In your opinion!
Been a lifetime member for a few weeks now and I’m starting get the fascination - it’s really great with tidal, it’d still be great without tidal and it’s absolutely perfect for merging the own collection AND tidal…
… loving it so far…
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A few quick responses:
a) Yes, it will be great to have a streaming partner, but I’d rather have a choice. There should be more than one, for the simple reason that the discovery algorithms are different. I’d love to mess around and discover the service that works well for me.
b) I do believe that this hobby is about discovery and serendipity. That is half the fun. And there are alternatives to streaming sources. I’d rather wander around on a weekend and browse used bookstores and buy a bunch of used CDs than spend that time browsing a streaming service.
c) From what I have observed of my kids and their friends, young people in the 10 - 15 year old age group love LPs. They buy them, collect them, listen to them, loan them out – in other words, behave like normal people! 
I’d imagine that most use streaming sources. However, on my anecdotal evidence, many buy records and rip --as most records come with free MP3 rips nowadays.
I started this thread to respond to those who, in a different thread, argued that if Tidal goes bankrupt, they will abandon Roon. I wanted to make the case for what Roon does well with or without Tidal. Catman and I have the same perspective – we love Roon for the biographies of artists and information on albums. As I type this, I am listening to a band that I have never heard of before, and I began by reading the bio of the artists. In other cases, I have read bios of artists that I am familiar with, but thank to Roon, I always learn something new. Just look up the biography for Duke Ellington as an illustration of what Roon does well. And as an old fart, to adopt the description offered by David Toole, half the time I have no idea what rock bands are singing, so the lyrics are indispensable. I am constantly amused when teenagers admit that they also love reading the lyrics when they are exposed to Roon - because they also don’t always know what the bands or rap artists are actually singing.
However, David Toole made the case for why Roon must be tied to a streaming service far better than anyone else so far. I have to relunctantly admit that he is absolutely correct. If Tidal dies, Roon must have a back-up plan to offer another streaming service. While Catman makes a valid point that some teenagers are rediscovering vinyl, it remains true that the dominant trend is streaming. Oppo – the manufacturer of what is arguably the finest blu-ray player – is dead and gone. Why? Because physical discs are dying – CDs, blu-rays, you name it. They are rapidly joining the dust bin of history.
Toole is right – the future is streaming. Roon must be tied to a streaming service. Either that, or it dies. That is the market reality, whether we like it or not.
Based on the comments in this thread, there is a a strong belief that Spotify is superior to Apple Music for music discovery. I realize that Spotify is not lossless, but if offers other advantages.
The integration of Spotify and Tidal within Roon would be a huge step forward, and would also provide Roon with a fallback if Tidal goes under.
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It will also be the end of the audio world as we know it! 
This is interesting. I have not thus far wanted to try a streaming service – but since they all offer free trial periods, I’ll try one. Of them all – are there clear differences? I largely listen to jazz. Is Spotify better than Apple music for jazz too? Also, what are the implications for revenues for artists? Do they make as much money from these services, as opposed to CD/LP sales?
Please educate me – why would that be the case? I am too much of an ignoramus to understand the import of your comment.
It’s just a joke, hence the smiling face. On a just a little bit more serious note, a lot of people in the ROON universe are expecting some high resolution streaming service for integration (like Qobuz or Deezer) getting Spotify instead will probably be a big disappointment, hence the joke.
I have used both, but that was over a year ago. I suspect that both will cover jazz equally as well. According to the comments on this thread, Spotify is better for music discovery, so I’d start with that.
Like you, I primarily listen to jazz. And not just on Roon. My jazz LP collection is 7’ high and 12’ long on one wall. Thousands of albums. I don’t know how many.
But I have recently been expanding my musical horizons and listening to more pop, rock, bluegrass and country. Since I am less familiar with that, the discovery function is very important. The Roon radio is not bad for that purpose, but I need to try out Spotify, because apparently it is far better, based on comments in this thread.
Luleanu is correct that Spotify is a step down for sound quality, and if we lost Tidal, then Deezer would be a better replacement. (Qobuz is not available in the U.S. as far as I know.)
I have used Deezer, and I don’t think it is much better for music discovery than Tidal. A combination of high res streaming (Tidal or Deezer) coupled with lower res streaming for music discovery (Spotify) would not be a bad combination IMHO.
Oh, is that what @anon82498359 meant? Makes sense. However, I Google’s Spotify a few minutes ago, I noticed an article that mentioned that they are experimenting with hi res music. What do Apple do? I took their trial membership and it is not clear what their res is. I did however discover a great album.
And yes,I do see your point about discovery of new genres. I prefer the used bookstore approach - because it gets me out of the House and I can hang out with my wife too - but I totally see your point. It is important for Roon to give us options. I am however quite thrilled with them and did pull the trigger on a lifer.
