I am not a sophisticated tech operator, nor am I a dummy.
I have had one issue after the other in trying to set Roon up, and all though I’ve spent countless hours and days trying to figure out the problems, and have had many kind attempts from people in this community to try to help, solutions have not been forthcoming.
My trial period is near ending and I’m wondering: is Roon for ultra tech savy users only? Should I bow out, or is there is a level of support for folks like me?
I simply don’t have time to spend hour after hour trying to get the software to work.
The marketing videos stress the ease of setting Roon up, but my experience has been anything but. I like the interface very much and hope I can get it working so that I get back to enjoying music wilthout the endless frustration. So, I’m throwing out this HailMary pass.
This is a great interface, but the cost and the complexity of design ought to come with a level of support that civilians can work with, in my opinion.
I thought everything is working except the ARC log-in on your phone? Which is annoying but will get sorted by Roon support even if they are slow. But ARC is but a small part of Roon for mobile use, and if everything else is working like you said, you have days to spend exploring while the ARC issue is taken care of
Thanks for your response, Suedkiez. The Arc has been the main issue, but now I’m finding it difficult to control where the music will play in connection with the dac and different devices. The Audio interface is written in a jargon I don’t understand and now when I select Chord Mojo as an audio zone it’s playing on my laptop speakers without the Mojo engaged. Meanwhile, the phone audio zone has had a ‘waiting to enable’ message that doesn’t resolve. To be honest, I find the whole interface in the Audio section extremely confusing. The language is not clear at all to me.
@Geoff_Coupe tried to explain this in the other thread. I’ll try again in more detail:
Roon can play to different output “zones”, think like a streamer in your bedroom, living room, kitchen, or the built-in speakers of your computer.
What is the jargon you don’t understand, specifically?
First, you set up up the available audio outputs that you need, in Roon > Settings > Audio. There can be many of them, like your Mac where you have the Roon Core running, the Mojo, and possibly other devices in your household that can be receivers, e.g., Apple Airplay devices like other Macs, Apple TV, etc. All that are in principle available are listed here because you may need them. You can enable/disable them as needed. This article gives additional information:
The audio devices you enabled can then be chosen as output zones for playing to. Find more info here:
Please post screenshots of what you are doing, if you can’t figure it out. These are mine:
In Settings > Audio I don’t need the outputs on my Mac, so I disabled them. And my separate Roon Server also does not need any audio outputs, because nothing is directly connected to it, so I disabled them as well:
Further down, I have Roon installed on a phone in the Shower (connected to a speaker) and my main streamer is a Naim NDX-2 in the living room. So these are enabled.
And then there are some devices like a Chromecast and an Apple TV, as well as my Mac and the NDX-2 again, this time as Apple Airplay devices (which they support as well). These are also disabled because I don’t need them
I.e., I have two outputs, the phone with Roon in the shower and the NDX-2 as a Roon Ready network device.
By selecting one zone and hitting the Play button, it plays to this zone. Each zone can be chosen separately from the menu and then Play can be started independently. They can play different things. Or they can be grouped together and play the same. (Grouping is limited to similar types of devices. Not all of them can be grouped together)
Sometimes it happens that I forget that I have chosen the shower zone from the menu, and then I hit Play because I want to play on the living room Naim, but the music starts in the shower. This is probably what happens to you with the computer speakers vs the Mojo. If this happens click Stop/Pause, click the zone button and switch to the intended zone, then click Play again.
Maybe that’s because phone zones are private by default. I.e., to play to the phone speakers you normally have to start the play on the phone itself. That’s to prevent blasting family members’ phones with music by accident. To change that, go to Settings > Audio and click the gearwheel icon for the phone device > Device Setup:
Thank you so much, Suedkiez. I aplogize. None of this is clear to me. I will have to spend much more time digging in to the links you kindly sent, which I don’t have at the moment. I just want to be able to play music through whatever the device I’m hooking up to. Is there a way to do that that won’t require spending more hours deciphering the system?
It would be great to know how I get anything to play on the Iphone and why it’s not ‘enabled.’
The Audio Setup Basics guide has not been my experience:
Sometimes the app on iPhone/iPad have a hard time “enabling” it’s audio output. Usually fixed by a restart of the app, and acknowledging any security popups on getting “access to audio devices” etc.
Regarding the confusing outputs it is solely due to your naming of the devices. Every Zone can have it’s name edited, which you have done.
Thing is, audio zones on your Mac are partly “virtual”. They are represented by various output methods rather than physical outputs.
If you want to achieve output to the Mojo i suggest you chose Core audio, set it to Exclusive access under settings, and give it a clear name, “Mojo”.
As you can see on your screen shot, the mojo icon is present on two of your outputs which indicates two methods, rather than devices.
Please take the time to read some of the links @Suedkiez provided, it’s a LOT easier than asking.
Mikael, thank you very much for this! I deleted the app on the phone, reinstalled and that took care of the phone issue. I have read up on the zones and now understand how to get the music to play on the devices I’m listening with by checking the private mode. Question: if I’m listening on my phone through the Mojo 2 should I see a Mojo icon, or just the phone icon? At present I only see a phone icon. Does Roon automatically recognize the dac regardless of which device I’m using it on? Just want to be sure. Now hoping the Arc problem has an answer.
I don’t remember, but i can check and post screenshots tomorrow!
The iPhone can only offer one Zone though, and it will be either the phones built in output, or the attached USB DAC.
(Different to the Mac which will offer both the “generic” audio output through the system mixer as a Roon Zone as well and any attached USB DAC through Core Audio.)
Hi Mikael, I’m able to access this page on my laptop, but not my phone which presents a log in that does not respond exactly like the Roon Arc log in. Would you have any thoughts about what’s going on? Thanks!
The posts are screen shots from my iPad, they will look a bit different on ypur phone.
And, you should not be presented with a log in-screen with Roon Remote (for accessing and controlling your Roon Core on your LAN). Unless you are accessing a different Core and requiring it to be authorized/granted a license.
Please, post a screen shot of what you are seeing?
This is what I see. Back to blank, as I’ve explained several times.
I appreciate your help. Is there anyone in the support department who has an insight into what the problem is? I realize the company is stretched, but I’ve wasted countless hours trying to get this to work.It doesn’t seem like this should be difficult for someone who is behind the system to figure out.
You may be correct, but the support crew are struggling, for sure.
Still, i am not sure why Roon Remote would require authentification, unless this is something new with the SSO functionality.
Please remove the app completely, then reinstall it.
Log in, if thts required, but you should be presented with the somewhat simplified user interface on the phone.
Unless, you are actually using Roon ARC on your phone, which WILL require authentification to access your account and licensed Roon Core.
That’s correct, Suedkiez. It was Arc I was referring to. It makes sense to me that the issue has something to do with the phone, since I have no problem with the log in here on my laptop. Perhaps the settings? Any thoughts? Thank you
