Sonos vs Roon - is the speed similar in experience?

Roon Software Discussion
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I’ve been with Sonos from what seems like the very beginning. I’ve gotten the most out of Sonos I think I can at this point. Even have Empirical Audio re-clockers to DACs…

I’d like to migrate over to Roon since Sonos’ stance on legacy Sonos players…

In order to start the migration - the first big of investment is an Allo DigiOne Signature. Trial Roon from my laptop. (loss of $500 if I don’t like it). Then, onto Roon subscription and Roon Core.

My only real concern is speed. If I use a dedicated NUC with my current library (Sonos no longer lets you see how many albums or tracks you have but I’d estimate tracks at about 50,000) will I see good speed? Is Roon pretty responsive much like Sonos? Will use a NUC (probably i7) into router upstairs. Qnap NAS with SSDs have flac files connected to router. Allo server would be connected via wifi downstairs.

Any information would be great before I open the wallet. I’ve got that audio itch.

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Without any dsp roon seems just as responsive as sonos to me. It’s only when you start adding heavy dsp does it start taking some time, which is to be expected.

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One thing I’ll briefly contribute is that Roon’s performance vastly relies on a stable network. If you’re running everything wirelessly then it has the potential to run a little slow from time to time. However if you’ve got network switches and every audio component is wired to the internet hub it’ll be just as quick as Sonos. A single audio zone would probably match Sonos’ speed, though if you’ve got a lot going on in your home then it’ll start to strain without a thorough network.

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I recommend downloading the trail of Roon and using your sonos as a end point so you can see how it works in your environment. This is what I did and after using roon I wasn’t going back to the Sonos interface. For me Roon has been really responsive. I do have a pretty powerful desktop running my roon core though. My core is hard wired but the sonos end point I’m using is wireless and I don’t have many issues. Occasional drop out but this is really rare. Bought a Raspberry Pi that I will be using with Ropieee to replace the Sonos and have hi-res support.

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