I’m currently beta testing Qobuz Connect.
Working really well currently.
Connect works across all my beta enabled phones/tablets and my WiiM Pro Plus.
That’s great news… 
I’m really hoping they implement it for the Mac OS app as that’s my goto for classical discovery!
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From videos I’ve seen the desktop versions will also have Qobuz Connect.
Seeing them switch music playing from one device to another was seamless, which is my experience as well.
Once released it’ll basically bring the same functionality as Spotify and Tidal Connect does, which is great as Qobuz is purely music.
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Hah! I can see this being split into another thread yet again entitled “Why stick with Roon if you only use streaming?” 
Not that I want Roon to fail, it’s incredibly dense and sophisticated application that transforms the user experience with streaming and local media alike… but…
The meta data issue is global and affects every platform, including Roon, nearly every Modern Creative Jazz album I find has no info, the credits just go to blank pages often with no image.
When it comes to classical music I find myself using Presto Music website not only as a guide for the reviews but also as a search tool - Roon often doesn’t find albums in the search or even on the artist discography page when a filter is applied. Whereas I can usually find the album on Qobuz with just a few words and on Presto if I want to be very specific with my search terms. If Qobuz could filter search results that would be a no brainer for me.
Presto often has dates of recording and venues of classical albums that Roon can’t find and I even find myself on MusicBrainz to discover which version is which and review sites to determine the version that I should be adding to my library. So Roon is great, with mainstream stuff, but not so great with my particular pleasures!
(I am even finding now that Qobuz manages to sort out the movements in most classical albums better than Roon, without orphan parts dangling off the end of the album! So a ‘composition’ link to other albums in Qobuz would again be a no brainer!)
Now I have a Wiim Pro for my headphone Roon endpoint, so I have tried removing my headphone EQ from Roon and placing these values in the Wiim PEQ settings instead… buggered if I can hear any difference!
So I don’t need Roon’s PEQ (and that applies to my main system more than the headphone rig) and I am always on three or more sites searching for music anyway… so… as I have a minimal local library (which I could use iTunes or any other app for free to manage) it does make you wonder doesn’t it?
I’m moving house shortly, so I will be dismantling the ROCK NUC, network switch and ethernet spaghetti I use to get Roon into my living room - so an easy to use Qobuz Connect with no setup may well take its place temporarily in my new abode… I wonder if I will get around to sorting the Roon server out or just leave it in the box?
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Qobuz Connect will certainly change the landscape for streamers.
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Yep, just done that, as it’s completely off topic (again).
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You’re a busy boy! Now, what was the original topic again I’m lost now!! 
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I stream quite a bit from Tidal and Qobuz but I have a library of music as well. I don’t think I can ever give up Roon itself. Makes things a lot easier when searching.
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I value Roon primarily for Tidal/Qobuz integration, convolution filters, user interface, Roon “radio” and album writeups…
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Because I really like Roon, the Roon people, and Roon works perfectly for me as well as Roon ARC.
I’ve also sunk $2169 into a Roon Nucleus and lifetime subscriptions.
I have no reason to leave Roon unless I go deaf.
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I really like Roon, particularly given its magazine style that enables you to read all about who and what you are listening to and explore new listening opportunities. It is also great for bringing together music from disparate sources. There are certainly other options you can use like Bluos that enable much the same thing but I don’t find them anywhere near as good and they tend to be much less function rich. However, every one values these things differently and I can certainly see why a streaming platform might be all someone might want. If I had to manage with Tidal Connect alone, it wouldn’t be ideal but it wouldn’t be the end of the world either!
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Let us face it: The technical reasons why roon is essential for streaming in a complex home audio environment are vanishing step by step. Tidal users know that for quite some time that there are alternatives, and Qobuz Connect is just one more alternative.
That said I still think that roon is the best option and I will stick with it for different reasons. Not because it is the best and only streaming protocol but because of its unique way of curating and browsing your library. I have the feeling that this point is not highlighted enough but technical aspects such as which device is roon ready or roon tested are overly dominant.
When facing some ARC problems I switched to Qobuz app (Android version) in the car. While it is more stable, compared to roon, the browsing experience, search, metadata, discography, playlists, suggestion, radio and everything related to customer experience is outright poor, like a simplified year 2014 Spotify. I love it for its reliability and the sound quality provided, but I would not have found a single album that I have found thanks to roon in recent years.
For me, Qobuz and roon belong together!
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Yes the list of features I would miss by leaving Roon is a long one, mostly those mentioned above, but I would expect those features and more, because Roon is a paid for application and offers these features in return for that subscription - over and above the price I pay for the actual streaming service.
