How much is Roon worth? What investments should it displace?

So maybe it’s time for your own topic ‘the things I wished Roon had’ rather than continuing in this one, which was actually quite an interesting discussion.

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Don’t worry, I give up !

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@Teodoro_Marinucci

Apologies if my responses were flippant but value varies for people in the same room and across the world. There is a lot I see value in that others would not and visa versa. So it does go back to what I originally said but perhaps more diplomatically. Try the various options and go with what works for you. I personally think it is not possible to gain a full grasp of Roon’s capabilities in a two week trial. Especially now it has the extra functionality that was not there when I originally loaded it on to a cheap laptop like I would any other ‘music player’. Once I figured out the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ then I thought it was worth 12 months. Before the 12 months was up I went to lifetime. However my rationale is perhaps a little different to others. I hated the idea of forking out a significant sum annually to keep a service integral to my habits. I much preferred a one off payment option. Looking at my main system as it presently stands:

Roon, i5 NUC, USB treatment plus PSU, DAC, Pre, Power, Speakers.

Roon Lifetime is the cheapest part of that lineup. Now lets just hope my Wife never reads this! :grin:

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Teodoro,

Sure I will agree there are some ergonomic issues which are a matter of preference within Roon, but this does not detract from the experience for me personally.

Ref the HD streaming aspect, I’m not bothered at all as I don’t really hear the benefits for the most part.For me, HD is a nice “cherry on the cake” when listening, but I don’t really seek out HD over vanilla redbook versions any longer. I’ve spent a while down that particular rabbit hole, lol.

For me, the goal of ultimate sound quality is a bit of a red herring, it can actually be to the detriment of enjoying the music itself. One ends up listening to facets of the sound rather than enjoying the emotion of the music.

Roon has given me a sense of freedom of exploration which I found I had lost over the last couple of decades. I was collecting music for the sake of it and now Roon has given me (thanks to the linking system and reviews/bios it provides) a sense of fulfilment when I have a listening session which was previously lacking. Basically, it has made collecting and listening to music fun again. Sound quality is basically great and entirely adequate for my needs. Indeed, oftentimes I’ll be listening via bluetooth fed Riva X portable speaker and completely carried away with the musical moments, as I call them, Roon is providing. Hardly even “hifi” let alone audiophile :slight_smile:

Lol. I have that feeling with all my posts.

Ah, we’re back to the UI differences again. Yes, Roon doesn’t have a “browse by folder/tree” function, and yes, it uses both horizontal and vertical scrolling. It’s got a very different UI, and personally, I find it vastly superior to the likes of those of JRiver and Foobar. The UI was one of the main reasons why I invested in Roon, and I find it easy to use on a (Windows) tablet, laptops with touchscreens, and desktops with keyboard and mice.

The other reason why I invested in Roon was its architectural design and execution. The concept of a Core server with Control surfaces and audio Endpoints has been very well thought out and well-executed. It has given a solid basis to implementing a flexible music system throughout our house and garden, with music zones ranging from stereo Hifi (with DSP room correction supported in Roon), headphone listening, multi-channel audio, and casual listening zones.

JRiver and Foobar can also play SACD ISO’s directly.
Roon cant do that.

I think of it this way. Roon is still maturing as a piece of software. There is a lot the development team is working on now and have on their list for years into the future. They know that there is a lot left to develop.

But you can already see in Roon a difference from other applications and a care about creating a music listening experience that isn’t about organizing. It’s about exploring. Roon drives you deeper into the music than any other app I have seen. And I use JRiver and Foobar2000 a lot - but those applications are driven by you, whereas Roon takes you by the hand and drives you.

Now, if you look at all my posts, many of them are about my comments relative to Roon’s organizing tools, I think they have a ways to go. But even so, I prefer to live with the need to organize outside of Roon and then use Roon as my Friday night experience. Because it’s much more of a compelling experience. I have found dozens of artists and hundreds of albums that I would have had to work much harder to find some other way, and with the Tidal integration, I can listen immediately, to the whole thing, not just 15 seconds on Amazon. It’s so much more fun.

That said, I agree, some responses feel “religious” and occasionally people respond to feature suggestions or constructive criticism as though the suggestions are snakes in the Garden of Eden. But I think that just speaks to the passion of the community - and that will help drive Roon to be even better in the long run.

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Me too, I like to discover ! But I don’t need to spend so much money with Roon. Qobuz is perfectly equivalent!
I’m in no way related to Qobuz. They know me because I criticize them (hoping to have the “perfect” product) even more fiercely than with Roon.

De gustibus non est disputandum.
There is no disputing about tastes.

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You seem to keep confusing Roon with an internet music streaming service (Qobuz). It isn’t. It has integrated access to the Tidal streaming service for those who need it. A streaming service is not required for Roon - it is for managing your music files.

No confusion, please read.
If Roon is “only” for managing my music files, then JRiver Media Center, Foobar, MediaMonkey, are good enough.

Precisely. That is what Roon is for and that is what the comparison is really against. Though Roon has some added benefits. I have read your comments and they revolve around Qobuz. Roon manages your own music files, with the bonus of Tidal integration. Qobuz doesn’t come into it with Roon, so if that is a deal breaker then it simply isnt for you. I’m not criticising you - I just don’t see how Qobuz and Roon have anything to do with each other.

unless one does as I did: pick a Roon endpoint that can also stream Qobuz independently from Roon :wink:
I moved from Audirvana, which does both, to Roon without any regret :slight_smile:

Please decide !
If Roon is for discovery, it should integrated with some streaming provider (you cannot have the whole discography of the Universe on your local machine). It’s integrated with TIDAL ? are you happy with TIDAL ?
Discovery is not so important for you ? Do yo need only the management of your local files ? then JRiver is good enough.
It seems to me that I entered in a church and I cried “God is naked” …
“You can keep the duck” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wyts0nbAco).

There are plenty of solutions like that, sure, for Qobuz and other services. It doesn’t change that Roon has nothing to do with Qobuz and I still don’t understand why the two are being compared. They are totally different things with a different purpose.

No hope …

Sorry Teodoro. You have. completely lost me. Discovery is great and is one of the main features of Roon’s music file management - it has nothing to do with Qobuz. I will withdraw from this I think. It’s a bit too confrontational for me.

And my Delonghi can make toast, Roon can’t do that, and there’s no subscription charge, but I do have to buy the software.

.sjb

I bought Roon.
Still it cant play SACD ISO’s.
Your Delonghi comparison is just kind of deplaced.