I don’t think those are the right questions - at least not the first one. I LIKE Roon, primarily because it simplifies & defragments my audio sources. I have many files on my NAS, but after a few years with Roon+Tidal, I probably have more Tidal files in my library.
My wife, on the other hand, HATES Roon. It just confuses the heck out of her for some reason and she prefers to play music either directly from Apple or Tidal.
Back on topic, I was going to pay for lifetime when it was $499 but missed the memo on the price increase. So I kept paying annually since then. My sub is up in 2 weeks though so I think it might be time for lifetime now.
Observationally, I’m just surprised by all of the hand-wringing over the price increase. While it’s fair to say that everyone is on some sort of budget, this service (and the required hardware) is a luxury item. Strangely, many of the critical comments here read as if this is a necessity.
I’ve just ponied up for lifetime, though I’m not entirely sure whether that helps Roon in the longer term? If you’re paying for Roon, you probably have a hi-fi system that makes Roon a sensible option. In the context of that system cost, the cost of Roon is but a drop in the ocean.
We’re living in extraordinary economic times. Besides staff costs, I suspect that energy costs are pretty high on Roon’s balance sheet, and recently, they’ve rocketed.
On 28th November, my electrical energy costs will increase by 213%. Am I complaining? Nope. It is what it is. I can moan, stamp my feet and decrease my consumption or suck it up.
It’s not all bad. We dropped nearly all of the savings we had last year on 8.4kW of solar PV and a Tesla Powerwall. That got us a very attractive tariff, which is going up on its anniversary by 213%. We’re still paying less than everyone else on the standard variable tariff and our export tariff is nearly 5 times the SEG rate (currently 5.5 p/kWh).
An increase of 25% on a Roon subscription by comparison is but a drop in the ocean…
You said “if you answered no to any of those questions, then don’t (pay for lifetime)”
I said that I disagree with your universal first question. Lifetime can still make sense even for those who don’t love Roon.
It’s all good. I’ll be a lifer in about 10 minutes.
I had’t even considered gas, though the numbers you quoted probably aren’t dissimilar to ours. We only use gas these days for hot water. Downstairs in winter we use a very efficient wood burner. If we really need heat upstairs in winter, we set the Aircon to heat (usually only herself’s office). I’m a Scot - if I can’t see my breath in the bedroom in the morning when I wake up, it’s too warm!
