I am running Roon with a medium-sized library (~50K tracks now) on a NAS with no issues, but I made sure to get a reasonably powerful box with sufficient RAM.
A lot of Roon advantages are in the management of local files. I’ve had a lot of them ripped and sitting on a UPNP servber before, but only Roon made them actually manageable and pleasant to use. Roon is also great at integrating your local files with what is available at a streaming service (assuming you are subscribed to the ones Roon supports). Unless you are looking at something super-obscure it is very good at finding what you have and drawing connections across your library and what is available on streaming. I found a number of composers I have never heard about that I really like just by following links in Roon.
I am not familiar with Sonos, but have a few BluSound devices. BluOS works well, but it is self-contained in the device, so you are rather limnited to the lowest common denominator. Whether you have a Flex or top of the line NAD, they manage your library the same. WHich is, you get your local files scanned and catalogued by their tags, and you can search through streaming services, but you get neither the integration of local and streaming tracks, nor the much richer metadata that Roon supplies once it has identified your albums. Also, of course, BluOS only works with BlueSound, NAD and a few devices from a few more manufacturers. Roon plays well with anything that has been certified Roon Ready (which includes BluOS as well) but also will play to Sonos, Airplay, and Chromecast devices. And if a device has a digital input it can be bridged to Roon easily.
If you are going to drive one system, and always know exactly what you want to listen to, Roon may be an overkill, or at least not good value. For driving multiple endpoints (not necessarily at the same time), especially if they do not all fit into the same ecosystem like BluOS, and you like discovering new things, it’s very good.
He probably means devices made by Bluesound such as my brand new Node X. Bluesound and NAD are 2 brands which both use the BluOS app to manage and play music.
BluOS is similar to the WiiM Home and Cambridge’s StreamMagic apps but for specific hardware.
Nice summary, I would just phrase this differently
It is very helpful if you have local files any a complex multizone house. But I would also want it if I had only online streaming and a single zone, because it extends the same features to online streaming that it has for local files with library management and finding & remembering stuff in there
i started with a Roon trial on my MacBook Pro with a subscription to Tidal and no local files. Still found it to be an excellent experience, even without anything stored locally. Loved being able to easily to discover new music. (In my case, finding all kinds of Hard Bop jazz I didn’t know existed!)
Eventually I moved the core to a mac mini and started re-ripping my CDs (lossless FLAC, which sounded MUCH better than the lossy AAC files i had ripped into iTunes)…
I’ve since gone on a CD-buying binge, even tho many things are available in streaming services. But lots of stuff isn’t on the services, so it’s great having it all available in my library, seamlessly integrated with Tidal/Qobuz.
I’ve had fun finding different ways to stream, and roon-ready/tested devices, and I’ve learned how to configure a raspberry pi, and I have numerous zones around the house.
I have lots of physical media (both CDs and LPs), but I use Roon for 99% of my listening.
blah blah blah… sorry. Anyway, just download it, pick a streaming service, start out with a pair of earbuds and a laptop, and see where it takes you.
Pretty much what @SandsOfArrakis said. BluOS is Bluesound’s system for running/controlling audio equipment. It is sold under Bluesound brand (cheaper devices, i.e. a portable Flex speaker), NAD brand (owned by the same company, Lennbrook, but more upscale) as well as licensing it to some third-party manufacturers (i.e. DALI speakers has some models that are compatible with BluOS). It’s somewhat similar to Sonos, I guess – you can control all the BluOS devices on the network from a single controller app (on the cheaper ones, i.e. a Flex speaker or Node streamers you really have to use the app for everything, from the device you can only adjust volume and chose presets), you can move playing tracks from one device to another, synchronize devices to play the same track etc.
And BluOS supports Roon natively (for me, advantage over, say, Sonos, or WiiM models that aren’t Roon Ready), at least when Bluesound does not screw up compatibility with their software upgrades.
