My needs are pretty simple and I think a lot of people are like me. I love the UI and library controls of Roon, but I don’t use most if any of the sharing and multi-output device features. I would love to have a scaled down version of Roon for maybe $299 lifetime or $50 per year.
Let me know your thoughts on the idea.
Other ‘pretty simple’ products are available so…
To reduce the price the rich meta data subscription would need to be removed. It’s just another media player at that point.
Some people drive Toyotas, and some drive Lexus. You get the features that come with the program you pay for. Roon is a top scale offering for audiophiles and audio enthusiasts, who are a select group of music lovers. Roon is very affordable for the features that are provided, and include a steady stream of upgrades and improvements. Roon would have to expend unneccessary energy in offering special plan tiers, payment plans and other options. That energy is better spent on product development.
I want a Maserati, but they refuse to sell only the steering wheel.
None of which comes with a steering only option.
Doesn’t this functionality cost over $10,000 at one time under the Sooloos name? $500 is a huge bargain!
It is in all out interests that the Roon team is well funded going forward. Like many others here (I hope) I have invested in Roon with a lifetime sub, so it is really a question for the Roon CFO as to what price points bring in the revenue necessary to keep the show on the road. However, different versions of software incur further support costs (and can confuse potential customers), which would detract from further bug squashing, metadata tidying and feature improvements.
I ended up here because the other products weren’t really suitable for my needs. Perhaps they are selling them too cheaply?
I agree with most of the replies as a Roon lifetime member who also values pretty much all of Roons features.
But I think it’s a genuinely valid question from the OP none the less. If there is a decent sized body of potential users who would only use one endpoint, have small libraries, etc etc, I do think it would be beneficial to Roon to tap into those users somehow if it were possible to do in a way that was clean and didn’t use up too much of their resources. After all, by and large once you’ve used Roon you never want to go back, so this is just a bigger captive audience who in time would upgrade to full-Roon?
I’ve always been a proponent of a ‘Roon light’. “You already have a single zone activated in your Roon Light license. Click here to upgrade to full Roon to allow additional zones and other features”
Hi Steve,
a valid question yes but one that has been asked before on another thread I’m sure. The single zone version of Roon is a good suggestion. How do Roon find out what the sweet spot of features and price is? I have already read several ‘tyre-kicker’ threads along the lines of 'I would buy Roon if only it had feature X or Y, so I view the ‘I would buy Roon if it were cheaper’ threads in much the same light. Not sure if they would actually stump up the money if their ideal version/price point Roon was available; they would find another excuse.
I actually thought the OP’s question was reasonable. Indeed, do we not already have “Roon Light” in the shape of the “Roon Essentials” that lurks within the Elac Discovery streamer? Not that different a concept when you think about it.
Plus, I too believe that Roon needs to be fully funded going forward, which is why I have avoided becoming a Roon lifetime member, I plan to keep paying year after year for many years to come, which is far more cash for the Roon guys!
Even a reduced fee sub paid over 10 or 20 years would be substantially more cash in the long term than a Roon lifers sub now.
Fair question from the OP.
But I would actually just offer a 2 month free trial for everyone (currently it’s ~2 weeks) like you currently get from purchasing some Roon Ready hardware.
After 2 months of playing with Roon, even somebody that initially thinks they won’t use certain features may come around - well it’s possibly more likely to happen after 2 months than 2 weeks I think.
I’m a lifetimer by the way - I’m not saying this because I’m on a trial and trying to extend it lol. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course.
But 2 weeks is a little too quick to really appreciate all the goodness, in my opinion.
I would happily pay more for Roon (quite genuinely) if it included all the features that I wanted but do not appear to be on Roon’s ‘road map’. So there are lots of ways of looking at this. I think it is fine for people to post their suggestions for this kind of stuff, but it is of course for Roon to decide what makes sense from a business perspective.
The UI and library are the very heart of Roon, and where much of the support and investment goes. It is actually the bit worth $500. The rest has been added since, and while it adds value it doesn’t make Roon worth more, so taking it away won’t justify charging less in my opinion.
Totally agree. And don’f forget the potential for support burden to increase if you pull in double the customers for the same total revenue.
I enjoy reading these threads, but it is kinda funny that customers think they should have a say in the pricing.
Valid suggestion from the OP.
There seems to be a bit of a elitist or snobbish attitude going on in this forum which is not very appealing.
People suggest options for features, or different payment plans, etc. to simplify or ease financial burdens and are immediately flamed.
It’s not a very pleasant environment within which to develop new ideas.
An option is just that, it doesn’t impact on existing implementation and certainly doesn’t need to be derided.
IMHO If you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all.
agree sallah 48.
“Cost is not an issue for those that NEED Roon.”
I admit that Roon is by far the best media management app I’ve used so far. The 14 days free trial is long enough. You’ll either subscribe or you won’t. What’s holding me back is the feeling of all the features within Roon I will not use today, but I am paying for them and the support for them.
My usage is very simple. Just a place where all my music are elegantly organized/sits (regardless of file type) and I have easy access to them quickly. Once the initial setup is done, Roon is an appliance to me - leave it on and forget about it. It would be unlikely or seldom that I would need help from Roon support after the initial setup. BTW, I have not had the need for support so far. Roon is easy to use right out of the box. Plus, there’s a community of users to help newbies.
I am on the fourth day of the free trial and I am still on the fence -if all the parts are alined, I shouldn’t be. If there was a Roon Lite I would be a subscriber already. One size doesn’t fit all. Roon doesn’t need a ton of price points, just Full and Lite with the option to go full in the future.
IMHO, Roon is competing against a giant moving target, Apple’s iTunes/Music. While the app is not nearly as good as Roon, it is constantly being updated. In order for Roon to have access to music I don’t already own, I have to subscribe to TIDAL as well.
Some people may be hesitant to even try Roon because of the cost when the trial ends. I think more people would try Roon and maybe subscribe if the cost of entry is a little less, $50 a year or $299 for lifetime Lite version. The software and support platform is already established so Roon is not going to spend more money to acquire more customers. They are simply overcoming the cost hurtle.