Why Does BluOS supports Neil Young, Amazon HD streaming, - and Roon does not?

Technically Radio is one component of a linked data set that is referenced across the system… similar to when you search for something in the system - Artist, Genre, Tempo, Era etc…just saying.

Check out the website, starting w/ the page about Sound Files:

They’ll probably start to take more seriously and work on all the personal library related feature requests! :innocent:

Right. No mention of Roon.

I never said there was mention of Roon.
I simply think it’s interesting, and germane to the discussion.

If Tidal and Qobuz give us access to almost every album ever made, why do we need any other streaming service?

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Why do you assume the versions offered by each service are the same? It may be that the versions on NYA are of a different and better quality that what was released to Qobuz, and they certainly are better than anything on Tidal.

If you’re talking to me, I said nothing about versions. If you think you need higher SQ versions than Tidal and Qobuz, that would be a reason for another service. I don’t think most people can detect any difference above 24/192, but maybe they can. Maybe better masters?

Bluesound have done a deal in order to increase the sales of their products. Why would they want this diluted?
You want Neil Young’s stream service, it’s simple. Buy a Bluesound device and enjoy the music if you live in the USA or in your country when/if available.
Also, Lenbrook is a Canadian company and Mr Young is supporting his own nation.

Because services like Apple Music are far far better at providing curated playlist and stations, they provide and recommend music to listen to that matches where your musical interests are, something by just having a collection of artists can’t achieve.

Apple for just £10 a month have playlists creators, where as Roon charge a fortune just to supply standard metadata.

I find that intriguing.

Any idea why? Is NY somehow in control of this, seeking to create USP for NYA? Is Tidal doing something sub-optimal technically? Third party rights holders behind what Tidal and maybe Qobuz provide access to who cannot / won’t provide access to ‘better’ versions or masters?

Apple does not have to make a profit on Apple Music, which has always been a way to sell their high-margin hardware since the iPod. Roon has to make a profit to stay around. Apple Music does not let me play hi-res music on a variety of devices from Linn Klimax to Chord 2go to low-cost Pi-based streamers. It does not support a quiet fanless server for all my music. It really messes up metadata on more exotic releases (I know, I struggled with iTunes for a long time before Roon). If you want convenience, stick with Apple. If you want control and your choice of hardware from DIY to the top of Linn’s line…

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That’s great if you’re into that. Personally, I don’t do playlist. I listen to full albums only. To each his own.

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I am, and you didn’t, but I did. And yes, by versions I mean the actual released remasters or remix. Just because both may have AC/DC’s Back in Black, the versions (masters or remixes) offered between them may vary and be of dissimilar quality. It should come as no surprise that the prevailing mastering choices are to make things “hotter” and thus lose dynamic range. So, while Qobuz and Tidal might have Neil Young albums, they may not be offering the same mastering as his own service.

When it comes to Neil Young specifically, he had a mastering series of his albums done for Pono. Those albums were really well done. I am not sure he would let those masters out. It would make sense the Neil would gate those behind his own service. But, I don’t know for sure and would not assume they were the same without research.

This thread seems to have engendered a broad discussion about Roon’s features. I believe this is a good thing. I wanted to update with one solution that some people might be interested in.

I spend a lot of time looking and using various Raspberry Pi music endpoint distros like Roipeee, PicorePlayer, etc. One distro that has lately been on my radar called HiFiBerry OS. This distro has gone from a simple way to stream music to a swiss army knife of opitons. Take a look at the web page and you will see a long list of streaming protocols including Roon, Spotify, and Airplay. HiFiBerry OS is targeted at working with the HiFiBerry addon DAC HATs for RPi, like the new high spec DAC2, but it probably could work with other HATs as well with customization?

HifiBerry OS

Setting up the HiFiBerry OS couldn’t be simpler with a nice Web based setup UI. The ability of this OS to easily switch between streaming protocols is a real bonus. Having these around your house as endpoints could be a solution until Roon decides to support more streaming services.

Things have gone global now

I understand your point; however, my understanding is that BluOS finds music on all of your networked devices and like Roon, can play different sources in different rooms. With respect to “catalog integration”, I believe it is becoming less of concern to the user, in that the major streaming services themselves are increasing and displaying their metadata about the music (i.e. author, composer, artist history, and like artists). So I really think this is a big risk to Roon’s future. I will comment later after I purchase NAD M33 and download BluOS.

Not really. It just ends up being a fractured eco system. The level of API integration in BluOS varies wildly and on the whole is a dog’s dinner. I never used it more than twice in three years of having a Node 2 it was just not a pleasant experience. Also it’s multiroom is purely for BluOs hardware so your then stuck with one manufacturers equipment warts and all. BluOS support from my experience with them was woeful to. But if all you want is a service with no nice user experience and limited management tools then I guess it’s fine.

Simon: thank you for this perspective, as I was seriously considering adding a Bluesound Node 2i to my existing old NAD 765 to get into the world of BluOS. Was also considering buying a new NAD M33, but I see that is still not Roon Ready. I am going to put off those purchases at present given what I am reading here and elsewhere about Roon integration. I have a Roon perpetual license, and I am running Roon Core on a i9 core MacBook Pro with few issues (except it goes to sleep all of the time). I do hope that Roon will add support for Spotify and Amazon HD at some time.

On another note, what I am going to do is change the configuration of my system to route all incoming sources from Comcast/Xfinity, Apple TV, and Roku directly into my new 4K Samsung TV and then run an optical cable back to the NAD 765 (connected to ELAC speakers) just for the sound. Currently I have Xfinity/Comcast, Roku, and Apple TV running directly into the NAD 765 (which is limited to 1080p 60Hx.), so I don’t get to see 4K on my TV. I also have run into a lot of HDMI sync problems with my current configuration. I have had the NAD 765 for more than 10 years, and recently had all the fans replaced, so I am trying to get my investment back, although perhaps it is water under the bridge. The sound output from the NAD is still fantastic in my opinion.

Adding support is not down to Roon they already reached out. Other services need to allow Roon what they need to integrate it so it fits the same as everything else or its not worth having as you have yet another fractured eco system But both these two services are not interested and are more concerned about collecting your data for Spotify via their own app and getting you into Prime for Amazon, and they are not concerned about hifi or tsmall companies only the big boys, and has little take up outside of Sonos or Bluesound.

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