Ive just bought an ibasso dx180 which runs on android 13, and im pleased to say roon and roon arc work faultlessly on it.
However, ibasso presumably wont ever update the android operating system, so eventually it will be left behind when roon and roon arc are updated to newer android release compatibility.
Im wondering how many years (approximately) does this process take?
The ibasso has other problems for me, (its a bit underpowered for my overears on eq), but its convenience cant be denied, so im wondering whether to put up with the problems, or return it and just stick to phone and amp combo (as i know the phone WILL be changed every 3-5 years or so)
The standard Roon app for Android has just recently changed its requirements to demand Android 9 or later (and hence dropping support for my 2015 Pixel C tablet )
I would imagine that Android 13 would give you a few years more but it’s not really possible to predict how long since that would be a question as much about future versions of Android as it is about past versions and to what extent the Roon team wish to take advantage of new features and the extent to which support for older Android versions can be maintained at the same time.
Im not totally haply with it, as I noted. I find it underpowered for my overear cans (hd800s and ether flow 1.1) and only good for iems…
To be fair i didnt find the mojo that good for my overear cans either, so im not sure anything portable is going to cut the mustard for my overears…a&k kann ultra maybe but ive heard its a pita for streaming outside the home…
Ive been looking at daps. I ended up getting an ibasso dx180 but its not roon ready, and (eventually) android 13 wont be able to run roon and roon Arc…(its also underpowered for my bigger cans and planars)
I was wondering about a&k kann ultra which is roon ready certified…but in 5+ years time as roon updates roll out, will it still be able to run roon?
Are roon updates always going to be backwardly compatible with previously roon ready certified devices?
Roon Ready requires that the manufacturer sends a device to Roon, so they have a chance to test and ensure compatibility.
The way RAAT is implemented makes the endpoints very simple. All they need to do is being able to receive a PCM sample stream. This will never change. And most of the functionality is in a script that the endpoint loads, so this is very future-proof, too, as very little is actually hardcoded in the endpoint.
The very first Roon Ready device still work and they are very old in the tooth.
RAAT SDK as @Suedkiez mentions is lite on features as it’s on the endpoint and the manufacturers are under no obligation to update the RAAT SDK on them once it’s certified as it’s not needed for it to continue to work nor is the operating system dependant on being updated.
Only the software side of Roon remotes and server has hardware that might become outdated as features are added that require a minimum version of OS or security updates require it. Major changes to RAAT are done on the server side and don’t affect the endpoints which is how’s it’s been designed. If you buy a Roon Ready device today it would continue to work on future versions of Roon.
In the case of DAPs the only thing that might not work over time is Roon Remote or ARC as they will have certain requirements. None of which will affect Roon Ready. I use my phone to control my FiiO Roon Ready DAP rather than using Remote on it as it’s a smoother experience and I can leave the DAP alone once playing.