Hi all,
I have a question about Arc. Currently I haven’t upgraded (have just got lifetime membership though) as I am not interested in using Roon while away from my home (I understnad this is a great feature for many, just not for me). Is there any other advantage to the upgrade other than this feature? If not I won’t bother upgrading until/if the legacy version is discontinued.
No, ARC is a mobile app and that’s what it is for. However, Roon 2.0 generally is getting cool new features all the time like the recent Wikipedia integration, and you miss out on those with Legacy.
Nothing other than getting bit perfect playback on Android via ARC as that’s not in the main app and having your Roon library mobile but staying on legacy means you get no new updates for anything Roon, so the metadata updates just recently released you can’t use plus the new updates planned for the coming year one of which is more streaming partner/s.
Thanks both, for the replies. I think I will stick with legacy for a while, I don’t really need extra features, I like Roon for the integration of my own music library with streaming, and being able to use as a remote to my devices. Not into mobile, Roon radio, or playlists even, I prefer listening to albums. If the album tagging were to be improved, particularly for classical then that might motivate me to move to 2.0!
Bit-perfect playback on Android is a big deal.
I’m sure it is, but again for Roon “on the move”. If just using at home then unlikely it will be on Android, at least for me. I know this is a feature many are pleased with and use, which is great, Roon quite rightly is trying to provide what its user base wants.
It’s this very feature that exists in ARC too. I use ARC in order to play my own local music on the go. Especially stuff that isn’t e on streaming services.
So you can use Arc to stream music to another device, i.e. if you were visiting friends and wanted to play something on their system?
Yes, “using Roon while away from my home” just like you wrote in the OP. Whether the output device is Bluetooth headphones or your friend’s Bluetooth receiver in the stereo system does’t matter. If you use a 3.5 mm headphone jack cable, or if you have an external DAC on the phone, you can connect it to whatever you want as well, obviously.
I don’t use Android as an Output at home everyday, but it’s super nice and sounds great. I’m using a Google Pixel 7 Pro with a Khadas TEA DAC, attached via a tiny OTG cable. Great for sitting on the patio with my morning coffee. I mostly use this combo with these IEMs:
TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero Earphone… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7DS1QHZ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I’m ready looking forward to full Android Auto support, but, at least for me, ARC is not just for when I’m out and about.
That’s what I’ve been doing during Christmas at my family’s place. Used my iPhone’s AirPlay functionality to connect to my dad’s Pioneer hifi and had ARC play a Roon playlist from my Roon Core. 
If you want ANYTHING else Roon will have to offer down the pike, 2.0 is what you want. (NOTE: Requires full time internet connectivity. Lord I hope I didn’t just light a wildfire by bringing that up again, but just in case you didn’t know)
If you’re confident you’ll never want anything more than what you currently have with Roon, then you’re good.
Your call.
I wasn’t expecting to use ARC but it is ideal for listening to music late at night or early in the morning on my phone through a DAC amp without annoying family or neighbours.
ARC has to be enabled. If you don’t configure your router to make use of it then it simply isn’t an issue worth delaying the move to 2.0.
Actually ARC automatically sets itself up (assuming Upnp is enabled on the router). Some have asked for this setup to be a user initiated event.
Thats interesting. So 2.0 works fine without ARC enabled? I suppose that is logical, in my mind I was associating the two as one.
Yes, ARC is an option you need to set up.
I thought that only happened when you went to the Menu and selected the ARC option. That said I’ve been through the process twice, first as a beta tester then again when I had a new router fitted. It may well have evolved since then. But both times I had to interact with it to get things working (British Telecom routers). People requesting this be user selectable would be justified in my opinion.
Yes, but having UPnP enabled is an explicit flag sign to the local network that port opening is approved. Someone not wanting this flag should disable UPnP on the router. There is nothing gained if Roon has a switch but every other appliance and software still sees the UPnP flag and opens ports