I wanted to give them a try… Unfortunately a no go…
I scanned the comments and I’m not sure I found this as a reason. You can have Tidal and Qobuz integrated. I have found many times things I wanted to listen to that are only on one or the other meaning you can’t hear it unless you have both. If totally pinching pennies is the goal here then maybe Roon isn’t what you need but if you want the best platform and sound and ease of use and beautiful user interface that blows away Tidal then Roon is it. For the semi well heeled audiophile Roon is an absolute no brainer. I can say how many fun times I have had going down rabbit holes finding new music and playing with Roon. It keeps getting better and more logical to use all them time as well they aren’t resting on their laurels. If I was starting from scratch in hifi Roon would be the first thing on my list, it’s indispensable for me at this point. I had some real struggles with it in the beginning and even thought it was BS but now that I am well acquainted I love it. Go for it all in you won’t be sorry
Yup, incompatible with the latest Synology… now I have 17 TB of music just sitting there - absolutely not for everybody
There are? Where/How?
Someone’s clearly never had to deal with temperamental 60 or so year old Italian machinery. Also, scooters are smaller and less likely to be seen by people in cars.
Alright, former Lambretta and Vespa owner done ranting. 
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I was thinking trees more than carburettors, but point taken 
What hype? Roon works as promised.
Sounds like the issue is on your end, and not Roon’s. Either HW or network (or both) that you are unaware of.
If you have 17TB of music you probably shouldn’t be trying to run Roon core on a Synology NAS TBH. But what do I know 
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While I have had Sonos for over a decade, I was very skeptical of high rez streaming. Sonos is nice but fidelity wise its not outstanding. I came across The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel on youtube and became very curious, Subscribed to Roon, Tidal and Qobuz, got an Allo Signiture with RPi and a great DAC. I could not believe the quality of the sound and the vast variety of music available on Roon. The metadata on Roon is incredible. I have a library of over 2,000 CDS and probably 1000 LPs, but the Room platform still has tons of stuff from all my favorite artists that I don’t have. I don’t know how they do it but Play an album or playlist and they Roon takes over with Roon Radio and you wont believe the amazing spot on tunes they will play, and it varies with whatever you started out with. As music lover and audiophile Roon is for me. The sound quality was further elevated towards the heavens with my new Lumin streamer!
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I think you have summed up quite nicely what is unique about Roon. The music it finds and plays for you using your streaming services and your library is impressive. Just so nice to sit and just listen to music.
Bluesound devices will unfold Tidal MQA.
Bluesound Node 2i is $550. Am I missing something here?
Nope, apparently I am. I forgot about how much is packed into that box for so little cash. Good catch.
Hi Robin,
My experience was the other way round. I initially had a couple of Raspberry Pi 3bs running Kodi into a couple of old Amps and sets of speakers, good, old budget stuff. I could never afford hi end Audio. Source was an external hard drive which had all my old CD’s and even older LPs as ripped MP3’s from software that was about 25 years old.
Bottom line, I wanted better music quality without loosing all my living space. Did a lot of research and decided (thankfully) not to go for better Amp/Speakers/Pre Amp etc. Too much money. I went for a DACHAT for the Raspberry Pi’s and they came with a Voucher for a Roon Trial. I started running Roon on my Macbook so no investment on that front.
Roon signal path and this site educated me about File quality and what options were available now to get the best out of my system including streaming services and room correction.
I am now running all my Flac re-ripped CD’s on a NUC, running ROCK. Feeding Raspberry Pi in the Kitchen, Bedroom and Garage (Man Shed). I am streaming most of my old LP’s and more via Tidal HIFI. I treated myself to a NAD M10 running Dirac Live in my living room and my Music Quality has been transformed. The truth was was KEF Q5 speakers had never been given a decent signal. My decision was easy as I new I had got my money’s worth. For you it is a lot different.
Robin, I would suggest starting with a free trial of Roon. If you can see that the system could be useful to you after trying it out, then take out a year sub and go from there. If you don’t think it’s worth you renewing a year later then you have answered your question.
All the best.
Si
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I look at Roon as a software platform that allows me to stream music using a variety of hardware. The Roon Software platform also makes is it easy for me to discover new (to me) music as well as provides a lot of information about the music that I am listening to, such as who is performing/playing on music that I am listening. For me, Roon is worth the annual software license cost because it isa fine user interface that I can use with all of devices in my home.
From a hardware perspective, Roon allows you to have excellent functionality and sound with whatever gear that you have. My Roon server is a repurposed I7 Windows 10 laptop. My main listening room uses an Auralic Aries Mini as a Roon endpoint. The Aries Mini used to be my stand alone music server. My other Roon endpoints are Apple iPhones or iPads with Audioquest Dragonfly DAC’s that I had before Roon or devices with Apple Airplay. Raspberry PI’s make it easy to create a good sounding Roon Endpoints for relatively small expenditures that will work with lots of inexpensive audio gear.
If hardware flexibility is not important to you, then it comes down to whether or not that you think that the Roon software provides enough value to pay the licensing fee. The only way determine that is to try it out. I tried out Roon about a year ago and I am not going back.
Never a hiccup on mine. Works like a dream sounds like a hardware issue or not set up correctly to me
I have to say my experience has been quite different and very positive indeed. I like to “tinker” with things, but I don’t think I’m an expert. For me Roon just works and adds a lot of positives to my experience and ease of use.
My set-up:
Roon Core running on a Synology NAS (DS218+)
- Installed as a Docker image, you need to set like two or three variables, but it’s pretty much “click&go” with all answers to be found with a simple Google search.
Music plays mostly via a Bluesound Node 2i and a NAD D3045
I also have Roon installed on a old Android phone that connects to a small JBL Bluetooth speaker so I can easily play music on the kitchen, bathroom or bedroom.
For me it all just works. There’s the occasional hick-up, but a simple re-start of the app on my phone always does the trick.
The music come from two places:
- My old by quite extensive libary of MP3’s stored on the same NAS
- Qobuz
Roon really brings the two libraries together in a seamless way and with a great experience that helps me discover new music through Qobuz and re-discover old music I forgot I had in my MP2 library!
I’m only in my second week of my paid subscription though, so I might still be in the honeymoon phase! 
(I did go for an annual subscription.)
Just my 2 cents!
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Some nice images on your site , I must go back later 
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Just a perfect experience with more to come, as I am sure!
Roon Rock on a Primemini i7, 16GB RAM.!
Music on a Synology NAS and with Tidal.
Different clients, 1xBluesound node, 3xFlex, 1xPulsemini, 1xPulse, 1xPowernode (PSBx1t, TV Room), NAD c368 with BluOS with Rowen S6.
Remotes: iPhone and iPad.
…and it works perfect!
Roon allows me to discover and enjoy music.
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