Lifetime price increase, $499 -> $699

@danny Why not evaluate the monthly payment like Tidal, Qobuz etc.
I think many users in East Europe or Asia $ 119 can be a lot of money
Regards

I think the problem is that passionate users perceive the Life Time purchase as the way to say to Roon

Actually, I’m not sure that’s the case at all, and it’s certainly not true for me. I dislike the subscription system, for ANY software, with a passion. It ties my access to important tools I use daily to my varying revenue, instead of being able to buy something that will last for the long-term. It puts a constant pressure on me to continuously appraise whether a subscription is still good for me, when the previous model of paid upgrades allowed for one-time evaluations post-release. And generally speaking, I think subscriptions are only good for the companies, not for the customers, no matter how much we get fed the “but you only have to pay for as long as you want to use it” drivel.

Maybe it’s a question of generation, but I see the terms of service from subscription software to ebooks to music as corporations imposing the financial model most beneficial to them to consumers who have lost many of their previous rights.

Now I understand that Roon is not exactly a corporation, but I don’t see why I should make exceptions. I paid the subscription fee a short while to see if the software fit my needs, but if no “affordable” lifetime price had been available, I would have chosen an alternative.

Again, that’s me, but I’m fairly sure I’m not the only one feeling that way about subscriptions.

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I’m generally with you in regards to the ongoing subscription model. I would normally shy away from those too in the past. There are a lot of examples out there where it’s just a cash grab and not really required.

But as someone that runs their own small SaaS business I understand why this approach is necessary for some niche software to have ongoing development.

At this price I will never commit to a lifetime subscription when we all know that a software is essential today but not in let’s say 2 years because replaced from something similar and cheaper or free…just put it monthly and that’s all

@danny,

How long do you estimate the duration of the Roon project?

Users who have paid for a lifetime subscription are not very bad for you.

The development of digital systems is now proceeding very fast.

In a few years, such a project may be born or even better.
And then, in the pursuit of improvement, these users will have to switch to them.

And they bring you profits here and now.

Audiophil’s as always strange guys. To spend more than $1000 on the audio cable’s - it is normal. But paying $700 for what makes much more sound good than a cable is expensive.

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I waited to subscribe to Roon until shortly after the launch till they had a version that worked with my model of tablet. Once that happened, I almost immediately subscribed to lifetime. It was a small risk, but it looked like Roon was doing pretty well, so I took the risk.

Good move, as I’m now essentially getting Roon for free. I understand the lifetime fee is a big expense for lots of people on a monthly budget, but essentially you are getting rewarded for taking a risk. If you don’t have the cash or are risk averse, well that’s your situation or your decision.

I also understand why Roon doesn’t want to continue the model. Customers like me aren’t good for them longterm.

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Im not keen on subscription model either as it means if you stop paying you have nothing, on the other hand software is on ongoing cost that needs some support from existing customers. What I do with SongKong is have the initial purchase, and this gives free updates for one year, then after that year the customer can still use whatever version of SongKong they have, however to get new versions after that year is up there is a fee for another years of updates. This is like paying from going from one major version to another (e.g Version 3 to Version 4), but because what constitutes a major version is rather arbitary this is based on a time period instead (1 year) so it is completely clear to customer

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Your product has no network accessible infrastructure to rely upon. Your product does not have issue with people using any number of versions because of the network accessible infrastructure. Your product does not have control apps running on mobile platforms that need to be kept up to date with no way to back date. Your product is based on an entirely different model so your choice on how to handle upgrades and all new releases does not even come close to having anything to do with what Roon does.

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My comment was not meant to be a comparison with Roon merely a comparison of different licensing models.

