Roon speaker or remote with a touch screen that includes a search for songs?

Audio Gear Talk
1

Hi all,
is there a simple end point solution which shows what’s playing and will allow someone to use a touch screen to choose new music?
Basically I want an always on/available family-friendly player/remote solution for Roon which the kids can use without needing to borrow someone’s mobile phone or ipad.
Possibly something like a rpi with 7" touch screen. I’ve seen mention of RoPieee but as far as I can gather from the limited screenshots, it will do controls like play, pause, skip and volume, but not allow you to choose music. Or have I got that wrong?

Any suggestions gratefully received.
thanks,
James

2

This is correct. The RPi isn’t powerful enough for controlling Roon.

Maybe a SoundDock plus 64bit iPod Touch?

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3

A cheap iPad. Used, refurbished, older model (but not too old).

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4

I use a Fire HD8 in one of those charging cradles so it’s always on, and always charged up. You can either use it sitting in the cradle, or lift it up and carry it around the room.

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5

Microsoft Surface Go tablet is a good remote for Roon, it is relatively cheap and supports the full Roon fuctionality rather than the rather limited iOS/Android version.

6

Just for the sake of clarity here, afaik the functionality is not limited by platform, only screen size (I think the only exception to this is the initial upload of convolution filters). Full functionality requires a screen >= 8 inches.

7

OK fair enough. I thought that DSP settings were inaccessible and that Export was unavailable for instance, but I may be wrong.

8

Hmm, you may well be right about export, I haven’t tried…DSP is fine.

9

thanks guys. I’m not fussy about being able to access advanced settings with this, just whatever you’d want to allow for example a 7 year old kid access to in order to choose and play music. It’s a shame that RoPieee just falls short. I would have thought a recent rpi3 B+ would be way more than enough power?

10

Raspberry pi with touchscreen /dietpi and setup the roon web interface extension so it can run on the pi. It’s basic library control nothing fancy but it does work. The how to, can be found in the Tinkering section for the extension.

11

Personally I would run a basic current iPad in guided mode (if roon only is a need) and minimal memory and no cellular etc. can be had under $300 USD in the refurbished area - much more utility than a Pi and 7" screen and not that much more in the scheme of things. Plus full roon interface for navigation and searching etc bar DSP and minor others.

12

thanks, that looks like a great option for the money. I’m going to have a go with a Fire 8 HD in a cradle and a Google Chromecast Audio. That way I can also have BBC iPlayer and Spotify on the Tablet and streaming to the CCA to keep the family happy.