I’ve had a Squeezebox radio in my bedroom forever. What I like about it is that you have a display and buttons for the controls. The sound (for a mono radio) is very good. I can also set many different alarm times.
The connection to Roon is bad. All functions that are important to me then no longer work properly. The radio then actually only functions as an endpoint (like a WLAN loudspeaker).
Is there an alternative to the SB-Radio for Roon? So with a built-in amplifier, loudspeaker, alarm clock, display and controls on the device for Roon?
I don’t know such a wished item for Roon, but perhaps you can think about using the squeeze box further with the LMS in parallel to Roon.
I do this with my five squeeze boxes, because in this way I can handle them with the remote and use things like favourites, alarms, playlists,…
I have several Naim Cube Gen.2s in the bedroom (and in the apartment).
No display but alarm clock and Roon capable. That means the alarm clock works independently of Roon, airplay or Raat protocol is used via Roon. No applications need to be made on the device itself or in the app. Set it once and you’re done. Furthermore, several days or wake-up times can be stored independently of one another.
There is a Roon extension as an alarm clock, unfortunately this cannot be used with Roon Rock as a core, even in the digital age.
From my point of view, a relatively simple application that should be standard in such a comprehensive program.
Thank you for the numerous answers. I’m going to take a look at the NAIM device. Maybe that’s a “viable” alternative … Besides, I’ve always wanted a NAIM!
the alarm clock was the main reason it was the Naim Cube 2gen. Nevertheless, I think it’s a shame that Roon does not have this function or that it is not implemented in Roon Rock. The effort would be manageable and the Roon Core is constantly in operation. An additional Roon Core via Windows just to install the Roon extension was out of the question for me.
You will have fun with the Naim Cube. Several Naims are also a good alternative to the multiroom. The Naim app is also very usable.
A little update as I have just been looking for a similar device and found a solution that might help others…
I searched high and low for a nice looking bedside alarm clock, with a horizontal LED clock display and snooze / sleep functions, that supports AirPlay. But like you came up short.
The Naim Cube is nice, but the LED clock display is on the top, which isn’t so good for looking at in bed.
The closest I could find was the Tivoli Model One (gen 2). But it’s not clear from the manual if you can set a sleep timer via the front dial and even if you can it looks likely to be a bit fiddly, there’s also no physical snooze button. It’s also not cheap for a bedside radio alarm.
I did consider getting a used Airport Express (~$10) and buying a bedside alarm clock with an aux input. This is problay the most robust option if you don’t mind the extra cable.
But then I remembered I had one of these old Sennheiser Bluetooth adaptors (BTD 500 USB) which are kind of unique in that they’re appear as an external USB sound card, rather than a traditional bluetooth dongle, which means it shows up in Roon as an output zone, which in turn allows you to play music to any device paired with it — in my case my bedside alarm clock.
Obviously this option is constrained by the range of the bluetooth signal, so no good if your Roon Core is at the other end of your house. Luckily my bedroom is above when my Roon Core lives and so far it seems to be working well.