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I, like you, often bought equipment because I realised that I would be limited to what I could buy when retired. The reality is though, roon is just a piece of software and requires lots of hardware to use it and hardware breaks down and requires repair and replacement. I would class myself as an audiophile where in my younger days the quality of the sound was equally as important as the music itself. As I got older, quality is still important but the ability to listen to a variety of music is more important, I’m now 71. I’m not interested in multi room streaming and prefer to have independent systems in those areas when I want to listen to music. The reality is that only my system in the living room is used for critical listening and all other systems are background music. I tried roon and whilst it seemed to be a reasonable piece of software it had no real advantage over my squeezebox touch and my core was my pc which is annoying. I needed another core but in Australia the nucleus is quite expensive and imo not worth the cost. I had lots of my CD and lp collection digitised in flac on a 1tb hard drive. My final solution was a bluesound node 2i which I connect the hard drive to and the os for the node is extremely good. The node is connected to an external dac. My point of this ramble is that, for me with my listening requirements, roon software is quite expensive for no advantage over the squeezebox and node 2i even though it has some interesting elements.

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I fully understand the idea of roonlabs executives, getting rid of the lifetime memberships, however, not everyone likes monthly payments. I try to avoid them as good as possible.

Then, it might be very individual, how people chose their preferred music setup. 15 years ago I found the solution of slim devices very attractive and I started to listen my music over their server. Then, when they were bought by Logitech, I set up a multiroom system with different Squeezeboxes, mostly SB Touch. This setup or szenario I’m still using, however, with the buy of a Fiio M11 Pro I became aware of roon and had a closer look at it.

10 days ago I installed a test core and I’m very pleased with how roon adds a real plus over what LMS is giving me, therefore, it is time for a new setup. For me no question: I’ll become a lifetime member, as I’m willing to use it for the next years until there’s a big jump again.

The only thing, that speaks against a lifetime membership is a uncertainty, how long roonlabs will stay independent. Many good companies with promising products are a good prey for companies without ideas but a lot of money. But my decision is made, no risk no fun :slight_smile:

Welcome aboard Hans-Peter, enjoy the ride.

:+1::+1: yep life’s too short to worry about all the “what ifs?” . Enjoy.

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I think the Roon Knowledge Base entry regarding Lifetime price requires an urgent update…

thanks @wobare, fixed.

I don’t post often. This may be my first post here. I, like many others am sad to have “missed” the $499 Lifetime price. To Roons point. Had I known that it was going away, I would have made the commitment. That is exactly what Roon did not want to happen. I am not jumping ship anytime soon. So Bravo Roon. Mission accomplished. Your theory proved true in my case. I will continue to subscribe for the foreseeable future. My reasons for not buying the lifetime license was simple. I have been burned before and didn’t want it to happen again.

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I stand by my my original post and analysis on this matter which can be seen here: How much longer will Roon offer a lifetime subscription?

My advice from back then still stands. Even post price increase the lifetime license is still a bargain, you should grab it while you can. Roon is in fact easing us into this by increasing the price rather than simply eliminating the lifetime option.

If you missed it at the $499 price, a shame, but don’t make the same mistake again - grab a lifetime license while you still can.

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What galls me, and I suspect many others, is the arbitrary way the lifetime offer was extended. I agree that lifetime is not sustainable and also that £699 is probably still a good deal. I am struggling with the fact that because I started my Roon journey a few weeks before the “cut-off” date I will be penalised by £200 should I go lifetime. I know I could have pulled the trigger after my trial period. I appreciate all the comparisons to the stock market. The fact is a lot of customers will feel aggrieved that they had no opportunity to go with the £499 deal whereas newer customers did. I will continue with my annual subscription but will be much more thoughtful about my renewal than I would normally be. It’s a good and potentially great product but customer relationships could and should be handled better.

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Unless you are grooming your own metadata in tags etc for your whole local library the benefits of Roon are its metadata overheads built into its database - something that won’t be available to you if you stop using room. I’m leaving out the what if roon shuts down scenario here.

Streaming add ons in Roon are also available as individual apps with varying degrees of GUI friendliness and capability.

It’s your choice of course to use roon, lifetime or annual or not at all. Everyone will have their own take on what to do and how to get on with their music setups, that may indeed change as new products or financial considerations evolve.

I am always looking at what else is out there that is affordable and gives a good experience. Sometimes I run 2-3 different systems to compare such things. While I opted for lifetime in the first week or so my signing up, nearly 4 years down the road I think I would still do the same thing even if I had missed the 499 option.

It’s that you had time to do the trial and then decided to not buy the lifetime subscription. The people that got extended did not have the time you had.

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