Contemplating RoonLite

[quote=“evand, post:13, topic:7790, full:true”]
If you go down this road you need to think very, very carefully about unintended consequences, principal among them being loss of revenue related to the full product. I’d avoid going down this road unless it were something that was bundled with and paid for by hardware suppliers and restricted enough to force purchase of the full product for those that like what they see …[/quote]

@evand, I completely agree. There is a lot of brand issues at risk in releasing a cut-down version. It would be better to experiment with different trial length times or limited subscriptions that accompanied hardware purchases.

Totally agree with @evand and @Rugby.

Keep roon as it is. Developing 2 versions, will also eat into resources that can be used in a different way. Roon lite sounds easier than it is in reality.

If manufacturers are asking for this, roon and the manufacturer should work out a deal that is beneficial to both parties. Manufacturers can use this as an USP.

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As someone that is on the proverbial fence, I’ll throw my 2 cents in.

The current cost for Roon is going to be prohibitive for a large number of individuals, and maybe that is ok as far as the developers are concerned. They have to decide on supporting (simplified example) 5 users @ $500 or 40 users @ $100.

As a consumer, my biggest fears in regards to pricing are :

  1. What if Roon labs goes out of business?

  2. What if Apple/Microsoft or some other big company comes along and purchases Roon Labs? What happens to my lifetime subscription if Apple buys Roon, and stops development so it can incorporate Roon features in iTunes.

I paid $50 for Jriver MC21. I would be disappointed If they stopped development tomorrow, but I would be extremely upset if the cost was 10x

Personally, I would love to see a RoonLite version.

  1. Lite version is limited to Core/Server and 1 remote. Additional remote licenses available at a cost.

  2. Forum only technical support.

  3. Charge for major software updates that include enhancements or new features. They could have minor updates included free (bug fixes).

  4. Possibly base the RoonLite version on database/usage size.

Another possibility would be to have Roon and RoonLite as the same product, but usage and features determine the cost.

Roon Basic $199 lifetime subscription.

Core install with 1 remote
(additional remote license @$50)
Database limited to 1000 albums (database licenses available in 1000 album blocks for $100)
Upgrade to full version for $300

Roon Full $499 lifetime

Unlimited remotes
Unlimited Database

I must confess that I’m using Roon (trying it) only because the TIDAL developers are nulls (I’ve “kindly” said that to them).
My problems with TIDAL are:

  1. Drop-outs
  2. No gap-less play (try to listen at “Abbey Road” !)
  3. No control on the bit flow (bit perfect over WASAPI Exclusive ?)
    Why should I pay 199$ a year only for that ?
    I use JRiver for my EAC’ed CD’s, and I’m happy with the UI. First time I have installed ROON I had let it to scan my music library and … I didn’t like the result !
    So, please, give me some RoonLite.