Why Roon? What are our reasons to stick with Roon?

(Allan Thornton) #57

Grump, Thanks for the comments!

I’m not in love with V1.6 but it is acceptable to me. However, I have not had issues with some of the extreme photo cropping issues some have had. Some of the cropping has been noticeable but again - something I can live with.

Same with search. No speed issues with me at all. If that was really slow for me I would be fairly irritated.

I just wanted to throw some some positive input and personal criticisms into the mix.

And I’ll close by saying I have no idea what software I would choose if Roon went bust. I want it to keep going and getting better - I think the alternatives that are out there are fair at best (and I mean that as a personal subjective judgement).

#58

Seems like my thread starter has opened up a can of worms!

I’ve come full circle in the last 2 years using Roon through the stages of

great initial enthusiam->annoyance at limitations->positive recommendations for no-brainer improvements -> disenchantment at the lack of development in any of my suggestions -> despondency -> acceptance in the status quo and what I can do with Roon -> enthusiasm and hope for the long term future

I really do sympathise with those who are at the disenchantment stage and hope they can overcome this :slight_smile:

#77

I identified with the comment about going through phases of ups and downs. At first I thought common recommendations like box set improvements or even smaller items was something to expect but I have quickly learned to focus on what I like and work arounds to perceived limitations. When new things come out I am trying to explore if they are of interest vs thinking about what wasn’t added.

Thus I liked this thread about what we like and why we stay.

(Isiah Lau) #79

My strong reason to stick with Roon is sound quality. (strange that not many people mentioned it)

I used to listen through software such as Audirvana on iMac to my external USB DAC to my on ear headphone. The iMac runs on pure SSD. However, no matter how I tweaked the settings the sound was just not good enough. It’s harsh and not smooth. I wonder its the combined effect of coreaudio and noise.

I tried other popular software too, but there’s always other reasons pushing me off, such as bad GUI, poor library management, slow response, complicated setup, too many settings, instability or sound quality issues.

So happen I receive an ipad pro 2018 12.9 inches as a gift but the size is too large for daily use. So I make use of it and try the following setup:

[Music library+Roon Core@synology NAS ds918] —(wifi)–>
[Roon Bridge@ipad pro] --(usb-c)–>>
[USB TYPE C hub with power delivery (with mechanical timer on at night for charging)] —(usb-a) -->
[Audio-gd NFB-11] -->
[Headphone]

The sound is very pure, clean, detailed and dynamic. So I bought the Roon lifetime subscription.

The solution is not perfect as I need to unlock the ipad (with face ID) every time I listen. Another problem is ipad pro with usb type-c interface cannot play DSD over PCM (but iphone/old ipad with USB type-a interface can). And I dislike the number of cables and boxes. My library and roon core still stay at ds918, but I might like to try another all-in-one endpoint such as the new Teac NT-505. But I am afraid the SQ can’t match. Any idea?

#80

yeah i was trying to make it +ve, haha.

actually it’s fascinating to see the general level of marmite love/hate going on here. “i love this BUT hate this” sort of thing. It seems that many many people are going thru these stages. It should be an interesting analysis for Roon to try and work out what’s going right and all equally what’s not.

time for some market research, perhaps, for roon to consider what they should actually be developing, lol :slight_smile:

#85

With a mix of 24 and 16 bit music in my local library and a mix of 24- and 16-bit capable endpoints (Moon in living room, 16-bit only Sonos in other rooms) I used to have to keep two different copies of my library when streaming over UPnP. Now Roon does live bit rate conversion based on the endpoint, and it’s all happy days no matter what the source file reads.

(Richard Harris) #86

Having been through most of the alternatives, and having built multiple RPi streamers over the last few years (Moode, Plex, Volumio etc), the combination of Roon + Ropieee has proven by far the most functional and easiest to deploy - I’ve now coughed up for lifetime membership of Roon, which - given my propensity to build my own kit and software - has to be a heary recommendation. Discovery can still be a little dodgy with both local library and Tidal, it’s nearly impossible to find MQA content and the metadata model for cataloguing and finding classical content is absolutely laughable. But I do see a properly supported and developed product, in which some real effort has gone into UX and UI design and which I therefore hope will resolve the outstanding issues in the nearish future.

(Jeff) #87

There is simply nothing else that handles consolidated album versions and generally curates my large library as well as Roon

Add in the rich associated metadata linking, I can spend hours learning new things about artists and albums in my collection.

