So yesterday I looked for MinimServer and it turns out I had already installed it on my mac pro and was all ready to go. Started it up, refreshed the music scan, and voila! From there I can use dCS Mosaic to play!
Also… Sounds better than Roon.
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A very nice reply and I agree wholeheartedly. I have one of those ultra-amazing systems at home rendered by, no less, a PS Audio DirectStream DAC. Roon and PS Audio have been in perfect synergy for many years now and I am one of the first subscribers. I bought the lifetime licence. Not sure how much they are now, but it’s worth it. I don’t like subscription software UNLESS the service provides media content of course. I subscribe to Tidal and Roon integrates with it beautifully. My routine is to use Tidal when away from the house. I’m not sure why I would need to have ARC to be honest. Tidal has pretty much everything my local collection has. Roon’s decision is, indeed, very baffling. But on the bright side, this leaves opportunities for competitors who will, no doubt, see a chink in Roon’s armour.
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Dear Roon folks,
Sorry to say, but this does change the use-case dramatically. With all these internet outages nowadays, I really enjoyed the freedom to use my large (3000+) CDs without internet access. Now you tell with Roon 2.0 / ARC I will need to get my cds 
out of the cellar back again and use my CD player whenever my internet provider has an issue? That does not sound right to me…
How do feel the others about this?
Best
Sven
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I agree with you and I was shocked when I discovered the “always on” requirement. At least there could have been a warning before installing the app. I expected more consideration from the folks at Roon.
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Well, it actually covers my user case perfectly. I use ripped CDs and Qobuz/Tidal and found it annoying that I had to use another app externally and couldn’t access my CD-Library.
If the Carplay app also appears, then I will be very happy. I think a large majority of users also wanted this, as far as I know it was the number one feature requested by the community. and I think the large majority mainly use the streaming services and have chosen Roon because of the very good overall integration.
However, Roonlabs should add a switch so that you can disconnect from the internet and it still works. As far as I know, there is at the moment a Roon 1.8 legacy that’s not requiring internet access… For me, however, the thing was since the beginning always permanently connected to the internet and I haven’t had any problems with it so far.
A lot of us downloaded the app right away because we trust roon products. Then we discovered that 2.0 does not let us access our own music if the internet is down and some of us decided not to upgrade to 2.0. I would not read too much into the arc download numbers as a measure of approval or satisfaction.
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Sorry Danny, but you do not mean that this is any kind of an option for all those people around here running great home audio systems. 
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OK, according to Antoine with Audirvana, their Audirvana Origin can go 30 days before needing to reconnect with the internet. At $120 for lifetime, seems like a viable fallback to me. It is not a replacement for Roon, but would be OK in a pinch.
The cloud is not evil by definition. Only when it’s a thunderstorm…
Hey, @danny! These are fairly glib responses.
You and the team seriously needed someone to raise their hand and tell you that (A) many ISPs, including at least one major one (Comcast) are notoriously unrelaible, and (B) losing access to one’s local library during an internet downage would represent a serious encumberment for your customers? Really? Seems a bit disingenuous.
Typically waiting until a known issue hits you is…uh…imprudent. Hey, why not try to develop a model that will not tank local access for customers with internet downage problems until it impacts your service-offering negatively, and then congratulate the Roon Team on good anticipation of a problem that could potentially have harmed the user experience?
This cannot be a serious suggestion on how to manage listening to music on my local drive during internet outages that can last days, can it? I can also drink water out of my toilet if the public utility water pressure drops, but I expect the utility to function in a way that avoids the need for this somewhat intolerable stopgap.
As @Wdw said,
The option to remain on legacy-ware with an uncertain horizon of usability is better than no option, but only just. I switched to Roon from LMS to avoid exactly this.
I have been an avid supporter and customer of Roon and expect I remain so…reluctantly. But these responses are far less than the problem demands.
Do better, @danny.
