And the proper accounting for “income” mentioned relates to the proper period in which income is reported (now or in the future). It has nothing to do with how the CASH is spent.
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Matthew 11:15.
(I’m as surprised at the source as anyone)
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I wonder what band was so popular back then? (Humour)
“The David Five”
I was thinking the Jesus and Mary chain.
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This was the explanation of starting off with lifetime to give operating capital on start up etc given a year ago
The Locusts. Possibly The Rolling Stones.
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Guys there is only one first. Genesis of course!
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Furthermore. Some people will not buy hardware which does not offer a lifetime option for the necessary service. I don’t think TiVo ever got rid of that option for example.
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I’ve only been a Roon user for about 6 months, and even though I enjoyed it so much during my trial period, I was still 50/50 about whether to do an annual or lifetime subscription.
I’m glad I went for the annual subscription in the end, as it means I don’t feel obligated to stick around if a better product comes along.
Tell you what though - if I could offline music to my mobile device with Roon like I can with Plexamp/PlexPass I would switch to a lifetime subscription in a second.
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I access Roon through Roon Essentials and it gives me enough of the platform to know it is just a great way to stream and access music— but at 499 I was on the fence of buying it outright but at the higher prices I’ll just wait it out until one of the major streaming companies or hardware companies ditch their sub par app platforms and just buy Roon outright and make it their default OS. I don’t see ROON making it long term with the continual changes in models and computer OS updates
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I have had a Roon life membership for well over two years now, and as I recall it cost about £375 after calculating the exchange rate at the time. With yearly membership $120 a year at the moment what I paid will nearly pay for itself by the third anniversary of my membership. So the longer you sit on the fence, the longer it will take to get value for money and with the lifetime cost at the moment that could be up to six years?. A month or so ago a limited edition vinyl boxed set by Amy Winehouse was announced for pre order, So I thought about it for a few hours, went online to order but it had sold out. So I suppose what I am saying is, you snooze, you lose.
You’re one of the few currencies that buy more US dollars. It roughly costs you US$90 annually.
I’m sure you’d still pay the same amount in pounds (a win for Roon), which may offset lower costs for those with weaker exchange rates.
Alas, that’s not how Roon operates; there is just one price regardless of region. Certainly many online/digital companies of various types operate differently. On the other hand, some companies restrict sales beyond certain borders, such as digital music purchases. Why on earth they do that when there’s no local operative/competitive equivalent e.g HD Tracks I can’t fathom. (Perhaps legal restrictions of some kind)
@sr1329 I think that’s a very important point & one I’ve never seen spoken about previously. People may be reluctant to buy hardware on the basis they must pay annually to use it with no guarantee of subscription cost. Actually, I think people certainly would balk at hardware of that nature.
I intended to go Lifetime a couple of months ago when my sub came up for renewal.
I was talked out of this by a member of your support team who cited continued funding enabling better ongoing support, to paraphrase.
Well I decided to support Roon despite the attraction of a lifetime offer.
However, two months in and there is no attention at all, that I can see, given to a longstanding issue which was flagged up to your support team long before my renewal. So this now appears disingenuous as a reason for supporting monthly sub model.
If I’d like to go the other way, at this point, and switch to lifetime, does the remainder of my yearly sub reduce the lifetime amount?
Not after 30 days. However, if you intend to go lifetime, there is no reason to wait. It will cost you $700 now or $700 (or more) later.
Here’s a totally different perspective. Think of a lifetime subscription as similar to an insurance policy. I am 76. I am not worried about whether or not I’ll get my money’s worth of benefit from it. Having worked in the IT world for many years, I have seen application software come and go. Technology changes with seemingly increasing speed now-a-days. New applications come out daily. Roon is simply the best of the current applications that fill my primary needs, i.e. the ability to integrate my NAS Library with Qobuz and the need to be able to play from the multiple “Nodes” in my home (four listening areas currently plus portable devices) using only one control source (smart phone or tablet). Why lock myself in to this product for the rest of my life… however long, or short, that is. You are betting that Roon will be around 5 years from now. Obviously, if you already own Roon Lifetime, you have made that bet! At the original price of Lifetime, I would probably also have taken that bet! Five years at the original price seems like a fair bet. Now, a few years later and at the increased price… not so much. Success breeds competitors. Markets change. Technology changes. Given the current cost of Lifetime, I’d rather hedge my bets by paying yearly… not through altruism, but because the deal isn’t as good as it once was.
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Well, the other perspective here is that five years ago Roon was a dicier proposition than it is now. Roon was only a few months old, and decidedly less capable than today. Just one streaming service added more risk. And something better could have come along (but it hasn’t).
One either embraces risk for opportunity, or clutches the safe play. There is no right answer, of course.
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Personally, I feel like, once you start purchasing hardware to run Roon, you might as well subscribe to lifetime. I bought lifetime Roon and a Roon Nucleus at almost the same time.
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Scott, Couldn’t agree with you more. First adopters nearly always suffer the highest degree of risk and usually are rewarded for accepting that risk. You’re right. There is no right answer in general. Each person must look at their own situation and define the risk/reward for any decision. You makes your choices and you takes your chances!
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Just my 2p …
The history I have been with Roon 4 years , I am 70 , so maybe I should have spent $500 when I could.
During that 4 years I have had a love hate relationship with Roon as with many software packages (as an ex developer I ranted about Resharper in the same way but kept it !!). No one package can be expected to satisfy all needs.
My library comprises many (I guess 300+) classical box sets which are IMHO particularly badly dealt with in Roon and I find myself using my legacy system (JRiver) to manage my classical boxes . This cannot be right, duplication of effort, maintenance etc
My choice was and still is Annual , it was not a money issue more a commitment issue, if I went Life would I regret it later and pull out of Roon. I am still not 100% convinced but as has been said there is nothing better , “Currently” . I am not, as some, committed on the hardware front as I run a Windows 10 server for all my media needs not just Roon. Had I plumped for Nucleus or even then NUC/ROCK route I may feel differently.
To me $120 is not an issue and I will continue until I get sufficiently fed up to quit (not so soon I guess).
I support Roon’s view of Annual over Life. At the beginning Roon needed an influx of money to launch the business, now established it needs a steady income . I suppose many startups have the same needs , they will not continue if everybody had bought into Life or there wasn’t an Annual option providing that income stream.
I pay monthly/annually for many things Tidal, Netflix, Internet Provider not top mention Insurances etc that make up normal life why should Roon be any different.
Come the day Life goes there will no doubt be wailing and gnashing of teeth but there has been fair warning from @danny on several occasions , my vote is can Life now and end the debate
Just my opinion
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