I personally think Roon is locked into a software development tool that maybe doesn’t allow certain simple changes in say interface or connect-ability that possibly it should. I don’t find they listen much now either, they decided what would be a great ‘now playing’ screen in the last update and just went with it. I don’t love Roon to bits, it’s ok, and in some areas outstanding, in others it’s a bit clunky and quite old fashioned - pretty much like all software, there is no one solution it seems?
I do keep wanting to find ways of just streaming hi-res Qobuz to my Pi endpoint (I rarely listen to my own rips these days) without bothering with Roon, but no deal. Qobuz Mac desktop won’t speak to Ropieee DLNA (they sort of say it’s likely it won’t!) and I would lose HD if I went with Airplay (which I’ve tried and not been impressed) - mind you I am thinking of playing with other options like Volumio for a bt of a change?
The meta data aspects of Roon are the only real reason I stay with it, it’s a mostly inspiring experience you just can’t get elsewhere - although it does fall down sometimes as labels/distributors/streaming services et al STILL haven’t got their meta data act together even in the slightest. But it’s all there is, there is no other collation software that brings your own music together with a few streaming services and the meta data and combines the experience in a seamless way.
I suppose we have to put up with the fact that we are in the minority here (ain’t I always! ). Most folk grab a Spotify or Apple subscription and are very happy listening to music on their earbuds or smart speaker - and that’s millions and that’s who the streaming services are after. Hifi nuts and audiophiles like me who actually want to manage a music collection (virtual and actual) in a rich environment, are a different market, and for that market Roon is the only solution - that I know of… would love to hear of more… competition is just what this area of music appreciation needs to move forward.
That makes fascinating reading! It’s a long way from those early days when WiMP and Spotify were hoping for a million or two subscribers to get themselves going!
Everything today is all about numbers, vastness, Apple, Amazon and their like - even supermarkets have to have a zillion branches now, and that’s not enough, they have take over foreign chains and grow, grow, grow…
What we need is some quality as opposed to quantity… but that’s expensive now isn’t it!
I personally feel that Roon will obviously eventually disappear as the product we know today. Streaming will get bigger and bigger and file downloading or ripping (well ripping already is) will become an even more minority game. More and more folk will find the streaming platforms offer more than enough music discovery and favourite saving features for them.
The music lover will go back to their vinyl or CD’s (classic CD players are already in demand) and that’ll be that… unless of course one of the streaming services asks Roon to be their partner in devising better music collecting features, better mete data harvesting and better music discover… now that would be a fun future, but which music service do we think would bother with such niche features?
The software scrapyard is littered with the remains of products once dominant that failed to improve rapidly enough. Look no further than WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3 and Novell Netware.
The key is offering continuing improvement that adds value. One company that has done a masterful job is Adobe. They were there at the start and dominate its markets year after year.
I use Photoshop on a monthly subscription and never cease to be amazed at the new features and functions that are deployed regularly. Some I wanted, others are complete and pleasant surprises.
In audio, the key is integration and an interface that makes it easy to manage often vast personal collections along with streaming options, or option if the developer succeeds in bringing nearly all available music under one roof.
The audio management market is in its infancy. Roon has a head start. Will it be a Lotus 1-2-3 or become an Adobe? I wish for the latter. It’s in the hands of management.
To be honest @Peter_Salvet when a software company offers a lifetime subscription it’s pretty obvious their confidence in a continuing future is somewhat less than it ought to be - or they are looking for some funding - or both!
@Danny has said, lifetime was an option in the beginning because they needed funds. The pressure is long off, and it will probably be going away. This is the original post:
I see the lifetime sub similar to a Kickstarter. It’s often the few investors that pony up for the deluxe version(s) that can push a project over the edge to completion vs the many investing at retail price.
I worked for Sub Pop in its infancy, and one of the schemes we came up with was to have an annual singles (45’s) subscription. It pretty much kept the company afloat because we received $ upfront for a whole year even though we had no idea what we’d be releasing in six months time let alone twelve. At the end of the day, with all the labor and postage and paying bands etc involved, the singles sub probably didn’t even break even, but nobody else was doing it (so therefore raised the profile of the company) and helped release albums that were moneymakers (like Nirvana’s Bleach).
2 Likes
Bill_Janssen
(now wearing snowshoes on my asymmetrical isolation feet)
#127
I think any consumer would be nuts to completely trust anything a privately held company said about their business. Some skepticism is appropriate. Even if they meant it today, they may change their minds tomorrow. What they say about their products is different, there are laws about that (though only variously enforced). And publicly held companies need to make SEC-controlled disclosures.
Sorry but you can not be surprised how the thread goes on…
You wrote a public message and it’s part of the game people answer back.
Besides you can not expect on the forum of any brand to get flowers when explaining why you leave not matter you re right, polite, constructive…
If you dont want or look for drama leave a private message
And to go back to subject, i get why you leave but dont get why you suscribe as the « basics » you requested have never been on Roon (as far as i know, i m not an expert user)
Rugby
(aka Daniel or Big Dan)
Split this topic
#130
I like Amazon Music and Apple for their libraries and playlist curation, a lot actually, but the SQ compared to Tidal and Qobuz isn’t close. I pay for Soundiiz to sync my favorite stuff from Apple and Amazon to Tidal & Qobuz every night automatically. It works beautifully.
You didn’t mention that it sucks as a music selection tool?
I do own and use this app occasionally, and i agree it’s one of a few UPnP control apps thats reasonablu usable, but i still want my Roon whenever i try and use it!
In terms of feeding Tidal in my case (and Qobuz) into a networked DLNA renderer alongside a DLNA local library short of dedicated device apps (Cambridge Audio Stream Magic in my case) it the only control app I have found that can do this .
Tidal Connect may change this of course,
In terms of navigation, the app simply reflects the views you have set up your DLNA server. I have a legacy system running on JRiver with quite elaborate view schemes to navigate my library hence I found it comparable to JRemote and quite acceptable
I simply meant its an alternative to Roon for a streaming only solution
Don’t worry Peter, you have every right not to use Roon and to explain why. In the scheme of things, Roon has a negligible number of users and faces many challenges for its future. It is in the interests of those who do wish to be users that perceived shortcomings are addressed in order to widen the uptake of Roon and help ensure its continued viability.
As we go forward, the ability to play locally stored music will be increasingly irrelevant for many users, so Roon’s role will become that of an adjunct to streaming services. It has to offer value.
@Mike_O_Neill@Mikael_Ollars the shame is Qobuz desktop has UPnP built in, they developed it ages ago - but it doesn’t work with pretty much every device out there so they gave up. Something about the protocol not being standard and every device working a slightly different way? My Qobuz desktop app does see Ropieee as a UPnP endpoint, and thinks it is playing to it, but no sound emerges
Understood! And i agree it’s an alternative, although one i don’t like.
Just a comment regarding UPnP. Better solutions (Auralic Lightning DS & Lumin app) use the UPnP table of contents as a database and build their own view of the library and does so in a much more convincing matter.
Still, your point is taken, there are alternative solutions for those that don’t like Roon.
). Most folk grab a Spotify or Apple subscription and are very happy listening to music on their earbuds or smart speaker - and that’s millions and that’s who the streaming services are after. Hifi nuts and audiophiles like me who actually want to manage a music collection (virtual and actual) in a rich environment, are a different market, and for that market Roon is the only solution - that I know of… would love to hear of more… competition is just what this area of music appreciation needs to move forward.
