I am seriously considering giving up on ROON. What would you recommend I try ? I AM LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT DOES WHAT ROON DOES BUT IS RELIABLE.
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It will be easier to fix your setup to make Roon as reliable as it can and should be, rather than finding another app that does what Roon does (spoiler: there are none)
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HOW would I do that ?
No one is able to give you a personal advice or recommendation unless you describe what exact problems you have. Just saying itās not reliable is a bit too vague 
Iād suggest you to open a support case.
And indeed, thereās rather few to none real alternatives comparing the pure capabilities and features. E.g. Plex, Audirvana, JRiver and the like are pretty different animals.
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As others have said, please explain your issues, to get advice on both how to fix them and then you can get recommendations for other software.
Personally I use Roon, LMS (free and excellent) and Plex Server with PlexAmp (among other things). But it will depend on your needs
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I see your several previous threads, all of which hint at possible network issues. Only one of these was an official Support thread, and the last three or four threads ended with you saying that the problem was fixed.
I donāt know what your problem is now, but I guess chances are that your previous problems might not really have been fixed and there is some lingering underlying network problem. (If thatās the case, any other system that does what Roon does would have problems working as well, by the way).
Therefore, Iād suggest that you open a ticket in Support ( ā click here and then click Get Help) for your current problem and try to get to the root cause of all your problems with the help of official support staff. It may take some perseverance if there is something wrong on the network, in particular if itās intermittent (as your many older threads suggest might be the case)
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Iāve been using Roon since 2016. If I were to give up Roon (no plans to), Iād likely go back to LMS (it seems to be a popular choice).
That said, itās been since 2016 since Iāve used LMS, so donāt know how todayās LMS compares with todayās Roon.
Nothing really to add, but if OPās expectations were that, for the money, Roon would manage everything digital music-related (including streaming) then they wouldnāt quite be met. Itās a part of it, but the hobby in itself needs an investment of time.
Right now Iām spending time trying to cram more music onto my Sony DAP to get better, mood-based tagging of these music files. This requires time unrelated to Roonās methods.
I have been using Roon reliably since 2018. Please work on your setup. Something is not right. We in the forum are here to help you.
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List your issues.
Whatās Roon (server) running on?
What DNS are you using?
Explain your network setup. Router, switches, wired or WiFi.
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Roon can deliver a fantastic experience, when everything is just right. However, many users find themselves redesigning or troubleshooting their networks around Roonās specific requirements, rather than Roon adapting to typical home or studio network environments. Its sensitivity to even minor network issues is arguably one of its biggest flaws and, in this respect, it falls short of the seamless experience it promises. Itās frustrating when problems are routinely blamed on the userās network, especially when other music platforms operate smoothly under the same conditions. Ultimately, Roon should be adapting to the user, not expecting the user to adapt to Roon.
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A user that has a flaky network (like the examples Iāll list below) will have issues with most playback methods. Roon more so.
A user with an ISP router with a 3 node WiFi mesh system connected, giving 2 subnets will have issues.
A user operating the above type of network with WiFi as the means of backhaul (reducing overall bandwidth) will have issues.
Running an ISP routers WiFi, with a mesh systems WiFi on different subnets and different SSIDās will have issues.
Operating WiFi 2.4ghz and 5ghz with separate SSIDās and having endpoints connected via WiFi will have issues.
Roon recommend a simple network, where all devices are wired and all connect to the main router.
A fairly typical ISP router will have 4 Ethernet ports for LAN. So connecting everything back to this is preferable.
I run a full UniFi network with 4 APs and everything is wired (except my FiiO R7 and Chord Poly:Mojo2). Roon donāt recommend managed switches, but I have 3 in my network. Having my network configured correctly means I donāt have an issues.
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We spend lots of money on our audio equipment and some spend just as much on cables for the equipment.
So why not spend money on getting a better network experience 
FWIW - the only issues I had with Roon were software bugs. Roon has pretty much fixed all that affected me. Most of the issues were related to Qobuz. Those issues were fixed but I donāt use Qobuz now.
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Jriver is an excellent UPnP product but no streaming
Audirvana has UI issues esp on Classical
Roon for 8 yrs nothing compares
Nuff said
Some hardware specific apps do well eg Naim, CA
Post issues weāll help
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I have been a Roon user for 2+ years. Iām regularly trying other software for playing music in my home and out and about. I enjoy the process of tinkering.
So far I havenāt found anything as good as Roon. PlexAmp comes closest.
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Not sure about that. In case you use one like me you just have to enable flow control for the roon related network ports 
From the knowledge base.
Advanced Networking
Some Roon users opt for more advanced networking setups, including enterprise-grade routers, managed switches, and ethernet-over-power.
We have many users who have successfully configured their networks using this gear, but note that in some cases this gear requires more in-depth knowledge of networking, and these technologies can make troubleshooting more involved.
If you are having issues with Roon and you are using any of the networking technology listed below, we may ask you to temporarily simplify your network to help us rule out common stumbling blocks.
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Not sure how you think this would be an issue. Separate SSIDās all on the same subnet back end wonāt cause any issues at all.
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It still has major problems with basic networks. Itās been flawed in its network architecture from the start. No one should have to play around to get software to work with a basic modern/router form an isp nor spend lots to make it work. Especially if other products work flawlessly. If any user has to start phaffing around with network settings, turning stuff on/off mucking around with DNS your product is flawed.
Roons reliance purely on auto discovery is its biggest Achilles heal. It offers no workarounds making assumptions it knows best. The ability to connect via ip alone isnāt even an option which it should be. Use auto for default for those it works but if it doesnāt work allow users to manually try and connect to endpoints and remotes.
I am lucky and not had any network issues accept it not always seeing Chromecast devices a few years ago a reboot always sorted that. But I donāt discount other users frustrations with getting it to work.
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Without roon I would probably abandon most of my digital streaming and switch to Vinyl and CD playback again ā¦ (I donāt even own a CD player since at least 15 years).
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