Same here. I really like its EQ and headphone features, but I could not have even 15 minutes of it working correctly. Hoe are they even still in business with products like that?
Inexpensive endpoints is a huge Roon advantage, a Raspberry Pi will yield fantastic results.
4 Likes
Amarra seems to be a hobby for Sonic Studios, who primarily creates software for the pro audio world. Still no excuse as Amarra has been buggy since it was created.
You are right, I completely forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me.
Are you using a remote app or the main GUI ?
The flexibility of JRiver means the GUI is complex but try JRemote itās clean and simple especially if you have taken the time to set up custom views
I still use JRiver actively alongside Roon
Not to be contentious but a Pi can just as easily acts as a DLNA End Point , even multipurpose if you use Roipeee XL
@Mike_O_Neill ā I was vaguely aware of JRemote but hadnāt tried it ā thanks for the tip, will try it.
But I think perhaps ultimately the bigger problem for me may be that, unlike Roon (and like Audirvana), JRiver canāt organize/automatically get artwork for my untagged Mch album files. (Iām lazy about tagging, which may be why Roon suits me so well).
There is no doubt Roon saves a lot of work, but donāt forget that you only ārentā Roon, should you decide to leave your metadata goes !!
I keep both systems up to date just in case
1 Like
Lifetime subscription here 
Of course Roon could go underā¦
Perish the Thought ! 
@ricgf, Iāll provide my two cents. Iām in my 50s and have been into audio since I was a kid. Iāve used Audirvana, and still do for some tagging operations and misc. I too, did not see the value in Roon until I started using it.
First I should mention that digital room correction is important in getting the best listening experience in my listening space, therefore I do not use Roon / REW for that (as mentioned by another user). I find the learning curve is steep and it is not user-friendly. I need something fairly simple to use, and which then allows me to dive in deep if I need to. So, Iāve a separate box with DIRAC Live to measure my sound and create EQ curves which I can then tweak.
Okay, so back to Roon. I typically have one critical listening space. I enjoy using Roon while listening because of the magazine format, artist bioās and the ability to be introduced to related artists Iād probably not find on my own. Itās really very user friendly, and puts Audirvana and others to shame in this regard. Streaming services being integrated is useful and while I do use them on occasion I typically focus on my own library. But when a Tidal etc is set up within Roon, it brings artist discovery to the next level as you can instantly listen to new artists. Not having a streaming service setup then has Roon revert to your own library, and it is a nice way to be re-introduced to your library.
I also listen via headphones and very much enjoy the crossfeed feature built into Roon. It takes headphone listening to a new level. I can tweak my existing EQ curves and create various EQ curves for various models of headphones I use directly in Roon. I also use headroom management, volume level optimization etc and it works very well!
I have smart speakers throughout my home, primarily Klipsch The Threeās for bedroom and office listening. These are chromecast capable and therefore are a great Roon endpoint. I have Roon Core installed on a recent model Mac Mini, and can ācastā to the Klipsch Threes no problem. This is extremely useful and I find Iām using Roon daily because of this.
I decided to become a lifetime subscriber as Iām not a fan of a monthly subscription over several years. I paid all my dues with cable TV over the years, and spent a small fortune, and frankly I alway felt I was being ripped off. While I feel the Roon lifetime option is steeply overpriced, I justified it as an investment, more so than TV viewing. If Roon stays afloat for 6 more years I will have made back my investment.
Anyway, hope this is useful. Enjoy the music!
2 Likes
Thanks a lot for these thoughtful and comprehensive insights, Dean; much appreciated. For the moment I continue to use Audirvana (while still lurking around here and evaluating Roon).
For me a few points continue to stand out before I can commit:
-
As both a streaming service (TIDAL for now, but I am getting increasingly fed up with Jay-Zās [moderated] approach to featured artists) and local library user, I must admit I felt a bit confused by Roonās approach to multiple song versions - in effect, I was constantly trying to see which version of a song was playing (whether it was mine or TIDALās) - moreover, Roon seemed to ignore displaying MQA/other versions of a song unless I manually picked them;
-
as a prospective subscriber of HRA Streaming, I am still miffed as to why they are not yet supported in Roon (I know, they are only available in Europe, but still) - they have a large catalogue of truly-validated hi-res music (to the point of even refusing to host some of AC/DCās latest āhi-resā albums as they were just nominally upsampled versions of Red Book releases (as opposed to true hi-res masters); so contrary to what Audirvana already does, this absence of HRA Streaming support is a real stumbling block;
-
though I have plenty of disposable income and would have no issues spending money for that purpose, it is clear to me (and countless others) that the USD 700 price tag for a ālifetimeā subscription is awfully steep for something that brings no licensed content of its own, but just a vehicle for it. Roonās interface is great and all, but even high-end 3D rendering packages do not cost that much nowadays. And do not even get me started with the weak excuse that subscriptions are the only way to maintain a business going;
-
I have seen many reports of excessive CPU load/sluggishness when using Roon, as well as my own reports of missed mouse clicks when trying to select something (yet to be solved) - so as I do not intend to buy a Mac mini to be used as core, I want to be sure that my iMac (or future computer) will not be taxed when using multiple apps.
Perhaps I was not clear in my message - I do not want to buy any other equipment just to host/use Roon - if the latter taxes even high-end desktops excessively, then this simply means that such a software is not optimized/developed efficiently.
1 Like
It does not tax my high end desktop. But, number of tracks, simultaneous endpoints, and DSP engaged all factor to the needed hardware.
Now with Tidal connect, does Roon still worth for itās price?
Only you can decide thatā¦ imo, Roon is mainly about āenriched metadataā. Plenty of apps will āplayā music, so if youāre not interested in the extra metadata, you might not need/want Roon. Multiple synchronized (cheap) endpoints is another Roon advantage. If thats not your thing, againā¦
1 Like
Tidal connect only works with certain devices , cannot handle multiroom and cannot control your own music, cannot perform DSP does not allow to build searches and save them. Itās like saying is Roon worth it against Spotify connect itās just a simple control method for one service.
If all you use is that one service do not require multiroom, have no local library and have a device that supports it then yes it makes sense. Is Roon still worth its price yes it does considerably more than Tidal connect will ever do.
I donāt think Tidal Connect is a game-changer in terms of Roon suitability. It certainly caters for those who want to use Tidalās native app at all times, but one of the advantages of Roon is that it integrates Tidal (and Qobuz - most of the time 
) with everything else that youāve got.
Roon provides a whole range of services. If, for any individual, enough of these combine together to provide something that other platforms donāt provide then itās worth every cent/penny!
Qobuz with DSP with library integration with good metadata with multiroom - thatās me.
Your hardware has to support Tidal Connect
The original blurb was weeks back with loads of āpartnersā, Cambridge Audio being one. We are still waiting for a firmware update to enable Tidal Connect. As ever CA are not committing to a date
Maybe next Xmas , or they could squeeze it in before Roon 1.8 
Iām also in a similar situation. Iām on my third trial of Roon. I really enjoy the Roon radio feature. But donāt need any of the other things.
One thing I noticed is that Roon radio tends to only play music from my streaming service and not my local files. Unless I turn off streaming. Iād wish it would try to mix in some of my own music. Does anyone know if this can be done?
Also in my system (Iām using an innuos Zen) Roon does not sound as good as when I use Logitech media server - which uses the zenās RAM for playback.
1 Like