Now that Roon Arc is out, is this a game changer? We can now have the ability to access our own music from anywhere and we are no longer restricted to needing to be in the same location as the Roon Core.
For one, I think of all the expensive portable players with large storage capacities… will they become obsolete?
Another - does it make the music streaming services less useful?
And in the future, do I even need a Roon Core? Can I store my files in the cloud and not worry about backups and maintaining hardware…?
Not yet.
On my DAP, ARC downsamples everything to 16/44. It’s been said this will be addressed in the future.
And I live in a rural area where there is no public wifi or reliable cell service.
“Another - does it make the music streaming services less useful?”
In a sense. But I enjoy streaming services because of the convenience, curated playlists, and the ability to discover new music without increased cost.
“And in the future, do I even need a Roon Core? Can I store my files in the cloud and not worry about backups and maintaining hardware…?”
Here’s another thing I just thought about. Tell your wife how much money you can save on cellular data charges if you buy a new 1TB iPhone 14 Pro Max and fill it up with your music files. Verizon sells them for $1600 less $800 for your trade-in.
I just picked up an iFi Gryphon.
It sounds incredible connected to the iPhone via lightning.
I might like it better than my home DAC, the power supply for which cost as much as the Gryphon!
The Gryphon even sounds decent with Bluetooth and I’ve never been a Bluetooth fan.
So to OPs original musings: Yes, the days of DAPS may be numbered.
No. No. And no. Some of us have been using plexamp for lossless remote access for years. Daps serve a purpose when you dont want to be limited to a few downloads or tethered to the internet. Streaming services have more content to explore than any collection. And no roon is not offering online storage though they might as well since 2.0 requires live internet to play.
Yes it is … and no doubt further functionality will be added with time. CarPlay in particular. I commend the Roon developers and ask them to ignore the naysayers.
Naysayer here. As a Londoner I rarely drive, and the volume control in my car has been broken for three years. Just did a long trip around Europe, 3,000 km, listened to a few HD and SD files from Qobuz offline and lots of podcasts. Used my phone, Chord Mojo2 and Etymotic IEMs.
My wife was sitting next to me using her phone and wireless headphones listening to her own podcasts.
So CarPlay would require passenger consent.
I’d rather sit at home and listen to music than go to the gym. There are a lot of us who haven’t worn a tracksuit since the 1980s.
The irony is that my car, a 2016 Nissan Pulsar 1.2, is probably worth less than my next potential purchase, an Innuos Pulsar.
No but it’s more convenient though. Like others been accessing music outside for years, with PlexAmp and LMS before that. I would be using my DAP if it would work with ARC but it’s Android 8 so wont. I am contemplating a new DAP so I can ditch one of my headphone setups as it’s rumoured the new M11S from Fiio will be Roon Ready.
ARC will never be of any interest to me. As far as ‘nay sayers’ go, I haven’t seen many in relation to ARC itself, just the debacle of the launch. I would be interested to know just what proportion of the user base as a whole were desperate for it. It’s certainly a nod to those with libraries, which Roon has been accused by some people of neglecting with some other feature developments. It will be interesting to see what other developments follow now we have moved on to 2.0.
I can play my own ripped music that cannot be found on streaming services, that’s the upside to it. With that being full integrated with Qobuz/Tidal it’s a no brainer. Having all 3 options in one app is very nice to have.
I can understand if you don’t have your own music, their respective apps do a good enough job on their own. I don’t like to flip between apps to get certain albums and that’s what interested me in the software. I just wish that I found it a lot earlier, their advertising sucks as I only came across it by accident via John Darko and even his channel is something which is stumbled on as I was looking at Tidal videos.
ARC is still nice to have, with it incorporating Qobuz/Tidal. I think this will eventually be the only app offered in years to come.
I live in a country where data costs are very high , so the thought of streaming from my core to my phone doesn’t even begin to enter my head
I live in a country where we have vicious lightening storms almost daily in summer. Leaving my core connected to the mains equally doesn’t enter my head. Some years back I lost my streamer, video streamer, AV Amp and various network bits when a neighbour’s tree took a lightening hit, once bitten twice shy …
I live in a country that has an unreliable electricity supply. At present we are losing power for up to 10 hours a day split into 3 sessions. So keeping the core powered is simply not possible, then someone has to manually restart the system once power is restored sorta defeats the basis of ARC. This not to mention the potential spikes and the risk of damage as power is restored.
I a not an Apple user except for an iPad for control. So native Apple silicon support doesn’t improve my lot
So all in all V 2.0 does nothing for me, except force me to always have an internet connection which 2 & 3 above make difficult but when I have power I have internet hopefully unless the ISP has no power. We will have to see how that pans out.
It’s difficult to get excited about ARC without worrying about my ISP’s insistence on a double NAT set up which means I can’t even connect to ARC without a load of fuss. So I’ll just sit in my chair at home and enjoy
As far as I am concerned my best investment was a 256 gb SD card and USB audio pro. I even tolerate lossy Bluetooth on my Sony WH-XM1000 - 4 ‘s
All that said I am a 100% Roon user for my audio needs, except when out of the house. Maybe 2.1 will fix some of my wish list like Box Set management.
In case you wonder where it’s South Africa and I am too old to move.
and I am too old to move.