My Roon Journey

I first signed on to Roon in October 2015.

When I began I was using a Mac mini as my core and direct into an AudioQuest Dragonfly DAC.

When SSD was recommended for Roon, I had one installed and ran a remote system using an Apple AirPort Express for the remote system and the core in the main system, still through the Dragonfly.

When RoonServer and RAAT were introduced I installed RoonServer on the mini and built a couple of Raspberry Pi systems using DietPi (thanks @RBM and @Dan_Knight) still using the Dragonfly and Airport Express.

When Tidal announced MQA support, I ordered a couple of Meridian Explorer 2 DACs and happily streamed from RoonServer to the RAAT Pi devices over WiFi.

2019 brought a new house which I had fully wired with network connections throughout. I also changed HiFi gear from vintage McIntosh to modern PS Audio, including their DACs, still using the Raspberry Pi RAAT endpoints. Upgraded the Pi units to Pi 4 to reduce USB noise.

Became a Roon Lifer in October 2019 prior to the price increase :grinning:. Living through the Mac OS 15 challenges with Roon made me rethink how I used the product and I decided to really slim down a local library that had been ripped long prior to lossless being a viable option.

In the last month I decided that the future was in using ROCK as the core and my Roon Ready PS Audio DirectStream as an endpoint and a Pi 4 running RoPieee (thanks @spockfish) as a remote into a secondary system. Built a NUC10i7 with 32 GB RAM and 2 TB for music storage in just a couple of hours (build instructions could use an update).

In short, it is an awesome improvement in speed and perhaps better sonically (quieter) than the old Mac mini. Also hopefully more fully integrated into Roon’s future infrastructure.

Following the Roon team’s basic instructions of using a simple, reliable network with approved equipment has served me well. I’m OK technically, but not a whiz and it has all worked pretty darn well throughout the journey. Not totally without bumps, but the issues have been easily solved through communication and reading the forum posts of fellow users.

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This forum has a support aspect, so it’s expected to see many complaints and issues reported. There is a lot more on this forum. While the negativity rings loudly, I’m glad you write something to give a positive counterpoint.

It’s great to hear when people are happy.

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Rock definitely the way to go - I’ve been trouble free since switching three (or more?) years ago.
PS - do you mean 32 gigs of RAM?!

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Yup. Typing fingers work faster than brain.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful post @Bob_Worley! We have a blog series planned that will offer tips for getting the best experience out of Roon. You totally nailed our suggestions on the nose in your post. It’s great to see our customers reinforce these recommendations.

We’d like for everyone to have a experience like yours. Using a purpose-specific platform and an uncluttered network setup for Roon Core is an essential first step. :muscle:t2:

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Same here. I renewed with a lifetime license because everything is rock stable and fast. ROCK behind pfSense router and UPS, two DietPis with one of them running a fast raid1 SSD NAS that is backed up nightly to S3 Deep Glacier ($1 per 1TB and month). Relatively recent iOS remotes. I don’t envy you guys though, with all the negativity and armchair experts here telling you how to do your job.

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Same here also. Have a NUC 8i7 with Rock installed, and a simple as possible wired network to my Lumin X1. 4 tb internal disc in the NUC, and a usb disk also connected, no problems at all.
Love it!

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RAM is relatively cheap, I just set up my NUC 10i7 and put 32 gb in for a 150k track library. Without checking the RAM was R3000 out of R27000. The 4TB SSD was a big chunk at R6000 ish

Pays not to run out …

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It’s good to know there are others that like Roon enough to make sure it works in their environment. Nice post and thanks for that.

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Appreciate what you are saying and pure negativity is to common in our society. That being said i feel (constructively and respectfully) your support model could be better especially when it comes to an expensive purchase like a nucleus
Thank you

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Just jumped on board S3 Glacier thank you for the heads up on that
Absolutely cheap as chips

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I’ve been a lifetime Roon subscriber almost since the beginning. I’m a huge fan. I’ve had a few problems along the way, and received prompt assistance from Roon staff after posting here. Those problems have always been resolved, and the rest of the time I happily enjoy what Roon does, and does very well.
What I don’t enjoy is the sometimes overwhelming negativity of this community. So these days, I generally stay away unless I want to research some aspect of Roon with which I’m unfamiliar, or if I have a question.

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Nice post. I have roon server running in a Debian Virtualbox VM. Typically, on a host Ubuntu, occasionally host Windows (if need some other SW or games). Same VM on an external SSD drive. Had bumps over the years but works well.

Have a Raspberry pi with DAC hat in my home office and some other endpoints around the house, plus Sonos.

Not lifetime membership but subscribed for a good few years now. Have Qobuz and very much like the add ons Roon provides.

