On the future of Roon...

N

nicoff

Active member
Joined
Nov 3, 2014
Messages
2,181
On the future of Roon...
Disclaimer: I am a lifetime Roon subscriber, and would very much like for Roon to succeed.

I have been using Roon for several years now. For a while I used Roon with my local library only. Eventually I subscribed to music streaming services (Tidal, Qobuz).

If you have a library that includes local files, Roon offers, by far, the best music management capabilities. Nothing, I mean nothing, out there can touch it.

But if your library is external (from music streaming services), recent announcements by Apple and Spotify will affect Roon’s future.

Just in case you were not aware, Apple and Spotify recently announced that they will start providing CD quality music. Apple will not change their price. I suspect that Spotify will be forced to keep their monthly rates as well. Their rates are lower than those of Qobuz and Tidal.

Roon does NOT work with Apple Music or Spotify. Most likely, it will NEVER will.

So... would Roon users still subscribe to Tidal or Qobuz? Maybe some folks have invested in MQA-capable equipment and feel bound to Tidal. Qobuz subscribers may want to have access “hi-def” offerings.

But what if folks are happy with just CD-quality offerings? Then… they will likely switch to a cheaper streaming service.

That leads me to the conclusion that once Apple Music and Spotify start offering CD-quality music, both Tidal and Qobuz will see a drop of subscribers, and many Roon users will stop using Roon.

The future of Roon, in my opinion, relies on one of the big guys buying them out and using their database management capabilities.
 
I use Roon because of the phenomenal metadata, and because it allows me to link different systems (I have a Naim QB at bedside, sonos in bathroom and kids rooms, and a headphone amp on my desktop in my basement). Apple and Spotify (nor Aurender or other systems as such) will not have these features. Amazon has been offering hi rez for awhile also. I agree Tidal will see a drop. Qobuz goes after a different international consumer. But as far as Roon, I think it's "Apples" to Oranges.
 
Ricky64 said:
I use Roon because of the phenomenal metadata, and because it allows me to link different systems (I have a Naim QB at bedside, sonos in bathroom and kids rooms, and a headphone amp on my desktop in my basement). Apple and Spotify (nor Aurender or other systems as such) will not have these features. Amazon has been offering hi rez for awhile also. I agree Tidal will see a drop. Qobuz goes after a different international consumer. But as far as Roon, I think it's "Apples" to Oranges.
Click to expand...

Roon offers metadata that no-one else offers. Totally agree.

However, others now offer multi-room capability (Sonos, Amazon).

So the question becomes: is metadata worth $100+ dollars per year to a regular subscriber (in addition to the music service streaming fee)?

(I am a lifetime subscriber so Roon does not cost me anything extra).
 
I don’t believe that Roon is going anywhere for the foreseeable future. I’m ready to pull the plug on Tidal though and stick with Quobuz.
 
Ricky64 said:
I use Roon because of the phenomenal metadata, and because it allows me to link different systems (I have a Naim QB at bedside, sonos in bathroom and kids rooms, and a headphone amp on my desktop in my basement). Apple and Spotify (nor Aurender or other systems as such) will not have these features. Amazon has been offering hi rez for awhile also. I agree Tidal will see a drop. Qobuz goes after a different international consumer. But as far as Roon, I think it's "Apples" to Oranges.
Click to expand...

Those features and meta data come at a cost: sound.

Best interface hands down is Roon. But far from the best sounding. Actually, quite a choke point sonically.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
in addition to the interface and metadata, roon ROCK which provids the ability to use any computer as a dedicated, headless streamer is a huge thing for me.

users such as myself probably represent a small segment of roon's installed base and, therefore, are not decisive as to the future of roon.

IME, any incremental electrical noise generated by roon sofware versus others can be mitigated or eliminated by deliberate computer design and downstream signal isolation... YMMV
 
I remain intrigued by using Roon interface to control HQPlayer, and evaluate sound quality differences from using Roon server. Haven't had the chance to fiddle with this yet.
 
Ricky64 said:
I remain intrigued by using Roon interface to control HQPlayer, and evaluate sound quality differences from using Roon server. Haven't had the chance to fiddle with this yet.
Click to expand...

That is definitely the way to go. IMHO, HQP has the quite superior sound quality compared with straight Roon. However, you do have to spend some time experimenting with the different choices of filters, upsampling, etc. Some can be quite taxing on your computer, and some of those are the most rewarding in terms of sound quality in my experience. There is a very active subforum on Roon, just deaing with HQP.

Larry
 
In view of Roon’s apparent intransigence in granting licenses for many streamers(*), do we not think that Roon may soon have a major rival? Perhaps a system that doesn’t rely on a dedicated PC in every user’s home to operate?

If software that maintains details of the user’s library of music can be added to the app and it knows which streaming services are subscribed to, would it not be possible to use external computing power to offer a comparable service to Roon? I don’t know, but Roon seems to require too much user equipment (and signal processing) for my liking, though I’m on unsure ground here as I’m no IT expert.

