Bluetooth support?

Hi all,

I’m considering Roon, but can’t find a simple answer to the question of whether Roon can output to bluetooth speakers. Assuming the answer is no, are there plans to add this functionality? It’s not important for my main system, but if I’m going to sell my family on Roon, the Remote app has to be usable with everything; using Roon for the main system and then switching to the Tidal app whenever we want to use bluetooth speakers is going to be a deal breaker. Please let me know if I’ve misunderstood something, or if there are plans to add bluetooth in the near future (aptX doesn’t matter for this purpose). @support

Thanks!

Well, yes and no, it depends. Specific use examples would help.

If a computer or a phone (Android only) running Roon has Bluetooth speakers attached then yes. So, I can and do all the time, run Roon on an Android phone that is attached to a portable Bluetooth speaker. Works great. Apple products will not work for this.

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There’s also this thread:

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Neat! I hadn’t seen that thread.

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Setup would be as follows:

Roon Core on iMac --> iPad Air 2 as remote --> small bluetooth-only kitchen speaker OR Peachtree Audio M24 powered bluetooth speakers

The iPad has bluetooth and both the speakers have bluetooth. The iPad apps for Tidal, Spotify, and iTunes will all stream through bluetooth with no additional hardware required. As far as I can tell, Roon doesn’t have this functionality, but I’d appreciate confirmation of that. I’d prefer to be able to use a single app for both my fancy setup and these non-audiophile tasks.

Thanks!

If the small Bluetooth speakers and/or the Peachtree speakers can do Airplay, that’s perhaps a possibility. Otherwise, if your remote is an iOS device, you’re probably limited to a solution along the lines of what’s described in the thread I linked to above.

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In your example, your Ipad is playing the music and using the speakers as it’s output. For Roon to work that way, the tablet would have to be playing the music and you would choose the bluetooth speaker instead of the tablet’s own speaker. What you want to do is possible with Android tablets and phone, but not Apple tablets and phones.

The reasons are technical. If you would like to know more then check out this thread:

Thanks, that’s what I was looking for. Makes perfect sense why Roon hasn’t been able to implement this, though I hope things break loose soon as that’ll be a key to making the product relevant outside the audiophile world.

Neither one of the consumer-grade bluetooth devices I mention above has AirPlay, so that’s not an option, but I can slap an Apple TV onto the Peachtree speakers and turn them into an AirPlay device. Not pretty, but it’ll work.

Thanks again for the help!

You might have problems using an apple TV and airplay, see the very top of this thread.

Yes, I saw this reply but didn’t realize the implication. Now that I worked it out it seems obvious. Get an old phone, most of us have one dying somewhere in a cupboard. Install roon on the phone, no need for a simcard, connect to your wifi network and to the Bluetooth speaker. now you have a portable roon Bluetooth speaker that can be controlled from any roon enabled device. The old phone can also be used as a streamer on any hifi system.

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Yep. Exactly. Years ago I had pushed this more since there were not many Roon bridge options. But I still use my old phones all the time as endpoints feeding speakers/headphones when gardening or on the patio.

Ditto my iPad mini battery died, it is now a mains endpoint via Bluetooth in the kitchen

I managed to connect Roon to a pair of B&O Bluetooth speakers, the Beolit 20. The speakers were paired with each other in the stereo configuration. I run Roon on my MacBook Pro. I connected the speakers via Bluetooth to my MacBook, then chose Beolit 20 under the Speaker Icon dropdown. For Zone, I chose System Output. Sounds great!

Hello Jason, I’m hoping you (or anyone else) can help me out. I have an Android tablet and a JBL Flip3 bluetooth speaker. In Roon I have enabled the tablet as default output device. However, I get no sound from the Flip (or the tablet itself, for that matter). It works fine from sources other than Roon. What am I overlooking/doing wrong?
TIA,
Leo

Update. As so often the case, the issue has resolved itself. I had to disable the Naim streamer and select the tablet as audio zone. Now let’s see if I can get them to work simultaneously…