Help us rename RoonSpeakers

Roon Community Site
82

What about RoonPath or RoonPathway. RoonGate is another possibility.

I suggest a poll among forum members to see what the top candidates are.

Bruce

83

"Roon Advanced Audio Transport " = Roonport :grin:

~M~

84

To a casual observer, it seems to me as if most of these names still confound the object and the action. We consumers are used to buying hi-fi boxes that do things (a Music Player). When the tasks are divided up into different boxes, it gets hard (how many consumers know what the difference is between a Tuner, Phono stage, Pre-amplifier, or Amplifier is?). Most folks think of a Speaker as a physical object that converts electronic signals into sound. RoonSpeaker doesn’t work for me at all. Roon Player should play music when you push a button. Roon Bridge implies connectivity, which is good, I think. I hate Roon Remote because I expect it to be an object (remote control) rather than a place.

The naming should help consumers understand what the role is of each component, and why/when they need it. It’s tough to do. The tendency is to start to add descriptors, so the Roon Library might be seen as just too static, why don’t we call it the Roon DYNAMIC library. And things degenerate from there.

Anders makes good points about branding as well. Roon is ultimately selling a way of organizing and delivering music. It’s not about the boxes, but rather about what Roon does uniquely to be able to deliver it’s process for managing and playing. So the Roon name applied to each device/component should imply the unique things about Roon that make it special in that context. Roon is a system. So what are the best ways to talk about the components of the system?

Well, there’s a lot of talk here about the Roon “Core” usually as the computer that does the heavy lifting of data lookup, display, and transcoding to create a stream of bits. What’s the best name for that? It’s the central matrix, the body of the dragon (not its head). I’d call it the Roon Engine, myself. it’s the thing that makes everything else go.

Then you have the head of the dragon, where selections occur, where users are empowered to explore their music. To me this is Roon Control (regardless of how/where it is implemented). Roon Remote Control would be a separate device or interface that allows the user to control the engine, or you can have Roon Control by itself if you only run one instance of Roon. An iPad, which controls Roon but cannot output is an ideal example of a Roon Remote Control. But as soon as it can generate audio output, it becomes something else.

At the tail of the dragon is where you have the output (Ewwwww!). So much for analogies. Anyway, These are all Players of one sort or another. A self-contained, net-connected Roon with speakers and a UI might be a Roon Boombox Player. Maybe you have gradations of Player depending upon how fully they can deliver the Roon experience? A dumb player (like what my Squeezebox Transporter now is under Roon) might be a Roon Basic Player. increased functionality would get higher level names as they become fully Roon-capabile/enhanced.

Connective ligaments that enable the Roon experience need to be described based on what they make possible. So the RoonSpeakers software to me would be Roon Transport Software or Roon Bridge Software, so everyone understands that it is not in itself an output, but rather the enabling software that makes Roon PC Players work.

Hope this is useful! It’s making me “Rooney Tunes” Where’s Bugs Bunny when I need him?

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85

How about Roonplay?

86

Since there have been a few posts about the re-naming of everything (rather than just the RoonSpeakers that @danny requested), I thought I’d add another one too :wink:

I’ve tried to forget about anything historical and think as much as possible from a newcomers perspective - as Roon is a much simpler and easier to understand ecosystem at the point this technology gets released, so in a sense is a good time for a possible re-naming?

So, the simplest I can think of (and apologies for any plagerising of ideas so far, particularly @CometCKO ) is:

Roon:

  • Server

  • Player

  • Output

  • RoonServer is the core of the Roon ecosystem - you have to have one. This does not in itself have the ability to connect to an output device or for the user to browse through a UI.

  • RoonPlayer is the GUI, on whatever platform/device it sits on, and is the interface through which the user will press ‘play’ (etc :wink: ). The Player cannot in itself connect to DAC/speakers.

  • RoonOutput is the bit that connects or ‘outputs’ to a DAC/speakers and lets you get the speakers pumping via Roon, and will often be installed with the above.

Of course, all three could be installed on one computer (assuming it was technically possible) if you wanted the server, and a GUI, and to output sound from that machine.

RoonPlayer and RoonOutput would most likely be installed together on any device requiring GUI, unless it specifically could not output sound (or sound was not desired)

RoonOutput would be installed standalone for devices just acting as an ‘endpoints’.

Perhaps each of these components could easily be installed/enabled/disabled from any Player interface.

The more I thought about it, RoonOutput could be called RoonEndpoint, RoonBridge, RoonSound, RoonWhatever - I actually think, having read this topic a few times - that clearly defining what each bit does (from the users perspective) is more important than the name itself.

After all, we’ll all just be saying ‘Roon’ when anyone asks what our favourite ‘player’ is. :grinning:

@danny, maybe you can give us a hint as to whether you guys have found something you like so far, or whether you still want more ideas???