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Yes it is a very negative place at times. Unfortunately many of us have had less than great experiences with Roon and the support system is simply inadequate. It is compounded by a few people who like to lambast others over their systems or technical prowess while bragging about how perfect their Roon experiences are. That is the down side of this kind of support method. Roon is a complex thing for many to grasp and there certainly have been times when the software has had some serious bugs. I find it interesting that Danny and you should bring this up in a post that is positive. Sorry but it feels a bit like stirring the pot.

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To add to the positivity I have been with Roon for two or three years and run core on a Windows I7 pc built from parts I had laying around after an upgrade. The pc is dedicated to Roon and uses SSDs exclusively. I run a combination of wired and wireless network with Mesh. My main endpoints are wired.

My two channel systems are an Auralic Aries G2 feeding a Denafrips Terminator Plus DAC and an Auralic Aries Femto feeding a Burson Conductor 3xp. I also have a brace of Chromecast Audio pucks scattered about the house in my surround system and various powered speakers. I prefer the sound from the Chromecast to using HEOS on my Denon receiver.

I love Roon. I have never had any significant issues and find it a pure joy to use. A happy customer here at least

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I have nothing but praise for my Roon system. After trying it out, I immediately signed up for a lifetime subscription. I was that impressed. I had been using PLEX to manage my rather large (58,000+ tracks) music library. I found it cumbersome, unrewarding, and unwieldy. Roon provided a much more robust, user-friendly interface and search function. I can zero in on a cut almost instantly. The wealth of information and metadata on the music is awesome. The sound quality is superb.

Roon allowed me to re-purpose my Apple Mac mini “Core i5” 2.8 (Late 2014), which serves as my core. Since all my music was already on it, it was a simple matter of installing Roon and then having it scan my library. That went surprisingly quickly even with the somewhat large library I have. I think it’s the only time I’ve heard the Mini’s cooling fan go into “hyperventilation” :slight_smile:

Most of my music was scanned pre-lossless format, yet even my MP3 file can sound quite astounding on my “modest” system. And while using DSP, upsampling, etc. the trusty Mac Mini never complains. It works perfectly. I suppose if I was using higher quality lossless files, there is an outside chance of processing overload issues, but I have experienced absolutely NONE. The ability to Airplay to 4 different Marantz receivers in my home is also a joy.

I have been happy to recommend Roon to anyone I know that is seriously interested in music, sound quality, flexibility, and learning more about the artists and recordings they have in their libraries. I appreciate Roons constant updates of their product and I am very satisfied.

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Congratulations and happiness, you are on the sunny side of your life with Roon!

Life alone is not enough, says the butterfly. Sunshine, freedom and a little flower you must also have. The community here also wishes the warm summer sun and the freedom of having a functioning Roon. Then all of our lives blossom musically and colorfully. We have butterflies in our stomachs.

Nature and the butterfly are in no hurry, yet you always reach your destination.

We humans are more impatient and always want everything immediately. We can only lose our love impatiently. I give the team the time needed to solve the last problems that may stand in the way of satisfaction for all.

Good luck and success!

To manage the musical journey only with haste and only with Roon, at times the sun may darken and a rain shower passes over us. After that, nature only grows more magnificent!

Who acts responsibly, will not be able to walk comfortably through the nature without an umbrella or to book the sun after a beautiful summer day for a whole sunny life. Maybe on rainy days the old not so beautiful program should be temporarily in use. This only strengthens the belief in the beautiful sunny days!

That Roon can be more robust with larger music libraries is confirmed by users (unfortunately the opposite is also true). That Roon does not only radiate sunshine, but like any software has good and bad habits, remains undisputed. Everyone judges functions, stability, etc. differently and shares their experiences or seeks help. We should wish everyone a lot of sunshine and helpfully stretch an umbrella, even if you stay with Roon at times not sunny in the mind.

Yes Roon offers much more, if you can use it properly. Own errors, parts in the program code, an overload of the networks, interfaces of the partners and much more result in the sunny or rainy day. Roon can only make the surface shinier with the program code. Many parameters are up to the customer and Roon’s partners.

I renew my travel plans with Roon annually and have done well with it. The team for our sunny days can not work for us with a one-time payment for life!

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A Roon lifetime license is one of the best value items you’ll ever stick in a Hifi rack.

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If this hifi rack is not replaced every year after a visit to the show, lifetime makes sense because less resources are wasted. But if it is to remain a lifetime service with many paid developers, support staff, etc., the payment cannot be a one-time payment. Every business only pays off for both sides if the development work continues to flow in return for payment.

Otherwise it looks like this: quickly collect money and then away

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I only went for the lifetime license because I didn’t want to pay for another subscription.

I’m already paying for Amazon prime, Netflix, apple TV, Disney, VPN provider, qobuz , tidal, apple Cloud storage.

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