Thread: On the future of Roon...

Originally Posted by 4N6

Still confused how one can definitely say that Conductor sounds better than Roon when an A/B comparison is actually impossible. If Conductor and Roon were run on the SAME computer and you could A/B switch between them, then yes, you could make a sound quality comparison. But since Roon cannot historically work on an Aurender server, then one is actually comparing two different computers using two different software's. Too many variables.

Maybe it is the Aurender server that actually sounds better, regardless of the Conductor software?

Looking forward to when I can use my N200 to play the same file with both Conductor and Roon to see for myself.

Aurender has been testing conductor vs roon on the same machine (an N20) for months (since April). Like with the INNUOS, it is possible. Lumin too. Love Roon’s features, but they fired all their hardcore audio guys and hired CI guys and their goal is more CI integration. Heck, it even works with Control4 now.


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Originally Posted by runsilent

Kinda figured something changed at Roon. Focus seems to be more about cramming as many features as possible into the software. I’m finding more hangups, slower operation, search function endlessly spinning etc with each new update with a hit to sound quality. Even with Lumin’s experimental roononly mode on my X1, Lumin’s app and Jplay iOS still sound better. Better yet is shutting down my nas and server and streaming off my L1 (will probably grab a L2 at some point). I love Roon’s features as you say Mike, which is fine for casual playback, but for serious listening, well, that dog just don’t hunt.

And I am finding just the opposite. I guess all the other components and gear contribute to the overall experience. Having all your music on a NAS is a big hit, lower-level processors, cpu, ram and the biggest of all, type of storage have huge hits (and of course having anything Apple in the chain). If your searches are directed to a NAS I would expect terrible performance, versus having your files stored on internal SSD or better yet, on internal M.2 drives.

Performance wise, having Roon as your meta and interface and handing off to HQPlayer as your playback engine is the best of both worlds and I would put the performance against almost anything out there. probably why the finest music servers use this configuration...

As an example, Taiko.

Originally Posted by Randy Myers

And I am finding just the opposite. I guess all the other components and gear contribute to the overall experience. Having all your music on a NAS is a big hit, lower-level processors, cpu, ram and the biggest of all, type of storage have huge hits (and of course having anything Apple in the chain). If your searches are directed to a NAS I would expect terrible performance, versus having your files stored on internal SSD or better yet, on internal M.2 drives.

Performance wise, having Roon as your meta and interface and handing off to HQPlayer as your playback engine is the best of both worlds and I would put the performance against almost anything out there. probably why the finest music servers use this configuration...

As an example, Taiko.

I'm with you Randy. My Win11 super server stayed up a total of 2 nights. I spent a large part of a weekend getting Win11 up and running, loading Roon (lifer), MinimServer (free level), and Audirvana Studio (trial). It ran fine, and I could monitor it via remote desktop on my desktop, and iPad. One morning it was not visible to remote, and both Roon and Audirvana were not functioning as servers. Interestingly MinimServer was still functional.

It took all of 15 minutes to yank the server out of the closet, and reload ROCK. It took a bit longer to reload the music files on the internal SSD drive. (the ROCK "internal storage" is not compatible with Windows) That data drive is very easy to get to on the network though, without any configuration.

Pretty sure that if I want to venture off the ROCK reservation again, I will spend the time learning some Linux, and use one of the several Linux "audiophile" distros.

Originally Posted by NewAlkyogre

If you like convenience and resolution take a dedicated streamer from a good brand, and power it with an excellent lps. A ready to go solution is available in the store, streaming and high quality sound can be done together if you decide to invest a bit in a good source. Roon is absolutely not the only way to stream in high quality.

Agree. And Lumin is a good example of this; as out-of-the-box as you get. I have had very few instances of needing to do light troubleshooting, and none of it has been the fault of the Lumin player (now don't get me started on the L1...) - it's all been loss of power or internet, with the knock-on effect on downstream connected devices (not just audio).

On the flip side, there will be some people - my guess is it's generational to a perhaps not small degree - who don't want to even go that far. Even Lumin requires some very basic network connections and light setup. Locally stored files because you're hanging on to the paradigm that you simply must "own" the files, then some local storage tech to deal with. Just streaming Tidal or Qobuz - then simple as you can get and the quality and convenience are fantastic.

I know plenty of people who wouldn't be able to handle the technology though. I think expectations that it should be "open a box plug it in and listen" are not realistic for a technically-based system (network connected, NAS, etc). It's tiresome and boring watching people rant when they don't get what in their imagination something should be when that wasn't well-informed to begin with.

For me it's worth the initial work to figure things out, because the resulting quality will far exceed anything like Spotify or Amazon Music, and the resulting convenience will far exceed analog. If that's not worth it to someone, great get a turntable or reel-to-reel (which I'd argue come with their own tech to figure out, but it's more familiar if that's where you started).

Roon Build 1365 supports Tidal MAX