I guess I should have something better to do in my evenings but I have spent this evening googling - and it does appear that another service might integrate with Roon after all. See this…
https://www.aktives-hoeren.de/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=9915
Scroll to the middle and there is an email from Qobuz hinting at Roon integration in the new year. The question for me is: how good is this service?
Although Qobuz has promised arrival in the US this fall (after previously announcing it would arrive in summer), for some of us its potential integration with Roon is inconsequential. I split my time between Canada and Brazil, so Qobuz is not available to me. The other major players, including Deezer, are available in both countries, and in many more other countries than Qobuz.
Have you tried a VPN service? Should work well for audio.
I have lots of experience with both VPNs and dns unblockers. I use them for music and video services that are geoblocked in Brazil but paid for in Canada (and vice versa). Both will work, although I prefer the latter because VPNs tend to slow my complex network and interfere with things such as reliable NAS connectivity. I also use managed switches, which are more sensitive to network changes.
But that’s not the problem. It’s difficult to subscribe and pay for a service from a country in which that service isn’t sold. I had a Qobuz sub years ago, when it was the only high-rez game in town. It involved some credit card address and zip/postal code manipulation to use Canadian payment methods. Qobuz banned that practice a long time ago. It’s now complex, and often impossible.
Deezer, Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music etc. are no problem because they’re sold everywhere. In fact, I pay about one third of what Americans pay for Tidal by purchasing it in Brazil—comparing in US$, of course.
A report back on tidal. Upon reading all your comments a couple weeks ago, I decided to try Tidal after all. I found a six month trial offer and signed up. However, when I logged in I noticed that the streaming quality was low. So, I contacted customer service and requested that they give me a trial with MQA, so that I can evaluate it and make up my mind. After no response for 5 days, I received a message stating that my request had been consolidated with some one else’s. The would be OK if the issues were the same, but tragically, they were not even close. I therefore sent them a gentle nudge pointing out that fact. After another 5 odd days, I finally heard back, this time stating that I had signed up for a 30 day subscription on 7/4 and that my trial was now over. I therefore wrote back saying thank you, but no thank you. I’ll never subscribe to Tidal on the basis of this experience. They do deserve to go under, and I hope that Roon offers other alternatives.
I am a music collector all of my life and an audiophile for the last few decades. I am intrigued by Tidal to discover new music, but I purchased the lifetime licence of Roon bc I have never encountered a toll that helped link my collection together and show me content that makes my collection come alive. It is also worth mentioning that knowing the quality and path of my music has been VERY helpful. I have also spoken to folks in the Room community that say that DSP and room correction. Is in the pipeline and will be a game changer. Roon is a NO brainer. Tidal seems ok
I know I’m late to this party but Roon+Tidal has broadened my jazz music interests. As I learn of a new artist, I check their catalog on Tidal, add the 5’s and some 4’s to my library, and tag living artist’s records that I play a lot and like for purchase on media. I’ve about doubled my library doing this.
If Tidal weren’t integrated with Roon, I probably wouldn’t subscribe to Tidal. The Roon search of Tidal and Tidal albums are essential to my use of Tidal. I’ve added over 600 Jazz titles from Tidal yet it still makes the same 20’s recommendations although it has extensive knowledge of what I’m listening to.
Qobuz has a much better front page. If Tidal were to go, I’d move to Qobuz which is just now launching here. Lossless is essential as I despise most MP3 and AAC. Playback is via a Gungnir Multibit DAC, Parasound P5, GAS Ampzilla, and Dhalquists.
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When I started this thread, my intention was to make the case for Roon, regardless of the future of Tidal. I was directly responding to the raging debate about the future of Roon if Tidal should cease to exist.
The release of version 1.6 puts that debate to rest, once and for all.
Even if Tidal goes bankupt, Roon now offers Qobuz. I’ll admit that I haven’t tried Qobuz, as I’m in the U.S. But based on what I’ve read, Qobuz is a good replacement for Tidal. (And if Tidal disappears, I haven’t lost much, as I still buy downloads and albums for my library because of that very concern – my personal library is not totally dependent on a streaming service.)
One of the other themes in the above thread regarded the “Focus on Similar” button, and the belief that Roon didn’t do a good job of recommending similar music.
Based on my limited use of the new Roon Radio in version 1.6, I’d say that debate has also been largely addressed.
There are a few issues that need to be addressed in version 1.6, but the developers have been quick to promise to fix those as well, such as restoring cover art in the Now Playing view, and fixing how lyrics are shown for lyrics that won’t stream in real time.
So, with that said, Roon continues to be fabulous. I’m not sure what word can be used that is better than fabulous, so as I said in my post on lyrics, I will use the word used by a group of ten year old boys to enthusiastically describe my home theater: Roon is Emosewa!
Awesome, spelled backwards. 
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Paulb, that McCartney video was pure joy. Thanks for sharing.
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