Totally agree. Subscribed to Tidal and used only as a reference. Roon plays magically all my files stored in 8TB Nucleus+. MQA or not, Roon by itself is good enough to stop me venturing to an alternative Aurender A30. That’s speaks volume, at least to me when I move from 5TB to 8TB storage. Not to mention total costs vs costs. New Apple Lossless, good as may be, will never replace my love for Roon. Not today. That’s my view!
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The best thing about this thread is that no one intended to start it. Perhaps this is simply out of context to the point of being misleading in the context of this thread, but I wonder if the poster sees the irony in this statement.
This is the internet, and comments are just that, comments. People that use their software on a daily basis without a problem, tend not to comment. Look at Amazon reviews, there seems to be an overwhelming number of negative reviews, but 9 out of 10 people give the product 4 or 5 stars. Dissatisfied consumers are the ones that make the most noise.
I’m pretty happy with Roon and Qobuz, and if that should end, I’ll switch back to Apple Music. That’s it. No tears, not the end of the world. The only thing I’ll be upset about is that I wasted my money on a lifetime subscription to Roon.
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‘Roon has transformed our listening experiences and music discovery dramatically for the better.’ 100% percent. Couldn’t say better.
I think it speaks of Roon as a company only in a best possible way – they let every voice been amplified. I salute that. Me personally? I would decapitate every single of them for trash talking, but Roon does a way better job, 100% percent – Better let unreasonable being heard.
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With better competition, comes hope for improvement. So that’s why people can be happy about Apple losless and whatnot. I certainly am.
But it’s on the other hand silly to express that agressively, as it has the least chance of progressing the discussion any further or landing any improvements in Roon.
And yes, I’m also frustrated by Roon’s MQA support in that whenever you (or at least I 
) want it not to play an MQA version of the file, it plays it. If it wouldn’ t get in my way, I wouldn’t mind it.
For now Roon is to me just a different software to the rest of the playback software products out there. Not a revelation, there are many things that annoy me with it.
But since no other software can aggregate multiple streaming services and have a half decent “Radio” functionality at the same time, there really is no alternative to it for now. So feeling like a captive user. And smiling from time to time, when Roon radio finds something nice and previously unknown to me
TIDAL and Qobuz will be around for a long time. Apple Music is still very much inside a walled garden. I use it, as well as Amazon HD, but still go back to TIDAL and Qobuz. Spotify is about to go lossless. I don’t think Spotify or Apple will make a dent in the TIDAL or Qobuz subscriber base. I find Roon to be a capable, quality piece of software. But no piece of software is perfect, or can meet the expectations or wishes of every user. Roon, like every other piece of commercial software, will continue to evolve and squash bugs.
This is a good topic. I don’t often read the forums due to the high percentage of disappointed members.
I have a simple Roon core on an Intel NUC, external SSD drives, and a decent steamer & DAC setup. I use my Mac laptop as a remote. 2 years in, several updates later, still works perfectly fine. I get what I pay for and have zero complaints.
As for the competition that Roon faces now and in the future, I think Roon has really great features and others want to build an equal or better product. Not much different than any other industry. Some people drive Chevy’s, some people prefer Ford’s. I personally don’t think gas-lighting will satisfy anyone.
I think a lot of members have tired to help people which has been both successful and not based on the threads I have taken the time to read. I have learned a lot from the community and appreciate the efforts members who have the experience and share it.
This may be my lone post for the year. Thanks hmack
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I don’t know what data you use to come to these conclusions. Both Tidal and Qobuz are in real trouble now that Amazon, Apple, and (soon) Spotify offer lossless with Hires tiers. It’s not like Roon has a major impact on the music service choice.
Tidal and Qobuz are much more likely to fail now than ever. Some larger company might buy the users but they are not going to buy the companies or the contracts. So Roon, unless that can get one of the big three, is in more danger than ever. I’m just glad I have just about reached the break even point on my lifetime subscription.
