What's your favorite Roon Remote device..and why?

Samsung S21. Love it

I’m split between my iPhone 12 PM which is on my person all the time and my laptop which is in my normal listening area with 4K 55" monitor TV as as a screen.

I have many zones in the house so am frequently starting something in one and moving it around as I move around so maybe the iPhone is the fave in my case if its a single choice.

Us oldies didn’t get around to having our phones surgically attached to our hands

YET :star_struck: :smiling_imp:

:joy: OK OK my Wacom Cintiq Pro 24" … then! :saluting_face:

2 Likes

In my home office, which has two systems, I use the Mac client. Elsewhere in the house, including my main system, I use my iPhone 13 mini because I almost always have it. Yes my 11” iPad Pro is nicer but not if I have to go find it. :grinning:

When working in my home office I’m sat in front of my Windows 11 PC so I naturally use the Roon Remote client for Microsoft Windows. I confess that I am annoyed daily by this software though due to the lack of any pop-out window such as iTunes has since If I want to see what’s playing - something I want to do often when I let Roon Radio suggest stuff for me - I have to pull up the full remote window and then minimise it again which interrupts my workflow far more than would be the case if I could keep a small mini-player window in the top right of my screen to glance at at any time. Yes, I could keep an iPad or phone within easy reach on my desk but my desk tends to be pretty full of papers so that is clutter that I would prefer to avoid.

When listening to my main system in my living room I always have an iPad 12.9" next to my sofa for sofa surfing so that is the natural remote for me to use when selecting music. I don’t find this 100% satisfactory either. For selecting music to play or researching artists and/or albums it is great but for my problem use case mentioned above, a quick glance to see what Roon Radio has selected, it is a bit heavy and cumbersome. Partly because of this I signed up to the Yio (now rebranded “Unfolded Circle”) Remote 2 smart remote since it is promising a Roon integration at launch and from what I’ve seen that is going to happen. My Logitech Harmony Hub remote is already central to my device control in my living room and with Logitech discontinuing the Harmony remotes I am concerned what would happen if my Logitech stuff were to break so hopefully this new remote will future-proof me for my TV/console/speaker/etc unified remote and even if all that the Roon integration offers is the now-playing display and basic controls plus ideally the queue and some manipulation capability on that I will use that for my quick “what is Roon Radio playing now?” checks.

Someone did start a thread about the remote on this forum, to a somewhat lukewarm reception. That thread is here - YIO Remote 2 - A premium smart remote with Roon support - Roon Software Discussion - Roon Labs Community

iPad Pro 12" - However, I should say that the regular iPad is pretty good, I don’t think the iPad 12" screen is used effectively, things are a little too spaced out.

That is interesting. How do you have the fire tablet set up to display “Now Playing?” Permanently on showing the Roon screen for that room, or is there an app that you are using?

The information in this post is not limited to the Fire HD tablets. Any mobile device that can run the Roon Remote app can be used as “Now Playing” display in much the same way. The Fire HD tablets are inexpensive enough that one can have a dedicated Fire tablet for every Roon zone in one’s home. One can get about 5 Fire HD 10s for the cost of one iPad.

My “now playing” display is simply the Fire HD 10+ sitting in it’s charging stand while running the Roon Remote and the proper Roon Zone selected. Please note that within the Roon Remote app on the Fire tablet under Setting set the Keep screen awake to Yes

Settings → Setup → Keep screen awake → Yes

A picture is worth a thousand words. Now Playing:


Play queue:

3 Likes

Ah, I see. So it’s basically always on. (In other words, it doesn’t come to life when you start playing music.)

The default setting in Roon is for the device’s screen to go off to save battery but when using the device as a “Now Playing” display having the screen turn off isn’t useful.

To quickly play or pause, whatever remote is closest. To enjoy Roon’s UI, click around albums, credits, etc. while listening, nothing beats the joy of sitting down on a comfy couch with a tablet!

2 Likes

This time next year my answer might be this :wink: interesting…

1 Like

As I’m typing this on phone, is the very reason I really, really dislike them as remotes. Gotta use laptop + mouse to navigate.

It’s sort of like using a track pad on laptops (vs attached keyboard + mouse). I’d rather put a hot poker in my eye :grinning:

1 Like

It’s a tough crowd tonight :rofl:

2 Likes

Please remember that the smart phone was gifted to us by a God aka Steve Jobs and any and all public criticisms of these devices is strictly prohibited. I strongly suggest that you ask any teenager how to type using two thumbs. In the meantime, please try to suffer in silence. This post was typed on a full sized keyboard and I will do the necessary penance later this evening. :grin:

1 Like

I am with you … My trusty Pixel 3 is my weapon of choice, otherwise my Surface pro. Never an issue and am now loving ARC … had a long bus trip across Sydney yesterday with perfect sound to my Shure 535s.

Until yesterday I’d use my Android phone (Motorola M60).
However, going to the hardware shop on other business, I bought a Samsung A7 lite (also Android - this house has been fumigated for all things Apple) to replace it.
The A7, simply to have a dedicated remotecontrol for the stereo with a bit more screen area to poke at.
Now, because I’ve just saved 3901 USD by NOT buying a 4000 USD preamp, spending a whopping 99 USD on a Schiit Sys passive preamp in stead.
Why Sys? Because less is more. If it aint there, it can’t affect sound…

1 Like

iPad 99% of the time

Ditto. 99.9 percent on the phone, same model.

1 Like