Now if Roon included a streaming service at a sensible price (obviously much cheaper than making the two subscriptions as now) then integration would be presumably not an issue and Roon could be far more reliable. Secondly who would argue with the features for the price?
It’s just that Roon is an EXTRA cost over and above the streaming service and therefore if you don’t have an extensive file based library the benefits are much less.
I can achieve much of what I manage in Roon with cleverly designed playlists in Qobuz, I have no need of a Listen Later feature when I can just shove that album in a playlist of that name in Qobuz directly… and have as many Listen Later playlists as I like for jazz, classical, modern creative and what have you. Not only that, but Qobuz has always offered an ‘album’ view for playlists that are really markers for albums and not tracks… that’s another requested feature Roon has ignored for years.
I don’t need Smart Playlists because when I am listening to a playlist in Qobuz directly I simply note where I got to in the play queue and remove everything above that from the playlist - simples, and it works every time, unlike the Roon automated version.
My WiiM streamer now has fully functional PEQ up to 10 bands, so Roon Muse is no longer required. I can now set a pre-gain reduction to avoid clipping if said EQ lifts certain frequencies… because WiiM listen to their customers, and implement suggestions that improve the product within weeks!
If Roon had a published route map of upcoming bug fixes and requested features, and implemented those fixes especially in a realistic timescale (or posted explanations of why they were having trouble fixing or implementing features) that would lift customer confidence drastically.
Instead we get major new features added to the software that come out of nowhere and then still don’t quite work as expected… whilst long standing areas that would really benefit from requested improvement are seemingly ignored?
Qobuz is no better of course, worse even as they have no community for those kinds of issues. The Qobuz Club is for users to prattle among themselves, but if they added a features and bugs reporting section that actually had company reps active in it that would be something.
Anyway, ‘nuff said. Let’s see what transpires and I for one would like to offer Roon my support, if only they told us more and interacted better on this platform. Votes for features doesn’t work, we don’t have enough votes, what’s needed are dedicated staff who bring all these issues together into a recognised route map for improvement that we can see and comment on.
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I suggest anyone who does not think using Roon is worthwhile, let their subscription expire and move on. Why are you here on a Roon forum trying to convince other Roon customers that Roon is not worthwhile? What is the objective?
EDIT: Whether or not I choose to post here is not the issue. It’s Roon customers trying to convince other Roon customers that Roon is not worthwhile. If someone has suggestions that might improve the Roon product, post them in Feedback where Roon will see them.
Qobuz Connect works fine, but is not a replacement for Roon IMHO.
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I mentioned in another thread I was beta testing Qobuz Connect. This became off topic and @carl moved those posts to here.
The title of the thread has two paths.
You can also choose not to post.
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For me Roon has a major value just due to the independence of brands and the wide compatability. I have Hifi Rose in my living room, a Naim device in my office, my kids are using a laptop with speakers, my wife prevers her mobile…and Ronn is serving everything. One GUI, local files, Tidal, Quobuz…all in place and working charming. A simple reason,not even the need to mention all the other nice features…just that simple.
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Thanks @Sascha_Held , that’s what I was going to write. I arrived at Roon after endless stopgap solutions that wasted years, after investing time and money into promising solutions that turned out to be vendor specific and short-lived. Roon brings together everything that needs to come together: the most important streaming sources, sophisticated handling for my local files, a great SO compatible UI, support for all the relevant hardware for server, controllers etc etc, plus perhaps the most important of them all, the mindshare in the industry that means you can purchase a very broad selection of devices that work with Roon out of the box. Of course that’s not all, but it’s way more than enough to support my point.
Yes, there’s always room for improvement, yes, some other app may do one or the other thing a bit better at any given point in time. But I’ve spent the last years in blissful ignorance of any such evolving app or service because I was busy exploring and listening to music with Roon. That’s what makes me happy!
That’s all.
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Just adding, at least in Germany where I’m located it is a common topic:
Do you NEED Roon mandatory? It is very expensive…
No, you don’t need Roon necessarily. But if you’ve used it and if you like to find the final solution, regardless what kind of gear you’re looking for in the future: you should have it.
Is it expensive?
Sorry saying this, it makes me laugh all the time.
I’ve spent more money for speaker cables as I’ve spent for the Roon Lifetime license and the hardware for a Roon server. Doing this hobby seriously…we all know it is not the cheapest adventure. But Roon…sorry…that is in comparison to the other stuff pocket money. And even if you are no guy that is into the high end stuff: the complete package of Roon is not overpriced!
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Plus, if your other devices support Roon ARC, I use it, via a DAP, as a source for my car audio system, then you can access your streaming services and your ripped library on your Roon server at home from ANY remote location that has internet. You can use your phone as a mobile hotspot to get to the internet.
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