Choice! Choices? 
Having supported Qobuz all through their troubles and loving the new desktop app interface (which is receiving constant updates and tweaks) here’s what I think. Qobuz are so nearly there, metadata obviously is not as rich as Roon, but I have had two Roon trials now and I am still not impressed enough to fork out a subscription on top of my Qobuz subscription - the added value is simply not enough. Now, if I have a vast local library that would be different, but for the 7000 tracks (500 odd albums) I have bothered to rip Audirvana is proving more than adequate and it has basic Qobuz integration which does keep your libraries separate and sounds great into the bargain.
Next up is Auralic Lightning DS, and again their app has come on leaps and bounds, and integrates Qobuz with full access to booklets, artist bios and album notes if there are any (Aurdirvana access booklets and bios but it is pretty basic to say the least) Lightning DS its pretty swish and I like it - but its not as rich as the new Qobuz desktop app and it doesn’t do bio/album metadata for local files (I have asked, they won’t pay for metadata).
The Qobuz Discovery features and articles are expanding rapidly to the point where Qobuz player interface is starting to look like Tidal Play and Read.Tidal all in one - I think that’s impressive because I believe curation is going to be the key deciding factor as streaming services mature. I don’t personally like Tidal, the emphasis is not on my musical interests so their curation is way off for me. For those looking for Qobuz to integrate their own local library in software I think that is beyond a streaming services remit and sort of defeats their purpose really doesn’t it? But who knows - that would be grand!
What it boils down to is metadata, both for local files and for streaming media, and that is surely a shrinking problem as labels and distributors really must take responsibility - after all that data is on file for every album they record/produce/distribute!! Once that metadata is in the file the problem is much reduced, and what then of Roon, their entire business model seems to be based on collation of basic metadata, links out to rich metadata, both for integration into local file storage - is local file storage going to exist in 5 years time? Lots of apps do library management - iTunes is free regardless of what we think of it and it works just fine for tons of people? Rich metadata is the extra icing on the cake and Roon could leverage that for sure, working with their existing sources and collating simple linkages that streaming services could access (for a fee) if required to save them doing the whole deal themselves with all the licensing involved.
To my mind, and I agree it maybe a pretty weird mind, Roon is taking an opposing stance against Qobuz and that is not a sensible option in any business environment. If Auralic and Audirvana can integrate Qobuz with the current state of the API then Roon is being picky and pedantic for the sake of competition - albeit competition it sounds like Qobuz initiated. But guys Qobuz are French, we must need forget that - English is not their first language or their chosen culture - they are lovely sweet and French, and this must be factored in! Judging from my conversations with Qobuz operatives at various levels they don’t have a damn clue what Roon is (France is a very big local market we must not forget and if its not on the radar its not on the radar). When the marketing department (if that’s why it was) say they are implementing Roon like features it is simply because they have heard the name mentioned by users like me in encouragement to expand their metadata presentation.
Qobuz will never be Roon because Roon is primarily a local file manager, with links to streaming services as a added bonus - I think Roon’s attitude is sad but it’s fine with me as my streaming service requirements are far in access of my local file requirements. However, I think the real reason Roon are not using the existing interface API and refuse to do any less than a full deep data access is an excuse, and the real reason has more to do with the size of the Qobuz user base, versus development cost, even when compared to Tidal.
So - now that Spotify are going lossless I wonder how soon Roon will be looking to integrate with them - 50 million paying users - oh yes! But if Spotify won’t play ball with this deep access Roon go on about (and I doubt they will) then what? Interesting times…
