Then it’s no different than what you were doing before. Actually easier since you now can control the playback via a tablet or iphone via Roon. Just the interface is different. You will get used to it.
Agreed! Just was wondering about the various ways to set it up…which was why posted, to begin with. With Tidal there’s only 1 option, with roon, many options, hence the confusion on my part.
Well… with what you have (A computer and smartphone or tablet) you will get going with Roon. That’s for sure.
Then, if you determine Roon is good for you, later down the road can implement other solutions, such as running Core or ROCK in a different machine with a Roon endpoint, maybe a Nucleus and so. You will learn all this stuff in no time. Keep reading the Roon Knowledge Base links I sent you above, these forums, etc
1 Like
If you just use Tidal and dont have a library of your own bought or ripped cd material say in iTunes or other software then you really don’t need Roon it’s overkill, way more complicated than you need and expensive. IMO your best sticking with how you did do things now. Just stick with the Tidal app, if you need it out of you hifi then use a Chromecast or something similar. Roon is really for people who curate their music and want a nice way to present it and access it with tons of information . If you just stream from Tidal you can do this in the app to a certain degree.
Well - I loved the trial so much I went lifetime! I’ve gotten more recommendations just from the bios/reviews and the links int them and having all of that readily available. The tags are fantastic, I can really drill into my music. I love the presentation it gives to my listening experience.
I do buy music, but it takes a lot of time to really build up a library. So, if tidal goes bust I @ least have something of my own. I have Spotify, but only for its recommendation algorithms. I love roon and plan as @thyname said, to implement other configurations later as I learn more and get to know roon better.
3 Likes
Fair enough, I did not get that impression from your previous posts. Welcome aboard. I have not even gone. Lifetime yet .
Wow! I did not realize you bought lifetime already, I thought you were just trying… Congrats!
Buying Roon Lifetime sub is the best decision I made. Yes, it costs money, but I have spend much more than that for stupid stuff.
I do use Tidal Hi-Fi, but also have my own library of 700+ ripped CDs.
My Roon server is in a NUC I built when ROCK first came out. I have multiple Roon endpoints / streamers all around the house.
Enjoy!
If you want trouble free going forward I do recommend going the Rock route when you get your head around things. It just makes it simpler to manage, some outlay cash wise but worth it in the long run and the instructions they provide are very good to guide you through even for a computer novice.
1 Like
The NUC setup looks interesting…I love technology and tinkering, and the NUC setup doesn’t seem that expensive. And like you said, I too spend money on frivolous stuff. My biggest issue is that I work a lot and listen away from home. So I swap back and forth between listening @ work & listening @ home.
Over the last few years, I have moved from music listener to music lover. A lot of people I talk to about music don’t understand the difference…but I have been hopping from streaming service to streaming service always looking for deeper engagement with music then I found roon and wow! I was blown away. There was a time, recently where I had subscriptions to every music streaming service available!
Every second I spend listening to music is so enjoyable to me - so roon is totally worth it for me. I wish I had more music of my own, but I’m buying it slowly over time.
thanks for the help - looking forward to growing in my knowledge of roon.
2 Likes
Well Roon has a mobile solution in the works so it will tick all the boxes. When it actually hits the world we don’t yet know. Yep I get the listening loving anecdote, have too many people the former. I hope to spread my Roon love to others in my family who are music lovers but just can’t make the leap or just don’t know what it can bring. I wouldnt change Roon for anything now, it’s far from perfect yet but it’s the best in class and gets better all the time.
1 Like
And the support and community are fantastic. I could (do) spend hours just reading community posts.
Can’t wait to see what the mobile app is like.
Actually, during my trial I had some technical issues and support was all over it. We figured out the issue and the support was fantastic. One of the best tech support experiences I’ve ever had. Funny thing is, the problem I had actually tipped me towards going lifetime after I saw how great the support is.
2 Likes
I don’t think there’s necessarily an upgrade path or journey with Roon - it simply takes several forms and you pick the one you’re ire most comfortable with. That’s the great glory of it - it takes many forms to fit your circumstances. If you have Roon installed on a laptop you have full functionality - my laptop sits in my office on wired Ethernet and sends music to endpoints all around the house.
The driving force behind a decision to go for a NUC (Windows or ROCK) or a Nucleus would not be because they are good things to do per se, but because I needed to free my laptop up for other duties. I can see a Nucleus being important or desirable in a situation where silent running was important (for example installation in the listening room). Just because ROCK and Nucleus exist doesn’t mean you have to go that route.
One benefit of Roon on a laptop (with music on a portable USB HDD) is that I can take it with me to friends’ houses, on holiday, on work trips or (as I recently did) to a hi-fi dealer to audition DACs.
The reason to move over from using the all in one app, is that at that point it is normally time to integrate it into an ecosystem. If you have it on your computer, that computer always has to be on, and if you restart it, you will lose service whilst that is happening. Quite often people use laptops, that they take with them as and when, and then again, you lose the service if someone else wants to listen to Roon. it could also be that your computer is next to your bed and it’s too noisy.
A lot of people do leave their computers on all the time, but a more efficient and cost saving way of doing it, is running the server software part of the all in one app on a low powered device OR running it on an actual server that also does other things. That way Roon is always available, no matter what device you want to stream to. Funnily enough, you might only want to use it and be happy loading it up every time you want to listen to some music.
that’s the beauty of choice! 
In my example i have a server that has my camera recording software, Roon, Plex, dropbox, network software and various other bits and pieces. As it’s on all the time that has large storage, data protection and battery backup, it keeps all my services running in the ever connected world we live in. I also have a family, who all like different things at different times.
You will know when it’s time to move over, IF you ever do indeed need to move over because a situation will arise when you wanted to use roon but couldn’t because the computer that you have running isn’t available
Thanks for the replies…makes sense and I already feel myself moving in the direction of wanting Roon always-on - but I do a lot of listening away from home so I need the all-in-one app.
If I have a Roon server running and want to use the all-in-one app, can I switch back and forth?
Yes, you can move between Core installations very easily. The one license can be shared between installations. The only restriction is that you can only have one Core active at any one time. See here for more info.
It’s on the roadmap, but since 2016 
3 Likes
Since 2016…well it’s either forgotten about or maybe almost finished.
It’s not forgotten about, but it’s a big job. There are various posts from the Roonies in the forum about this.
Can’t wait for the mobile app.
Can someone tell me if I run a Roon server and then want to switch to using the all-in-one app, if that’s possible? Can I just Unauthorize one machine and authorize another or does the server work differently?
Yes, you can, as I said a few posts earlier.