Hello Roon friends,
I’m mostly a vinyl and CD guy, but I’ve recently become open to streaming music, and by open I mean I’m ON BOARD. I see what all the fuss is about. Unfortunately, I get really irritated easily with what I see as unreasonably complicated computer and network setups. Not to mention wanting to throw Apple Music through the window repeatedly for losing my artwork and f’ing up my multi-disc sets. Anyway, as I said I’m wanting to get a really clean, flexible system to stream music to 3-4 rooms in my house. Here’s what I’m so confused about (and I’ve done so much reading about it but no one seems to zoom out and explain the big picture):
how is Roon different than Sonos or BlueOS? I understand these are not streaming services themselves but they seem to work together in a way that I don’t understand.
If you were to use Qobuz or Tidal within Roon then Roon integrates your selection directly into your Roon library whereas Sonos and Bluesound have different music services available.
I have Bluesound and Sonos and then is no comparison for library browsing and music management
If you want it to fuss free and likely less stressful I would choose Sonos or Blusound. Roon is great and ahead of them in so many ways but it’s by far from easy to manage, can test your patience and computer network knowledge and be the most fussy at setting up and you need it running 24/7 on a computer to have full access to your music at any time. The others don’t rely on a server at all and pull music direct to them from streaming services or can be pushed to them from a phone. They only need another device if you want to rip and store your own music and play those.
Sonos is its own ecosystem. Roon works with players from many manufacturers. BluOS is in between as several manufacturers use it.
Roon uses a central server which does the main work, the endpoints are just players. The others have the streamers fetch the music from streaming services themselves, which has advantages (somewhat simpler in some ways) and disadvantages (Roon can do much more with library management or digital sound processing such as room correction).
The Roon control app gives you much more library management features than the others. Roon can also integrate local files with streaming services in one interface.
Not with Roon or, I think, Sonos. Limited with BluOS. It’s more its own separate system again
A Roon Ready streamer includes Roon‘s player software and Roon can play to it if it’s on the same network, no other connection necessary. It’s also tested and certified by Roon to ensure it works well together.
I know where you are coming from but to be fair I plugged in my Roon ROCK and my NDX-2, installed the control apps, and it has worked ever since (bugs notwithstanding but as you know BluOS and manufacturers that use it like NAD are not bug free either).
Many people tend to make it too complicated for themselves
I am old and this technology is hard to keep up with. Here are my thoughts. I use Bluesound devices with my Roon. I chose Bluesound over Sonos because if I were to use my music streamer and local library without Roon, (because five years ago, I wasn’t sure if Roon would still be around in the future), Bluesound can manage a 200,000+ track library, while Sonos was limited to an 80,000 track library. Roon is the cherry on top, so library management is not a problem as long as you have Roon. If Roon disappeared, Bluesound has the library management advantage over Sonos.
It’s a shame BS has an artwork resolution limit of 600x600 which is low by todays standards and I found that a real pain in the neck to sort out. Then I ditched my NAD due to reliability problems, all a wasted effort. This was not with the Bluos side just their amp’s reliability is poor after 4 failed units.
@MacNeill_Chapman It would help if you can find a hifi dealer who can show you the systems and what they can do. The control apps tend to look always great on manufacturer’s websites, but I had BluOS and would never want to go back to it after Roon because I love the many things I can do with Roon like Focus features:
Then again, if all you want to do is press play on an album, the simpler solutions may be more to your liking.
The Roon Mastery series of articles gives a nice overview of Roon features in bite sized pieces:
My newly ordered Bluesound Node X has just arrived today and setting it up was very easy. Both with Blueos and Roon. As the streamer is Roon Ready.
Blueos itself is very easy to use. It works very similar to the Cambridge StreamMagic and WiiM Home apps that I am already very familiar with.
When it comes to Roon. You can have devices in several locations and have Roon handle all the network traffic between them.
I’ve set up three different systems in my appartment. My main system in the living room with a Cambridge Audio CXNv2 streamer. In my office with my shiny new Node X and in the kitchen I have a small portable DAB FM / Internet radio with a WiiM Mini streamer attached to it.
All three streamers are accessible through Roon. The CXNv2 and the Node X are both Roon Ready. So I didn’t need to check their settings. Just enabled them in the Roon settings and they are good to go. The WiiM can be accessed through AirPlay which Roon also has no problems with. The only downside being that I am limited to the AirPlay protocol when it comes to audio quality. It maxes out at CD quality. While the WiiM itself can handle 24/192 no problem.
