As an update since my original post almost a year ago, I’m still using Roon, and with much more success.
Upgrading to beefier hardware. I don’t think I’d realised just how much Roon needed in terms of resources, but moving to an “ex-gaming” PC running Linux really helped
Using power over ethernet rather than wifi. I know this is not ideal, but it did seem to improve stability. I can’t move the hardware and wiring the house is going to be a big job, but it’s on the list.
Roon can still be flaky at times, with dropouts, skipping etc. but the situation is much improved so as to be useable the majority of the time. The recent work by the Roon team in these areas has helped somewhat, but it still happens.
Additionally, we’re android, and often the app needs to be restarted several times before a connection is established. I never found a way to stop this from happening.
I always try to think of whether my wife would be comfortable using something to check on stability, useability etc. (I work in the software industry, and whilst she can learn and use tech, she’s not interested in investing any time in doing so, and just wants me to make things intuitive). In this case, she’s probably never going to use roon regularly, because of the quirks that need to be worked around.
That being said, I think Roon is definitely for hobbyists and people who can tinker. Even with their commercial stuff, like the nucleus, it’s still not plug and play by all accounts. You need the network infrastructure right to have stability. I’ve seen a lot of posts from people who are not techies and who’ve been frustrated when things play up.
That could be the audience the roon team are aiming for?
In any case, from my side, things are a lot smoother.
I have used Roon for over 5 years, I listen often 4hrs + a day. I cannot recall Roon having let me down in transferring digital signal to my equipment.
In that time I have used 2 Windows PC’s as the core and a month back I installed on a ROCK/NUC .
What am I doing right ?. KISS maybe , I use Ethernet cables , WiFi only for control, no fancy mega buck cables but I have one system really and a reasonable quality coax cable .
Who said tinkering. Hi fi is for listening surely , if you keep changing stuff what do you expect.
My only weakness. Is twiddling with my library content NOT my kit
You got lucky. For many people, Roon isn’t something that always play well, hence the need for tinkering with network settings etc. And certainly, new releases can sometimes cause issues in systems that have been stable for a long time.
Hi-fi certainly is for listening, and based on my observations, many people choose NOT to go with Roon for that very reason - they just don’t have the time, patience or technical inclination to solve some of the issues they get.
In many cases, KISS doesn’t apply. There could be out of the box router settings that just don’t sit well with Roon, other devices on the network causing problems etc.
Mine is also quite stable, and based on the discussion above I would put it down to the network. Every fixed device in my home is connected via Gigabit Ethernet (though some individual devices only support 100Mbps). All switches are HPE (now Arista) OfficeConnect, which is their lower-cost unmanaged line. There’s a 24-port core switch in my hall linen closet where my modem and primary Google Wifi puck are, a 16-port in my main entertainment center, and five 8-port units in various rooms of the house. My ROCK is plugged directly into my core switch.
Wifi duties are handled by a Google mesh network with 4 total pucks connected via gigabit wired backhaul to that same core switch, so I have great coverage for devices that are impossible or inconvenient to hardwire. Roon works perfectly no matter what else is going on in the network or how many zones are in use.
I am enjoying it now too, and for the most part, it’s stable (see above).
However, because of the sensitivity to it’s network and hardware environment, there’s going to be many people who struggle with it. That seems like something the Roon team are trying to address; see some of the release notes for the last few releases.
There’s evidence of the above issues all over these forums and other places where roon is discussed, so when these issues are brought up, I don’t think people chiming in with comments such as “what are these people doing?” and “works fine for me” are particularly useful.
My Roon system has been running pretty stable for 1 1/2 years. If there were problems, it was mostly after updates, when core and remotes were not yet on the same level. And sometimes there are problems with new Qobuz content that is only displayed in Roon much later or cannot be loaded. And my ISP sometimes has problems that seem like Roon problems in Roon, but disappear as soon as I use locally available content.
All in all, I am very satisfied.
My setup 1: Roon Nucleus, connected via USB to the integrated DAC of my amplifier.
My setup 2: Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra and Pre Box S2 Digital.
I only use WiFi for the remotes.
I think you misunderstand me. I don’t think these people are out to criticise Roon (I’m certainly not); rather they want to solve their problems. Looking for resolutions with a lot of noise where people are stating the equivalent of “works on my machine” doesn’t help.
What I think is rather rude and condescending is the inference that the people who do have issues have somehow created their own problems.
I have been using Roon for about 1,5 years, it has been stable since.
First i had my core on a Macbook Pro but migrated to an Mac Mini with Ubuntu Server.
For half a year ago we moved to our new house and i did a redesign of my network.
The network in our new house uses Ethernet over Power and WiFi for the endpoints because of wiring issues and is inferior to the previous installation which was all cabled.
But all in all, the design is robust enough to serve music without a problem.
May I ask if you’re still running Roon on your Mac w/ a Linux-based server OS? I used to run Roon Server on an Intel machine with Ubuntu Server. I had a good experience, but I did have some trouble, occasionally, esp. with the Android app disconnecting. Another issue was firewall settings would require change from release to release, a couple of times that I recall. All of those problems went away after I switched to Roon CORE on a dedicated machine. It vastly simplified my setup and improved performance. Now, Roon is as close to plug-and-play as any networked software/hardware I’ve ever used.
I am not sure luck has anything to do with it. My core PC doubles as my general purpose PC including my development needs (now retired) . It runs a mix , eg SQL Server always active, JRiver server always active and Roon always active. There have been 2 desktops over the years.
It’s hardly a “cotton wool” environment
But I use a bog std desktop, a bog std router (TP Link archer) and cheap Ethernet cables. I have avoided WiFi like the plague for anything serious except for control points. When I have to use WiFi eg in the kitchen I have nothing but trouble eg microwaves
Only literally a few weeks ago did it get e dedicated server. I noticed no real difference in stability The choice was really to limit my screen time .
My system is restarted daily , due to our climate, I am sure this is not without significance. I work on the if it isn’t broke don’t fix it.
One precaution is to check the iStore and play store for appropriate updat availability before updating the core. That’s just common sense to me .
In two and 1/2 years, I’ve had two problems. Most recently a corrupt file that was resolved by restoring a 4 day old backup. The two day old backup contained the same problem.
The other issue turned out to be a failing ethernet switch.
No, it was with the latest build. I don’t know what or why, but the problem persisted with the 2 day old back up and was resolved with the 4 day old back up. This is why I back up every night. You never know what might go wrong.
