I don’t, i started with that, no multi room or local content. I just want improvement over AirPlay sound quallity without sacrificing its convenience.
People here tried other solutions before settling with Roon. And maybe after all even for my very limited needs Roon offers the best solution. Who knows. Only asking will lead me there…
Based on what you have said in this thread, there is no software that does what you want the way you want it done with the interface you want at the price you are willing to pay.
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I see this as a huge value. And you’re missing the point of you say you don’t have a huge library. The stuff you have found and liked on Tidal becomes your library. I have 2,300 Tidal albums in my library, and I get all that value @YetAnotherLondoner is talking about. (Ok, I also have stuff on disk because I got started before streaming existed, but that’s irrelevant, “my library” with Tidal stuff in it is valuable.
And about Tidal having it all organized: nah, it’s pretty narrow. I don’t know what kind of music you listen to so my examples may not work for you, but consider the album Bags & Trane with Milt Jackson and John Coltrane. They tend to choose one artist to file it under, and in this case they chose Jackson, it doesn’t show up under Coltrane.
Or One From The Heart by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle, shows up under Waits, but what if you’re a Gayle fan?
I’m sure you can think of examples in your music.
Now, is this help worth $500 for you? Only you can tell. But it helped me rediscover my music, worth more than that.
(And I never “turn on my computer to listen to music”, it’s a little box in a closet, always on, like my fridge.)
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I recently purchased Roon lifetime and I love it. I don’t have a large collection of music. I love how it organizes everything and blends in Tidal/Qobuz as though it’s my library. I like seeing all the content and the file information, bitrate, album art, album information.
Yes, I could just stick a usb stick into my AVR for free. But navigating through the tracks via my onkyo app is pure hell and lowers my listening enjoyment.
Or I could just stream tidal via AirPlay. Sorry no. It’s not that great. Random pops and clicks and converting my
Music to alac? No thanks.
Roon fixes all that.
It’s a $500 device that completes my system and makes it easier to enjoy my system. In my opinion it’s a small price to pay.
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JRiver does not and never will , according to their CEO, support streaming , good as a server but not for you …
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But yes, so far it looks like this and if this continues the be the case then i guess i might have to make a comprise for some of the parameters. The convenience won’t be that, my music system has to serve me, not the opposite. Don’t want to sacrifice the quality as well. That leaves only the price.
The question then is, is Roon the most convenient way to stream Tidal with the highest quality. If the server requirement wasn’t there may be this could have been the case. But with it, i’m still not convinced.
Sounds like you just need to run upmpdcli UPnP client on the Allo Digi one os, and then use an OpenHome client software such as kazoo or lumin. You can get tidal, Qobuz and Spotify on both no server needed
I find this whole discussion kind of interesting. If Roon moves in certain directions, like moving away from local libraries to streaming, and continues to have no answer for on-the-go music (except, perhaps in the future, streaming), a world of Roon + “something else” seems likely for some of us. Whether the two can be integrated in some way (say, through a Roon extension) is an open question. I just ran across this article:
It kind of gave me perspective on how far ahead of the pack Roon is, from a sophistication standpoint.
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Agreed, the only thing that looks close is Amarra.
Maybe get hold of a cheap Android phone or tablet and use Bubbleupnp…A really well supported app.
Get an android phone like advised before ;). No fun for Apple users like us (was there).
Audirvana will get the new UI for Mac OS in Feb I guess ( at least the beta). Had lots of fun with audirvana bedore Roon (used the remote App for iOS).
Or sell the stuff and get a Naim Unity Atom. Or KEF LS50 Wireless … or another integrated.
I see the point of not wanting a music server.
Hope for a better Sonos Connect or buy a Wyred-Version of the connect.
The Volumio Sub runs TIDAL too! Somebody already mentioned this.
Sorry, did not read all comments so far.
Yeah, don’t want a music server. Sounds Computerish. Geeky,
But a music appliance is cool. Like an FM radio. My Nucleus sits on a shelf, no glowing light, never touch it, never turn it on or off, never update it, just works. Like my fridge.
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Funny, that’s the way my WIN10 NUC exists.
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Mine too…
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That’s true. But it’s another (at least) 1,5K bucks for a device the OT does not need to just bring TIDAL to a speaker.
Simply put: airplay needs to get much better or UPNP should be an option in the TIDAL App.
He does not ask about much.
I personally would use „my volumio“ for „just Tidal on an Allo“. I think it’s 5 Euros per month.
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This will work, but the OP prefers the native iOS app, of Tidal and Deezer. There’s good reason for preferring the native iOS app too - it’s much nicer (UI) than all of the 3rd party / integration options (except Roon of course).
Airplay is fine but on the DigiOne it’s Shairport. I don’t know enough about Shairport to know if playback of RBCD is bit perfect or if it’s fiddling with the bits.
As I suggested early in the thread - something like a Bluesound Node 2i supports proper/official Apple Airplay 2… but the OP doesn’t want to buy new hardware.
Unfortunately by sticking with the DigiOne (which is nice - I have one) and wanting to stick with the native Tidal and Deezer iOS apps, the options are limited.
Better options open up with new hardware (even the discontinued Chromecast Audio supports Tidal and Deezer apps on iOS) as I discussed earlier in the thread.
I think this thread is great here. The more you discuss all the options, the better the Roon solution looks today…
I’m always looking for better solutions than Roon, even though I’m a lifetime member. The day a better solution (for my own personal needs) comes up, my day to day usage may shift… For example, a lot changes (for me) if Spotify offers the CD quality streaming that they were trialling a while ago. The Spotify app is very slick.
Until I see & experience a better overall solution (for my own needs), I’m quite happy with Roon for the bulk of my day to day music listening, especially for critical listening when I need better SQ than Spotify and Apple Music currently offer.
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Thank you!
I don’t have thousands of albums, even on Tidal. The way i listen in mostly through playlists, i rearly add a hole album rather than just few songs i liked in dedicated playlists. And for that i don’t see much benefits of Roon. This leaves the Roon value for me limted mostly to the above quote. And 1000+$ just for this are hard to swallow.
A minimal NUC is $360.
But if he doesn’t see the value in Roon, that still doesn’t work.
He was talking about the Nucleus ;), so I took the price for the small one.
I would get a Chromecast for 15 - 30 USD. I installed one too along with the Allo Digi One with Roopie.