In Roon itself I can switch between the enabled endpoints with no problems.
I have found BluOs very robust and reliable NAD M33, if you don’t really care to fiddle around with complexity and just want to play your music with good quality it’s a great way to go.
BluOs 4.0 right around the corner, hopefully a smooth rollout but possibly a few bumps
But I agree if the OP has multiple devices which use BluOs then it is a far better idea to use that compared to Roon which requires an always on central server to make it work.
It doesn’t. I’ve used Audirvana in the past before switching full time to Roon. Audirvana is suitable for a single computer/endpoint. It doesn’t support multiroom or multizone at all.
I have 8 Bluesound/NAD streamers, from Bluesound Flex to NAD M33. Great sound, and despite comments from some posters, very reliable in my experience. 8 years streaming and the older units are still going. I’ve had NAD gear that I sold after 20 years and it was still running as new.
Roon excels in several areas:
Metadata, i.e. all the information relating to albums, tracks, performers, composers etc. including song lyrics, album artwork, collaborators, side musicians, related projects.
Integration of local library and streaming services. While BluOS and others can show you local and streaming albums, artists and tracks, Roon does it seamlessly with elegance.
DSP, the ability to adjust the audio before it arrives at your amp/streamer or output device. Including headroom adjustments, resampling, room correction and parametric equalization. Huge sound improvements are possible.
All of this comes at a cost, not just the subscription fee but the need for a computer to act as the Roon Core or server. This presumes some proficiency with computers and networking, while simple to set up, are a source of confusion and consternation for some. Roon users on this forum are generally helpful to newcomers.
If you have a spare computer that meets the requirements for a Roon Core I encourage you to give it a try. The trial period is free.
Seriously I got ROON as I’m bone idle and itunes lack of artwork for seemingly popular bands drove me mad. ROON has supplied all but one. I have two NADs (fnar fnar) and blu os works when ROON doesn’t (usually cos I can be bothered to walk downstairs to restart computer). I could live happily with blu os despite having to load artwork but ROON has introduced me to so much more music by its suggestions and links it’s the one that I prefer, especially linked to tidal or quoboz so you can try before you buy.
Thanks everyone for some ideas. It’s difficult, I think, to step back and pretend you do not know what you know, especially if you’ve been at this for a while. But I am but a simple man trying to make the great digital leap. I intend to keep enjoying vinyl on the side, as there is simply no replacement for at least the occasional tactile experience of playing LP’s. But there is SO much to discover and enjoy with digital music and I know this.
I have a WiiM pro plus streamer (amazing), stereo amp and loudspeakers. Controlling Qobuz tunes with my Mac and iPhone using the WiiM app currently. This can and will get upgraded if I understand Roon. I understand the basics of home networking and an open to putting Roon on a NAS, where I’d like to centralize all these dang external drives!
Let me see if I understand you all:
-Roon is neutral about your other hardware as long as it’s “Roon ready,” meaning it can accept the management of the music from the Roon core, and the control of the playing with the apps.
-Bluesound and Sonos are built on a cloud-based system where you don’t have a core, you only have control apps and an internet connection. So in comparison, both cannot do nearly what Roon can do in terms of a rich user experience.
-various Bluetooth speakers will work with Roon, which does not produce its own line of speakers.
-Roon is best if you have buttloads of local files, but also if you want to manage a pretty complex multizone house.
-bluesound and Sonos have nothing like the Roon ARC app which is a minor miracle looks like.
Am I missing anything else? I have pretty bad ADD and have to approach new things from a severe Birds Eye view and slowly circle down to the nitty-Gritty.
I wouldn’t recommend putting Roon on a NAS to start off with. Hang your external drives off a relatively recent computer you can use as the Roon server and use that for your trial.
There are people who use Roon on a NAS without any problems, there are also people who have found it a continual source of aggravation, particularly if the NAS is underpowered. Keep it simple for your trial is my suggestion.
If you find you like the Roon experience then the Community will help explain various options for a long term server, including a NAS (depending on its spec).
but to be fair I plugged in my Roon ROCK and my NDX-2, installed the control apps, and it has worked ever since (bugs notwithstanding but as you know BluOS and manufacturers that use it like NAD are not bug free either).
