Issues with Roon that stop me buying

Metadata licensing issue?

… I believe it was more in the direction of subscriber commitment. Maybe I’ll search for it later. :wink:


Update:

OK - some links from my search (especially Danny’s replies):


Please note that the statements were valid when made - things may change over time …

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I’d like a Porsche, or even a Ferrari, but I’m not on forums moaning how expensive they are. Roon has set their price, it’s 100% their call. Either pony up or move on.

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If that’s the case, I’d have thought $500 is a steal. But I guess there are a lot of people out there who will pay the earth for something tangible but expect software to be either cheap as chips or free.

Roon is a beautifully engineered product even though it doesn’t come in a box. And it costs less than a CD player.

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As my understanding and experience with Roon expands, I’m finding that there are ways to achive many (but not all) of the goals this thread. In particular, I was a skeptic of Tidal and subscriptions in general.

However, now I can demonstarte the power of Roon by building a playlist WITH the person adn then showing the benefits of Roon by playing the music.

All with little effort, and the approach shows why we might (or might not!) want / need Roon!

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A solution to this lack has been discussed before:

Christopher_Swain Excuse me for saying so, but when you expect a free version so that you have to pay nothing, it is a demonstration of a weird attitude. Do you want other people to work for free for YOU? Isn’t it fair that people get paid for solid work? How much do you pay for a car? How much did you pay for all that gear? A gift to YOU? By all means, if people want to offer you something for free, grab it if that is your preference, but to suggest to a commercial vendor to turn around the business model?

Not impressed!

Moreover, please write proper English when you invite other people to read your “essays”. Your language is bordering on being unreadable.

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Is accustomed in the software world to offer free versions of a product, often with limited functionality and/or derived from the full version (so with less or none additional resources involved). For some it’s working for others not so much, either way it’s probably just a matter of how good (or bad) their marketing (or application for that matter) is. But this business model is not unusual.

English may not be this guy’s main language, but since apparently you can’t apreciate his efforts you can at least be constructive in your critique (just saying).

No it’s not. This is your perception, nothing more.

Well i percept that Plex, Mezzmo, Emby just to name a few in the same area (media server) all of them have a free tier…

Most of the photo sharing application they have a free version.
Lot of antivirus programs they have a free version.
Lot of back-up programs they have free versions.
Lot of password managers they have free versions.
And so on…

How about the favourite quote

“With Free Software You Get What You Pay For” !!!

Most free software has limitations and support issues why do businesses pay out for Windows when they can get Linux for free , now there’s a question :sunglasses:

I certainly wouldn’t be happy working for nothing !!

Count the cost of good software in Starbuck’s Latte’s …Roon is cheap , especially considering what you get !

Mike
Retired Dev

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And lots of specialist software that relies on a raft of expensive third party software with a support team, hardware testing and authentication etc, don’t.
Roon is aimed at people who are in to audio, probably can afford a dedicated server or NAS and going by the hundreds of people who have posted in the System and DAC threads some tasty audio gear.
You get 14 days to see if it is for you FREE anyway.

Quality was not the point.

I was just answering to @Carl_Henrik_Janson saing to @Christopher_Swain “…but when you expect a free version so that you have to pay nothing, it is a demonstration of a weird attitude”.

And my point was that is not really weird and it is not uncommon, but whatever…

See my post above

As I said, it is a perception based on the software you choose to use. :slightly_smiling_face:

Different markets, different customer base. They aren’t representative. The vast majority of software I use personally is either paid for or subscription, and all professional software I use is licensed and maintained on an annual basis.

Nope, @carl_henrik_janson was not replying to me. I expect nothing for free, and suspect anything that’s so offered.

OK. Microsoft SQL server has a free (limited) version. Microsoft Visual Studio has a free (limited) version. They are maintained and licensed. They are quite representative in the .NET universe which is also quite representative in the software development. Are these two enough examples to demonstrate that a free tier of a software applications is neither weird, unusual or unexpected?

No. Those are not representative and are typically used for learning and development.

However, this is all immaterial since we don’t buy Roon software we subscribe to a service.

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" Bill_Janssen correct. I clicked reply to the originator, but the name was not injected. I do it now.

They are examples as you point out. However you are comparing software developed by small company with a small team of devs, to, Microsoft… An organisation like MS, Apple or Google have lots over other ways of generating income and have other reasons for giving their software out for free. Not all of those reasons are to be applauded.

Roon has a free trial. Its 14 days but when I had some issues during my trial they extended it to 30 days. And I know they have done similar for others here too. Just how much ‘free’ do you actually expect?

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