They both can be good
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I heard a difference thatâs all I can say and thatâs really all that matters and all that matters for all those that hear the differences between Roon and streaming via other means.
Iâve done lms comparisons and not heard any differences l, UPnP comparisons no difference but here I did and itâs was very noticeable to me and I didnât like what AudirvÄna was like on the system in question and not even a high end one I could use the audiophile term resolving.
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Sure, no worries. I was just pointing out that there are multiple reasons why that might be the case, and that audible differences in computer ânoiseâ from running different pieces of software is very unlikely.
Mind you, I used to do that, back in the 1970s, by running different programs on a PDP-8, which had extremely powerful EMI that could be picked up on a transistor radio! 
Nowadays computers arenât allowed to radiate like that.
After reading through this thread, I decided to test if Audirvana is indeed bit perfect. I installed a trial version of Audirvana Studio on my Win11 machine and played two local tracks, a 44/16 and a 192/24 through ASIO. In both cases, the player passed 32-bit samples to the ASIO driver, which were nothing more than bit depth extensions of the original samples. This proves that Audirvana, just like Roon, is bit perfect and does not use any secret digital processing if not configured to do so. There is no reason to hear any differences between the two when playing the same exact track using the same exact output.
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I am following the tread and must say that ROON ist way overestimated and overpriced.
I have ROON since more than 8 years and payed the yearly subscription (unfortunately I did not purchase the âlifetimeâ subscription that days. Now the prices rise every year without having additional benefits.
The user interface of ROON is nice when you have both own music and streaming such as TIDAL. However, the two are so much mixed that one day you do not know any longer which is your own music and which not.
AUDIRVANA STUDIO has emerged to a very nice software which runs on my Mac Mini as a server. I have the iOS App from AUDIRVANA which I can nicely use to play my music .
Sound quality of AUDRIVANA ist AT LEAST as good as ROON. the User interface is not as good as ROON but you can chose between you local music, TIDAL, Quboz and others nicely.
ESPECIALLY; AUDIRVANA is WY CHEAPER than ROON (Roon now wants to have 900 USD for a lifetime license!!
this sayd, I will no step by step move to alternatives of ROON such as Audirvana, As service of ROON are not good enough for me to justify such a terrific pricing.
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If Audirvana meets more of your needs you should go with that.
Roon provides icons to tell you if an album is local or from a service. You can also filter by location.
Roon recently released a second product ARC for mobile listening. This tends to belie the no new features part of your statement.
The setup you mention you use with Audirvama, does Roon server not work on your Mac Mini? Roon remotes work with iOS.
If you have questions on Roons usage many here will help.
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Roon prices do not rise every year. This 1/1/23 price increase is the first ever for annual and monthly and second ever for lifetime.
Roon clearly distinguishes local, Tidal, and Qobuz files in your library. Or, you can use Focus.
I have Roon lifetime, Audirvana 3.5 lifetime, and Audirvana Studio annual subscription. I never use Audirvana 3.5 and will be dropping Audirvana Studio when my subscription expires. The SQ is bit perfect, same as Roon, and the rest is substantially inferior to Roon. You get what you pay for with both. Freedom of choice is a good thing.
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I think this was the aim of Roon to make local music and streaming services blend together so it was all just âyour musicâ.
However, there are visual identifiers so you can easily see what is from Tidal/Qobuz as well as use Focus or search.
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The newly released ARC is a pretty big additional benefit for many.
Same thing here. I didnât use Roon that much before going lifetime. I was quite happy with AudirvÄna Studio. Even having two subscriptions.
But now I use Roon full time. Chromecast still doesnât work reliably here with AS, while it runs flawlessly with Roon. And ARC is the cherry 
on top of the cake 
as we say here in the Netherlands. Also not having to manage two different libraries is great.
I have already paused both my AS subs and they will quit in July.
When it comes to AudirvÄna 3.5. I have it installed but havenât used it in ages.
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Can the iOS app play to the iPad so I can connect to BT headphones ?
How does the Composer view compare to Roons for Classical music ?
No the AudirvÄna Remote app only works as a remote controller to the computer that is running AudirvÄna.
You canât even stream music to the device where the remote is installed on.
It is quite literally just like a TV remote.
And switching to play to a different device is a pain. Itâs very poor user experience. I lasted 5 mins with it before uninstalling both remote and main app. For non Roon use LMS is way better at all things and is free.
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I was hoping our friend who is extolling the virtues of Audirvana would answer , I knew the answer 
I really tried to like Audirvana Studio BUT failed
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With the Introduction of ARC i think this thread can be retired. There is simply no comparison. One is a music player and ROON is also a music playerâŠ
Thank you very much for the clarification. I think you are right and maybe I have underestimated ROON capabilities. I simply find it very pricey still.
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I am sorry for my late reply, but all your comments helped me a lot
Iâm sorry I was maybe a little bit too emotional because of the very high price of ROON
I think youâre right that the capabilities of Roon are better than the alternatives
Meanwhile, after thinking a lot and thanks to your important comments I decided also to go for the lifetime subscription, but I will continue to use also AudirvÄna studio as an alternative.
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Why didnât you purchase lifetime in December?
Just received this in an email from Audirvana:
DID YOU KNOW?
Offline mode in AudrivÄna
AudirvÄna can play your local music library without Internet connection. AudirvÄna only needs to be connected to the Internet once every 30 days.
If you start the software offline or get disconnected while using AudirvÄna, a pop-up will indicate that it is switching to offline mode with limited services (i.e no radios and streaming services).
This message is not preventing the software from playing, which is useful when the computer running AudirvÄna has no screen nor keyboard.
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Yes, something to think about⊠now that we know this âfeatureâ isnât on the Roon road map.
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