So I’ve heard so much about this and after finally using it I certainly do see what the fuss is about. Sadly, my setup doesn’t utilize a lot of the functionality but what it does use is pretty impressive. With no extra components needed it interfaces beautifully with my prized Oppo 205 Blu-ray player, a DAC of which at least as quality as pretty much anything standalone out there.
First of all I have to say it’s unfortunate that with much of my collection being carefully cultivated ISO image files from my original 2000-era discs (DVD-Audio & SACD), the Roon software compatibility completely ignores them–which means most of my extensive local collection cannot be played (in-room or remote). Couple that with really no second zone system and there are other options I can use my usage (like Mconnect) and not have the monthly charge. Finally, trying to figure out why the Roon core Windows app just sucks up tremendous amounts of memory on my computer when it’s left open too long.
However…that said, there’s some definite advantages. First of all Qobuz my main music source for its high-res capability is by far the most streamlined on here with almost no glitches, perfect gap-free playback and fantastic sound quality. That goes for Roon Arc remotely as well–such as in the car. There’s no question it beats the more mundane and manual Mconnect (which also sees my 205)…even in SQ. And forget gapless playback with that it’s far from it. But again you’re paying a pretty good premium per month (more than most streaming services themselves) to get it and that tack on to whatever you’re paying the streaming service originally–and in Florida streaming services are majorly taxed up the yin yang as well.
Oh and I almost forgot: their excellent library algorithm is turned me onto at least three amazing Alt-Indie artists so far. Those would be great comebacks from legendary Brix Smith & Gina Birch…and the amazing Australian band Gang of Youths.
I do have one question I’ll probably separate into the support section also but I have a Morel Hogletare Bluetooth speaker in my back room that has capability of a Wi-Fi USB dongle with a 3.5 mini connection–effectively turning it into a network device. It’s a superb sounding powerful speaker and I wonder if there’s anything Roon-capable out there that will turn that speaker into a Roon device. Is that Chromecast audio device Roon-certified for example? I could find something, that would add serious value to the service.
Yeah, ISO is not supported. Conversion of DSD content is discussed here:
Not sure about extracting DVD Audio, but there are certainly tools. It’s a pity you’d have to do the work though for the ISOs.
Chromecast is supported by Roon:
It’s Roon Tested though, not Roon Ready, so you can’t include it in an output zone together with fully Roon TestedReady devices. In case this is a limitation for you. You can always use an old phone with Roon installed and 3.5 mm output. I do that in the bathroom with a repurposed TV soundbar. Works fine and is a fully Roon Ready solution (RAAT protocol zone) that can be grouped with the main system for simultaneous output. Else, some Raspberry Pi (if they have 3.5 mm out) with Roon Bridge installed maybe. There are RPi experts on the forum, I am not
As for the memory consumption, there always seem to be cases on the forum where people are affected (sometimes with Linux as well, dunno if it’s the same on Mac), but clearly not everyone. I don’t have Windows (using Roon ROCK instead, and no such issues for me), so no idea what the causes are and if there are solutions, but take a look at existing threads: Search results for 'memory consumption windows' - Roon Labs Community
You could try installing the Roon Server package separately on Windows, and the full Roon app just for the GUI. Then the full app connects to the external server, on the same machine. It may or may not help, but worth a try. And it is the preferred solution anyway, as you can quit the GUI app (or it can crash if that happens) without the music stopping. Incidentally, this is going to be the future default configuration anyway, and there is currently ongoing testing to streamline this for easy installation with one installer.
I did that and still have problems. Doesn’t take much time at all to crank up the Roon PC server app to like ridiculous 1700MB of memory used–which at that point it pretty much stops and have to restart it. If it happens to other people, that could be blamed on application programming…
Another problem is my residential ISP changing the address due to DHCP. Since the IP address is hard-coded into the router port forwarding, it will stop Roon ARC cold when that happens.
Anybody found a solution to that other than getting the business (pricier) static version?
Any decent router should be able to make port forwarding work with DHCP, either by assigning the same address by DHCP every time (DHCP address reservation) or by updating the address in the forward rule if it changes. Depends on the router.
However, your ISP has little to do with DHCP. The ISP assigns the external IP address (which may be dynamic or static, but dynamic should work with ARC) but that has nothing to do with DHCP. The DHCP assigns internal addresses on the LAN and is your own router’s responsibility. Maybe it helps if you could describe the problem in more detail.
Yeah I talked to a network guy at work… I need to figure out a way to make sure it sends the same IP from my router for my PC/Core… It’s a Nighthawk so it should be able to do it That’s "not* the IP coming in from the service.
My ASUS router handles all the network traffic in my apartment. It’s connected to my ISP’s modem/router through Ethernet.
The ASUS is set by default to use DHCP. But it remembers which IP addresses it assigns to the connected devices. So after a reboot each device will get the same IP address again.
I’ve had to setup two port forwarding rules to get ARC to work.
One between the two routers and the other between the ASUS router and my little 2014 Mac mini which runs my Roon Server.
I still haven’t had a chance to try this router fix because I’ve been busy and my laptop I’m running the server on is now shutting down unexpectedly for some reason.
I know ROON (RAAT) is quite CPU/memory intensive in fact one predominant streaming manufacturer even refuses to work with them due to that very caveat… But…
If I was to get a PC or laptop just for a ROON server, how powerful does it have to be? I imagine if a Raspberry Pi would work pretty much any laptop/desktop like an i5 with 8 gigs of RAM would suffice.
What about a cheapy like a Celeron or even a Chromebook? Would that be too underpowered?
An i5 should be fine for normal-size libraries but despite the recommendation I think 8 GB is pushing it a bit. RAM is cheap and I would go with 16, although 8 may be fine. Windows generally runs so much better if it has memory headroom.