* For example, all NAD and Buesound streamers used to be Roon Ready and older ones are still good with Roon, but newer ones such as M33 are not yet certified despite (as far as I can establish) using identical electronics to the BluOS plug-in streamer module that can be added into M32, M12, M50.2 etc. Very weird!
 
Ricky64 said:
I remain intrigued by using Roon interface to control HQPlayer, and evaluate sound quality differences from using Roon server. Haven't had the chance to fiddle with this yet.
Click to expand...

I use Roon interface to control HQPlayer and love it.
I am also using HQPlayer NAA running on an inexpensive Raspberry Pi.

Playing around with the upconverting capabilities of HQP and the different filters has been amazing.
 
astrotoy said:
That is definitely the way to go. IMHO, HQP has the quite superior sound quality compared with straight Roon. However, you do have to spend some time experimenting with the different choices of filters, upsampling, etc. Some can be quite taxing on your computer, and some of those are the most rewarding in terms of sound quality in my experience. There is a very active subforum on Roon, just deaing with HQP.

Larry
Click to expand...

Totally agree! HQP costs just a few hundred dollars. Some folks will spend thousands of dollars on fancy cables. When you realize how HQP filters can actually (i.e., measurable) affect the sound, it is quite a bargain!
 
I am a recent Roon user. I decided to go year over year. Since only crazy audiophiles have large personal libraries, Roon’s future lies in its ability to integrate with music services from all major players. It takes two to tango, so I’m not sure Amazon, Apple, and Spotify will play along. It’s not in their business model to play well with others.

Roon is also very challenging to set up and get running. It takes a lot of horsepower and an investment in time and money to make it happen. Unless they make it more plug and play, it will not ‘take off’ in the true sense of the word. Maybe that’s ok though.

Which brings me back to Tidal and Qobuz. I’m done with Tidal, and Qobuz is tiny. It may never scale and become profitable. Hard to say.

Meanwhile I’m enjoying the ride and will take it as it comes.
 
W9TR said:
I am a recent Roon user. I decided to go year over year. Since only crazy audiophiles have large personal libraries, Roon’s future lies in its ability to integrate with music services from all major players. It takes two to tango, so I’m not sure Amazon, Apple, and Spotify will play along. It’s not in their business model to play well with others.

Roon is also very challenging to set up and get running. It takes a lot of horsepower and an investment in time and money to make it happen. Unless they make it more plug and play, it will not ‘take off’ in the true sense of the word. Maybe that’s ok though.

...
Click to expand...

The thing is that many "crazy audiophiles" as you call them, are finally realizing that much if not all of their digital personal library is available via streaming. So why bother? (Incidentally, when I hear of folks having terabytes-sized library of digital files complaining about how little musicians get paid by music streaming services, I always wonder how many of those files they actually paid for).

Roon is not plug-and-play. Agree that it is a contributor to never becoming mainstream. But it is much easier to set up that something like the now unsupported Logitech Media Server which I believe was the precursor of Roon.
 
I think the demise of Roon has been greatly exaggerated. No more than wishful thinking on some people’s part. I still think Roon sounds terrific and has the best interface. Anyone that thinks there’s a sonic penalty just needs a better server. I may also switch from Tidal to Qobuz shortly. I have no interest in Apple or Spotify.

Ken
 
Anyone who hasn’t compared Roon to TAS or Aurender or NAIM, really should. Hopefully some folks who have made this comparison based on sound, will chime in.

We have a Nucleus+ and a Taiko Extreme for running Roon. It sounds like HQP really can address some of the sonic shortcomings of Roon. I will definitely give it a try. Maybe by using HQP with Roon, you can have it all. [emoji6]
 
Mike said:
It sounds like HQP really can address some of the sonic shortcomings of Roon. I will definitely give it a try. Maybe by using HQP with Roon, you can have it all. [emoji6]
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

Now there’s a useful suggestion. After you’ve set up HQ Player with Roon, if you hear some sonic improvement, maybe you can show me how to do it.

Thanks,
Ken
 
Mike said:
….

We have a Nucleus+ and a Taiko Extreme for running Roon. It sounds like HQP really can address some of the sonic shortcomings of Roon. I will definitely give it a try. Maybe by using HQP with Roon, you can have it all. [emoji6]
Click to expand...

Would love to hear the outcome of that. Just beware that the Nucleus+ that you have is not going to be powerful enough to properly run HQP with the better filters. You will need a much more powerful computer to do that.
 
nicoff said:
Would love to hear the outcome of that. Just beware that the Nucleus+ that you have is not going to be powerful enough to properly run HQP with the better filters. You will need a much more powerful computer to do that.
Click to expand...

LinQ? Taiko? Or do I need to add a PC/Mac?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top