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87

In terms of concepts, we like Control Apps / Core / Outputs – I’ll leave it as an exercise for you to figure out what is what 
 if you get it wrong, we failed. :wink:

In terms of software, we are leaning towards:

  • Roon (all-in-one)
  • Roon Remote (Control App + Outputs (if applicable))
  • Roon Server (Core + Outputs)
  • Roon Bridge (Outputs)

Plus you can output devices from hardware manufacturers:

  • Roon Ready Audio Devices (Networked output devices, implementing RAAT)
  • Roon Certified USB Device (USB devices that are known to work well and without quirks with Roon)

And you can get server devices from hardware manufacturers (these devices run Roon Core and may or may not include Outputs):

  • Roon Core Certified Devices (Roon takes these devices into consideration when planning for the future, and assures they have a very long life with Roon)
  • Roon Core Capable Devices (Devices that work fine with Roon for now, but will not be taken into consideration when planning for future updates. For example, ARM, Intel Atom and J1900 based devices).

We haven’t committed to all the names yet, and that Roon Core Certified vs Roon Core Capable thing isn’t nailed down yet.

Thanks for your help
 it’s funny how more and more people are gravitating toward the same names
 means we all did something right :slight_smile:

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88

Hi Danny@,

Good to hear you have at least some ideas as we do not call in all different directions anymore.

Pieter

89

Congrats @VirusKiller, you named it :smile:

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90

An interesting and complex challenge


For the uninitiated, you don’t want to overwhelm them with a sense that Roon is a highly complex environment that requires a geek-mindset to make sense of it. At it’s core (literally and figuratively), it is perhaps one of the most elegant, non-geek audio solutions I’ve seen. Simplicity of vision is paramount.

But for the initiated – those that have learned Roon’s strengths and want to understand all it can do – Roon can be a highly-complex ecosystem. Clarity in potential is key.

@Danny - I’m certain you’re on the right path
 Having worked IT/software for way too many years, my only words of advice would be to keep the terminology clear, consistent and non-constraining of future possibilities. Avoid terms that may have different meanings to the novice user. Use examples when explaining each term.

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91

That seems nice, but out of interest, why two names for the same things (i.e. Server and Core, Remote and Control App)?
i.e. if you really like the concepts Control, Core, and Outputs, why not just call the software:

Roon Control
Roon Core
Roon Output

It might save you some clarification with people who’s brains work like mine. -i.e. ‘have you installed the Core?’, ‘where is it’ ‘you download and install the server’

But then I am quite simple like that
. :smile:

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92

@hifi_swlon I think the idea is that there are four pieces of software (at the moment), which split three roles between them. So Core is one of the roles and RoonServer is one of the two pieces of software (the other being Roon) that have a Core role within them. RoonServer is not the only program with a Core.

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93

I guess what I meant was, the way I understood it since I came to Roon was they were one and the same, but things were bundled together in a certain way because of the missing ‘RoonSpeakers’?

By forgetting all that came before and starting over, Roon (the all-in-one), becomes an installation of RoonCore, RoonControl, and RoonOutput (for arguments sake).

RoonCore when running just as a Server does now, is simply RoonCore - both in name and in terms of what was installed.

RoonControl on an iPad without sound requirement is just RoonControl, with sound requirement also needs RoonOutput installed.

In this way when discussing on the forum or support or in articles, there are only ever three terms that define both the pieces of software and their roles.

On top is the other stuff like RoonReady

Anyway, I’ll go and hide in a corner now, just sharing my logic (or lack thereof depending on your POV) :wink:

1 Like
94

No worries, I can see your logic and agree with it up to a point, but I think the separation of roles from names is less confusing when there is future expansion. For example the Roon Core Certified/Capable Devices might be confusing if they were named Roon Server Certified/Capable. They implement a Core, not the software called RoonServer.

95

Being a simple retired IT person, I always find pictures easier to understand. Is there a diagram anywhere showing how the different components would fit together?

96

@chrisbyrd – coming! New website design almost done!

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97

Actually, in my logic, those devices would be Roon Core Certified, and the equivalent software install would be named RoonCore.

Or equally they could be called Roon Server Certified, with the equivalent installed version being RoonServer. (insert any other variants for the actual name used)

I know the code on each isn’t exactly the same, but they are the same to all intents and purposes from the users POV - i.e. if you wanted to replace your computer running RoonCore with a dedicated device, you would buy a RoonCore certified device and swap over to that instead.

OK, I’m going away now I promise. :wink:

98

@danny That’s great news, thanks!

99

My first idea was RoonKillsSonos, but your idea is slightly better :grinning:

100

Excellent. Along the same lines, there’s “RoonLight in Vermont.”

101

TAFKARS

The Application Formerly Known As RoonSpeakers :yum:

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