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I’ve thought of a couple other points worth considering for Roon:
(1) You’ve recommended that the best method for sound quality is to put the “noisy server” in another room and stream to slim device. Since most other media software doesn’t work this way, that means that we have to move the noisy server back into our music rooms to listen off-line, using some other software, when Internet is out.
(2) I have concerns over movement of too many Roon resources to the cloud. Yes, maybe privacy and security, but more than that, creates the likelihood of something like a global Roon outage where nothing works, even if Internet is up. There are times when you can definitely tell that the Roon cloud is under stress and working slowly. I’m concerned this issue could get worse.
I really don’t want to be negative. In fact unless an Internet outage is quite extended I doubt it will be a major issue for me personally. But just the idea - it’s like watching a coach in professional sports make a really dumb decision that everyone can see. Just, why?
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So today I tried to play my local library, that one I have inside an hdd connected to NUC/Rock and it was … impossible
I immediately got a message asking for checking internet connection that I disconnected in advance to check what I read here yesterday and found impossible
Questions:
- Roon save backup locally with all database covers setting payment status etc… why if I just want to play my LOCAL files, that has been already scanned in the past so all the info are already here, I have to establish active internet connection when all the info’s are already here?
- yesterday when I turned on my NUC I got a pop-up forcing me to update to 2.0… why you didn’t inform IN ADVANCE about this new unexpected unpleasant features considering that in your proposal about version 1.8 legacy you inform it is possible to remain with the 1.8?
- now, in case I would like to go back to 1.8 legacy… why should I consume my life time (waste of time) doing acrobatic software tricks because you don’t informed me about possibility (would you go to 2.0 or would you stay with 1.8 legacy?) in the same pop-up?
- then… why should I need a big dad holding my hand while I’m using Roon? If my payment are in order (you could check once a week, not every two millisecond trough a permanent internet connection) why I can’t decide to play my own library offline?
Ok, I know you will say I’m paying for a service not for the software … in my opinion, as the software , ROCK, is running inside a piece of hardware I PAYED, stopping possibility to play local library is bad limitation of my right to use the service… so THE SERVICE IS BROKEN or, if you prefer, in my opinion of customer ROON 2.0 is broken
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Just did. Thanks for suggesting it.
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Perhaps it’s a semantic technical thing, but I only find it through your link or by going back to one of my posts in the thread. It does not seem to show as visible in the list of threads for me.
I get it, this is a firestorm Roon doesn’t want to encourage. But hey,. it’s of their own doing.
It’s not showing on the Roon Software page for me, either. Odd.
Totally agree, well said!
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It’s often easy to misinterpret a writer’s intent, particularly in the heat of the moment. Roon Labs made a development and business decision that has upset many users, myself included, and this generates a visceral reaction on both sides, sometimes reflected in the hot back and forth of posting to the forum. Some of Danny’s responses seemed tone-deaf to me yet I appreciate that as COO he’s taken the time to interact with his customers.
Nonetheless, as a consequence of an uncertain future with the legacy software I’ve downgraded my subscription to monthly and will evaluate other solutions that have been suggested here. I don’t want my music held hostage if my internet connection is down.
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I’m not trying to be disrespectful here, but I don’t quite understand your issues. I have a CD collection that I can listen to whenever I want, I also have a digital collection I can also listen whenever I want.
I have also just joined Roon and it requires me to have an internet connection to use it, as does Qobuz; but neither stop me from listening to my music collection outside of their domains.
Am I missing something really fundamental here?
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It seems without internet, your digital collection will not work.
MD …
Since I became a Roon customer and joined this forum, I have appreciated both the unusual fact that a company COO interacts so directly with his company’s customers as well as @danny’s typically informative and helpful (if often very direct) responses in this forum. I intended no drama, I only wished to suggest (if somewhat hamhandedly) that a more patient and empathetic approach might be called for.
I am planning no changes to my subscription status (annual), nor do I think I will be back-pedaling to 1.8 Legacy at this time (a choice I may regret next time Comcast goes down for anything more than a few hours). I will remain hopeful that the Roon team will address this issue in some proximate build release. (Ever the optimist that I am…)
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