I read the long thread on here about trying to integrate ROON with Naxos Classics Online, and how it was shut down, but what about the NAXOS Music library? They sell subscriptions for about $300 a year.
I had a subscription but it was so clunky to stream it through a Flash player from a web browser that I gave it up.
Recently, I set up a Mac Mini to run ROON+Tidal, and feed my DAC and am trying to decide if I should subscribe to NML again. I can use a Mac Mini running Duet to my iPad but I’m back to that Flash player under a browser, slow and clunky.
A lot of negotiation and programming for, admit it, a very limited audience. At $300 yrly, that’s a lot of money, with probably few in the set that is the intersection of Roon and NML subscribers.
Well, I think there are a large number of ROON users who would like to stream from a large collection of classical music, that was the gist of the discussions related to ClassicsOnline.
NAXOS has an extensive catalog of classical music.
I don’t think we should give up because of the pricing. If ROON can convince NAXOS that they will grow their subscriber base, it could be a win-win, maybe some deal could be struck. Tidal is $19.99 a month for me, NAXOS is not much more. I would pay for both.
What do we do if we lose Tidal? We will have no streaming service available and I guess I will have wasted my money when I bought a lifetime subscription to ROON.
NML costs the same as Tidal HiFi, which may or may not be worth it for Roon subscribers, but what the heck: If Roon and Naxos both think it’s worth the effort, why not?
I seems like NAXOS is targeting the educational market with NML. I would bet that there are far more people outside of the educational market who would be interested in the NAXOS catalog than there are in the educational market.
I think this would especially be true if it were as simple to stream NAXOS through ROON as it is to stream Tidal.
I happen to be one of those shelling out nearly $400/year for NML.
I am neither a Roon nor a Sonos customer. Both for the same reason: my #1 priority is integration with NML. I have reached out to NaxosUSA and participated in a thread on the Sonos forum and still cannot figure out why this integration never happens. My guess is that no party perceives critical mass and so at least one or the other is unwilling to commit the necessary resources.
Sad thing is I am sure that there are nuerous NML subscribers with coding chops (e.g. me for one) who would happily contribute gratis to an integration effort just to have it available.
Welcome, John. Are you streaming NML into your stereo? I struggle with the NAXOS Flash player and find it a lot less fun to use than ROON + Tidal.
I’m still on the fence with whether or not I should subscribe to NML again. Like I mentioned I’m streaming from a Mac Mini to my DAC and using an iPad as a display with the Duet app, but it’s kind of tedious to use a web browser while the ROON iPad app is a joy to use.
I have some programming chops too but I have to pay the rent and can’t afford to work for free.
I think NAXOS could expand their user base by integrating with ROON but it would take time and money to get it done.
To follow up a bit about subscribing to the Naxos Library.
I just bought one of their premium subscriptions for $315 a year. In order to make it work with my MacMini, I gave up on the idea of running the Mini in a headless fashion and bought a cheap 13.3" external monitor by GeClic. I also bought a wireless keyboard and trackpad to make it easier to use the Mini that is connected to my DAC.
Naxos streams fine into my DAC, from their Flash player in Safari, and I can still switch back and forth easily between Roon streaming into the DAC or Naxos. I can also use the Naxos iPhone app to stream over Bluetooth to a Roon Ready ELAC Z3 speaker I have set up in my kitchen. The ELAC will also switch between streaming Roon from Wifi or streaming Naxos via Bluetooth. I might also experiment with a physical connection from my phone into the 3.5mm input jack on the ELAC Z3.
While I would love to have Naxos integrated with Roon, I think I have it working now in my system without that integration. I just hope that I won’t run into any problems when I switch, in the near future, to an Aqua Formula DAC driven over USB. I don’t think I will as the Aqua Formula is designed to be seen by CoreAudio on Mac machines without the installation of any drivers.
There is a staggering amount of good music on Naxos and I don’t want to wait years for it to be integrated into Roon, if that ever happens.
I am a Sonos owner and an NML subscriber. I am not currently a Roon subscriber. I have regularly raised the issue of what would it take to get Sonos/NML integration. Were Roon to provide such a path I would subscribe immediately.