Roon is the only way I found of having that functionality. Its also worth noting that neither Tidal or Qobuz (nor I believe Spotify for that matter) allow you to shuffle play your entire collection of favourites in their native apps.

Add into that the good DSP functions and the way i can mesh existing streaming devices into the Roon ecosystem and i can justify the yearly price. Just.

I will look at Daphile though as the Roon sub is about as much again as a yearly sub to Tidal/Qobuz

 

[sergeauckland]

Absolutely. Around 300 of my CDs I ripped arent on Tidal/ Qobuz but I now have a significant "library" if we can call it that on streaming that I havent got local files of. I now prefer to listen to a full shuffle of my whole collection rather than specific tracks or albums and Roon is the only way I found of having that functionality. Its also worth noting that neither Tidal or Qobuz (nor I believe Spotify for that matter) allow you to shuffle play your entire collection of favourites in their native apps.

Add into that the good DSP functions and the way i can mesh existing streaming devices into the Roon ecosystem and i can justify the yearly price. Just.

I will look at Daphile though as the Roon sub is about as much again as a yearly sub to Tidal/Qobuz

Spotty on LMS now can play a random playlist of local and Spotify tracks or albums. I'm constantly astounded at the continuing improvements to LMS and it remains free.



S

 

[Jimbob54]

Spotty on LMS now can play a random playlist of local and Spotify tracks or albums. I'm constantly astounded at the continuing improvements to LMS and it remains free.



S

Innarestin'

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I thought metadata was one of Roon's things. Go figure.

Let's put it this way. When it works, it is fabulous. When it doesn't, it is complex and tedious to fix, especially with classical music.

OTOH, JRiver doesn't do as much as Roon but it make DIY and/or fixing straight-forward.

 

[Ron Texas]

I will look at Daphile though as the Roon sub is about as much again as a yearly sub to Tidal/Qobuz

I don't believe Daphile offers streaming service integration. It's not mentioned on it's web page.

 

[Jimbob54]

I don't believe Daphile offers streaming service integration. It's not mentioned on it's web page.

Ah, that's my biggest need, local and streaming merged with any duplicates hidden. That is Roon's trump card IMHO.

The artist info stuff is over egged. It's the same bios etc that you see on Tidal etc.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

I don't believe Daphile offers streaming service integration. It's not mentioned on it's web page.

Nor does Jriver but it will let your apps play through it (via WDM) if they are on the same device. https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/WDM_Driver

 

[gfinlays]

I've been using Roon for about 6 months now.

Likes:

Easy integration of music library and the likes of Qobuz and Tidal (I've subsequently dropped Tidal - it's overpriced and too hyped up on MQA) without having to switch between music sources.

Roon Radio. A meandering journey of musical discovery based on your initial selection. I really like this feature. Have found lots of new artists I'd never heard of before.

DSP. Headphone correction via convolution filters is awesome. Crossfeed too - what's not to like?

Ability to run on all sorts of hardware without necessarily breaking the bank.

Remote app available on just about every platform.

Roon core can be run on just about every platform.

Ability to display artist/track/lyrics on a TV.

Dislikes:

No integration (as yet) with Amazon HD. This is probably more down to Amazon than it is to Roon....

Inability to stream to zones using different protocols, e.g. RAAT endpoint simultaneously with say, Sonos.

Overall, I'm sticking with it.

 

[dmac6419]

I've been using Roon for about 6 months now.

Likes:

Easy integration of music library and the likes of Qobuz and Tidal (I've subsequently dropped Tidal - it's overpriced and too hyped up on MQA) without having to switch between music sources.

Roon Radio. A meandering journey of musical discovery based on your initial selection. I really like this feature. Have found lots of new artists I'd never heard of before.

DSP. Headphone correction via convolution filters is awesome. Crossfeed too - what's not to like?

Ability to run on all sorts of hardware without necessarily breaking the bank.

Remote app available on just about every platform.

Roon core can be run on just about every platform.

Ability to display artist/track/lyrics on a TV.

Dislikes:

No integration (as yet) with Amazon HD. This is probably more down to Amazon than it is to Roon....

Inability to stream to zones using different protocols, e.g. RAAT endpoint simultaneously with say, Sonos.

Overall, I'm sticking with it.

I have roon,but I can do more with Jriver, plus it's cheaper

 

[Beershaun]

I use Plex as my media server and can use it's clients on all my mobile devices and pcs (Android, firetv, ios, mac,win). It does a reasonable job with metadata and you can configure it to prefer you local metadata in cases where it fails. I use apps like songkong or Musicbrainz to manually edit my music files to get the metadata right, then Tell Plex to use the local metadata if available. That seems to work as a durable solution.

Plex also had tidal integration, library radio features, streaming your music over WAN to your phone on the go, as well as all the movies and tv shows features. It doesn't do DSP and can support android cast, upnp, and airplay to stream to other devices besides their clients.

 

[ahofer]

I've been using Roon for about 6 months now.

Likes:

Easy integration of music library and the likes of Qobuz and Tidal (I've subsequently dropped Tidal - it's overpriced and too hyped up on MQA) without having to switch between music sources.

Roon Radio. A meandering journey of musical discovery based on your initial selection. I really like this feature. Have found lots of new artists I'd never heard of before.

DSP. Headphone correction via convolution filters is awesome. Crossfeed too - what's not to like?

Ability to run on all sorts of hardware without necessarily breaking the bank.

Remote app available on just about every platform.

Roon core can be run on just about every platform.

Ability to display artist/track/lyrics on a TV.

Dislikes:

No integration (as yet) with Amazon HD. This is probably more down to Amazon than it is to Roon....

Inability to stream to zones using different protocols, e.g. RAAT endpoint simultaneously with say, Sonos.

Overall, I'm sticking with it.

Good list. I added to likes:

• Federated search across streaming platforms and local library
• Search can even be a label, or smart search through a composer or artist with multiple spellings
• Ability to see artists on tracks and find their work (e.g. listen to Joey Alexander, say “ooh, that drummer is great” and follow on to albums with Eric Harland or Ulysses Owens...
• Pretty good internet radio integration
• can cast to chromecast, including chromecast groups