Too expensive is a personal decision. For most people, you can have anything in life but not everything and so we choose and prioritise.
Some say Tidal is too expensive but I spend more on Fish and Chips a month than on Tidal. I bought lifetime Roon after the Beta Test period so that again fell below my Fish n Chips threshold 
Let’s face it, we have the best quality and quantity audio in the history of the availability of recorded music and still many of us are not happy… Go figure?
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I agree with a simple set up. I bought a separate DAC which would have provide wireless transmission from my computer to my home whole house Audi on system. The DAC was not reliable.
Instead I use an iPod touch as an endpoint with a base attached to rca plugs split into my 2 audio preamps. Roon RAAT send the signal across my WiFi network using my Verizon,router. So far it works flawlessly. All my music,comes from,CDS which I rip into iTunes on my windows10 computer. From Roon core on,the computer through my LAN WiFi I get CD quality music to several systems to anywhere of 7 locations in my home. I am,a lifetime Roon subscriber, very good investment and no need to purchase any new,hardware.
Doesn’t sound like Roon is for you. But, for those who want to give it a try, it takes a computer and $120 for a full year.
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The vast majority of users are not using a nucleus, so I doubt that Roon is looking for it on both ends as you say. The high cost of a nucleus is due to the low volume of sales.
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And a Fanless custom chassis - thats damn sexy too.
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With 6,000 albums, you’re likely to have albums that will not be available through Tidal or Qobuz. Additionally, I find that many older albums in Tidal are 16bit 44kHz or CD quality. You can digitize your albums at higher resolution than that. Once you build up that digitized library, Roon does a great job of merging all your digitized files with your online Tidal or Qobuz content into one seamless library.
I digitize my albums with a PS Audio Nuwave Phono Converter and use Vinyl Studio software. Between the two I can remove pops, clicks, rumble and low level surface noise and play a digitized version of the album that is as good, and sometimes better than the original album. I’m down to a handful of albums that I rather listen to on the turntable but for most of my big collection, being able to pull the album up in Roon and start it playing anywhere in the house is a big plus.
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It is unfair to argue if Roon is too expensive or not, that is a relative question. But please consider the fact that the $700 will get you a lifetime of updates and improvements with no more fees. Many software vendors will charge you a fee for a lifetime use of the software, but if you want any updates, there’s an upgrade price you need to pay. Over time that can add up to a lot of money.
It also seems interesting to me that many Roon users fall into the category of having a lot of money invested into all aspects of their equipment from turntables, to CD/SACD players, to preamps and amps, to loudspeakers and all the cables to hook it all together. I personally have more invested in cables than into Roon. In fact, Roon is the least expensive part of my entire system. That is the perspective I come from.
And for dealers to be able to make money while providing a turn-key experience.
“Low sales”, compared to Apple, likely. But that (and comments from RoonLabs that they’re happy with how well Nucleii are selling) is about as much as we can guess.
Nothing unfair about it. It might be too expensive for some people, but yes it is relative to a person’s disposable income. I guess $10 per month might be more than someone can afford or wants to spend. I think the price is very fair and worthwhile.
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I’ve been finding myself unclear about what @JohnD would count as a solution, especially as none of the suggestions in this 73-post-long thread seem to come anywhere near meeting his needs.
So I went back and looked at all his posts in this thread, and I think I may now understand. I now think that:
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He is looking for a turnkey appliance that requires no more set up than, say, a turntable or radio.
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From this perspective, using a computer to run Roon is not a solution for him because the necessary amount of set-up is higher than acceptable to him (configuring the computer, setting up disk space, installing Roon, ongoing management of computer – and of course acquiring the computer if he doesn’t already have one that would serve).
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Setting up a NUC is even more set-up overhead than that, and so is also not an acceptable solution.
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This is why he was interested in a Nucleus, which would provide the solution he is looking for.
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But, a Nucleus is too expensive.
@JohnD – could you clarify if this is an accurate statement of your situation?
If so, then (IMHO) you are correct in concluding that Roon is not for you – and all of the discussion on this thread (including mine above, of course) is fairly orthogonal to your needs.
@JohnD could you clarify? – thanks!
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Exactly. I’m not sure what else he can say. It’s either too complicated or too expensive or both. Roon is not for everyone.
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Huh? 
Other than that, agree completely with your post.
Bingo, Very well said Otinkyad. Thank you. BTW, I had to look up orthogonal.
Hey, Does anyone want to talk about the cost of good audio cables? Ha, ha
Thanks everyone for their posts,
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
I’m thirsty, but I drink tap water, not Perrier.
A single purpose i3 machine with minimal ram, no hard drive and free software should not cost so much. Maybe it’s Intel’s fault. My understanding is that Roon partnered with Intel to design and build the Nucleus. Is this true?
So, you don’t already own a computer?
You seem to want to take two extreme situations to criticize Roon. You take the most expensive scenario and say it’s too expensive and then take a somewhat complex scenario and say it’s too complicated. There’s a whole world of other alternatives between those two, if you’re really interested.
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I don’t think that means what you think it means.
Do you have a computer now?
Is $500 too expensive for you?
A computer is not the issue. I’m not criticizing Roon, or didn’t mean to, I was merely stating for me it’s too expensive.
Thanks
If someone really wants it, they will find a way. Cost is no real excuse as there are cheaper ways than a Nucleus and it’s so easy to pay student to set it up for you if you don’t want to do it yourself. Which means complication is also no excuse, a good worker is worth his pay.
So the question is, do you really want it?
If yes, make plans to sort it out. If not, leave it there.
We live in the modern world where computers are a thing, we need to adapt to this fact if we want the advantages.
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So, if $120 per year is too expensive then there is nothing to see here (or hear).
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