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Please provide the evidence that underpins these statements. Just to provide some context, Amazon HD is a joke, Apple Music lossless/HD implementation is neither, and completely farcical, and we haven’t even seen what sort of a mess Spotify is going to make of this. So let’s have some hard facts here. Please.
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The simple fact is the only reason that Tidal and Qobuz had a business model was because they offered 16/44.1 lossless content and a tier that offered hires lossless content. Spotify, Apple, and Amazon all offered lower resolution lossy content. Tidal and Qobuz may not lose many currentsubscribers to the big three, but new subscribers looking for higher quality content now have little reason to choose Tidal or Qobuz.
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Tidal may loose users but I don’t think Qobuz will as it’s user base would seem to be diehard audiophiles who I assume only use the hifi features and have no requirements for playlist or mobile usage.
I think where the game may change is the Spotify release if that quickly delivers hifi over connect.
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I am a ROON lifetime subber & Qobus Studio tier subber. I also use Apple music and Spotify. I love and use playlists on Spotify/Apple daily. Spotify Connect is wonderfully simple and just works. I can’t wait to see how Spotify implements hires. I’ll keep on using ROON Qobuz at least for a year or so more hoping that Apple/Spotify solve the initial teething troubles. I believe they will, given the massive resources they both have. After that, ROON will be relegated to being a juke box for my own paltry ripped collection and I’ll drop Qobuz.
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We’re all guilty of armchair speculation, but the “simple fact” is that we don’t know how the market will develop. Is there room for sustainable niche providers? We just don’t know.
What we do know is that Amazon’s HD implementation has hardly been faultless. We also know that Apple’s Music boss doesn’t think that his customers will know the difference between red book and lossy formats. Not sure these things bode well when it comes to consistent provision of high quality streaming services - but, there again, that’s just me speculating!
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None of us really know. I am of course speculating. TIDAL with Dorsey’s mega-money has a better than even chance of surviving. They may have to reduce their price, but that would be a good thing. Right now they are an outlier - competition drives prices down. Qobuz is hard to predict. Of all the services they seem to be the “best” at what they do, but sure, they can improve. Will they drop price to $9.99/month? Maybe. I think Apple’s commitment to music has waned over the years. They are much more focused on streaming video. Apple Music has been losing to Spotify and going to lossless was an easy move for Apple. Apple will continue to lose to Spotify unless they open up access (like Spotify Connect for example). Amazon HD is cheap. I am a Prime user so for $7.90 a month it is hard to complain. But this is about Roon. Could Roon survive without TIDAL and/or Qobuz? Probably not. Roon is definitely niche, with a small user base as compared to the likes of Apple or Spotify. I don’t see Apple ever allowing integration into Roon, but Spotify might. The problem is that there is no compelling reason to jump into Roon. In the Software as a Service world, growth is essential. I don’t know enough about Roon’s business model to opine on its future.
This isn’t a fair or correct characterization of the debate in any way, hard to take the rest of this seriously.
You claim to speak for a whole lot of people. I can also speak for a lot of people. The people who post in the threads are posting because they spent money on the software just like you do, and they have a right to speak out.
Those people can say “it doesn’t work for me, glad it works for you”
Just like you said “it works for me, sorry it doesn’t work for you”
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But they’re not saying “it doesn’t work for me, glad it works for you”, they are saying “don’t use it, it’s failed/failing, snake oil, my choice is better, don’t use Tidal (sometimes Roon)”.
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Is anyone instructing users to not use Roon/Qobuz/Tidal, though? Is anyone calling Roon “snake oil”?
I think it’s more than fair to speculate on the future of these companies.
Read my post carefully.
In my opinion, “most of us” (at least “me”) would prefer a liberal Roon community to share and discuss about pros and cons, flaws and risks of the products, the habitat and the experience.
Even if the criticism has no point, just give reason to strike it down and then ignore it.
I think even the most unwise question or criticism earn a place in the forum to be asked.
A simple answer or response might well serve as a lesson, guidance and reference for anyone in the community.
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I think all members of Roon would least like the community become an Orwellian Animal Farm.