(Music and Shawarma Lover) #88

Hi Sallah! Funny I did not really notice that I went through the same cycle. Finding Roon, loving what it did well, then realizing my curating work within Roon wouldn’t mostly be portable if Roon folded and thus begging for inter-operability. Thinking those were reasonably requests that everyone would want. Then just nothing on any of it. Yet Roon is too fun to stop using.

In effect, they sweetened the liquid in their venus fly trap rather than provided a way out. Not sure if that is brilliant or nefarious. I guess it could be both!

(Louis Richardson) #89

For me, the #1 reason I use Roon is that it integrates my ripped CD collection with Tidal, under one UI. If Tidal went away (I haven’t tried Quobuz yet), I would have to seriously think about whether or not to continue using Roon. But, for the time being, this is a huge benefit for me.

(Mike O'Neill) #90

I find Love Hate relationships with loads of software over the years, Resharper a dev tool was a good example , some areas a pig others simply too good to give up

Alas …

Keep taking the pills

(Egor Kloos) #91

I can’t say that I’m very happy with Roon from a end user interface perspective. As a controller for playing music is actually not very good. Sound quality is really good and creates a great index of my local library. The extra content is a good plus.

The key reason I use Roon is that all my sources are combined and indexed as if it’s all seamless. No jumping from one app to another. The mind boggles that first party audio control software is so poor. Roon’s new radio feature across all sources really is a highlight for me and sets the bar high for the first party vendors.

#92

Could you provide some details about what specifically you would like to see improved in the user interface? We’re in the same boat here, curious to find out your wishes/suggestions :slight_smile:

(Ged) #93

And take it to another the thread, see the title :wink:

#95

Why do I stick with Roon? I stick with it because I have roon ready endpoints now in pretty much all rooms. I don’t use multi room capabilities, but I do like being able to go to a single interface and be able to access my music (Tidal and Qobuz in my case) and play it in the room I am in. It is simple and a no brainer.

Now ironically while Roon was adding partners all the time I was irritated because the UI/UX seemed to be getting ignored. But that was because I wasn’t interested in the new devices (I’ve got more than enough - including ones in storage). What I bought Roon for was the UI/UX and the promise of discoverability. Which is now the thing I don’t use it for.

I go to the native apps - Tidal is doing pretty well with “My Mix”. I’ve found new artists through that which I then favourite - and play in Roon. Ditto for Qobuz - theirs is more human curated.

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I’ll discover music here, and then go listen to it in Roon.

Why am I down on Roon for their UI/UX? I don’t think it involves a lot of “U” - maybe it should be called I/X. I think it is down to expectations - probably unrealistic. I looked at the team behind Roon - their backgrounds, their interests - and I figured this was a group of folks who could come up with something new and exciting. Who would constantly push the boundaries and redefine this market. It has felt more like being “better than the rest” has been sufficient. When folks complain and are told “it is still better than what is out there” they are pretty much correct. I thought Roon was going to be a case of the industry waking up, seeing what they were doing and thinking “****! They have gone and changed the target again…”

Am I happy with Roon? Yes. Am I happy I have a lifetime sub? Yes. I just don’t use it for what I thought I would, and am using it for the things I thought I wouldn’t. A changing of expectations was needed from me.

(Egor Kloos) #96

I’m a developer with a design background so I have a bit of a bias that may or may not be helpful.

Let me start with the things I do like and work from there.

  • The improvements around the DSP controls are well considered. DSP controls are something where Roon offers unique value.
  • Integrated sources that are also separate and interact nicely. Not easy to pull off. Kudos.
  • Content is King, and Roon rules in that regard.

These three points also cover the three contexts.

  1. Audio/Signal manipulation
  2. Player control
  3. Content management

I see these three things a separate and strongly interrelated. We see this in the design of the Roon app. However, prioritising player control could be beneficial. I wouldn’t consider volume control as something to put in an ephemeral UI control like a tooltip box. It should be omnipresent by default.

Considering what kind of views are useful is a bit hard to say as I haven’t looked at the current UI in detail. Off the top of my head, I’d have four views. One with a mix of the three contexts and three with there own specific views. All views should take into account omnipresent elements like current track info (selected or in progress) and track controls like play/stop and volume that are accessible immediately.

#97

And then RAAT came to my amplifier! I have not had time to listen much, but I’ve noticed that info (like Invert and Treble/Bass/Balance) from the amp is again shown in Roon’s Signal Path. Even more than that: SAM is also displayed. I am very happy!

(R. Neal) #98

What amplifier? That’s pretty cool.

(Ged) #99

Devaliet. (SAM is the give away)

#100

Thanks Ged. Yes, a Devialet 250 Pro. The little arrow in the quote will take you to the quoted post.