VT Skier
New member
Let's divide this between software and hardware, especially for those of you running Roon on "NUC"s and other machines.
For software, I think Roon seems to work fairly well, and it sounds very good when it is working well. And Roon support is also, generally, pretty good, if you don't mind waiting hours for answers, or even overnight, as is typical in the software world.
For hardware, I have a Nucleus Plus, and I call it the "Trabant". It stops playing multiple times each day, and often disappears completely from my network. All other network devices function normally. Without issue. All are brand new, including the Trabant. When it disappears, sometimes it reappears when I turn it off/on, but sometimes not. Then it reappears hours, or a day later. Rebooting the router and other devices makes no difference.
Hardware support, for this $3,100 product (including the software subscription), is the same as for the software -- meaning you post your issue on the Roon forum, and then wait for hours, or up to a day to see if someone responds with anything helpful. For me, this has been going on since my purchase, over four months now.
In their "warranty", Roon only offers an email address for customers requesting service: no phone number, and no mailing or physical address. When I email the provided address, and request an RMA, describing my long-standing problems, I get a response telling me to post on their forum. And I have been told, multiple times, that they offer no phone support. My RMA request has been ignored. Multiple times.
So, basically, they won't take back their machine for service, but expect me to pick up a wrench and fix my own car. Sadly, I'm no mechanic. And if that's the deal, fine, but state that up front so the buyer can beware.
Contrast this with an Aurender I purchased from Mike years ago. That also had a problem in the beginning, and Aurender immediately contacted me, sent me an RMA, paid shipping both ways, fixed the problem, and my X100L has worked flawlessly ever since. Flawlessly. Day after day for over six years now.
My Roon Trabant has never worked flawlessly for three days in a row.
My advice to anyone considering Roon: get the software, run it on any hardware other than something Roon offers. Or buy it directly from Roon so that you can ship it back to them and dispute the charge with your credit card company when it doesn't work properly. I bought it from a dealer I know well and like, and now he's stuck in the middle.
Well, not stuck in the middle, but he graciously offered to get involved when I recently told him about my problems. Thanks again Mike. I didn't want to burden him because none of this is his fault.
From now on, I will look closely at the warranty terms for any product I buy in this hobby. If there's no phone number, I'll get something else. And you should too.
For software, I think Roon seems to work fairly well, and it sounds very good when it is working well. And Roon support is also, generally, pretty good, if you don't mind waiting hours for answers, or even overnight, as is typical in the software world.
For hardware, I have a Nucleus Plus, and I call it the "Trabant". It stops playing multiple times each day, and often disappears completely from my network. All other network devices function normally. Without issue. All are brand new, including the Trabant. When it disappears, sometimes it reappears when I turn it off/on, but sometimes not. Then it reappears hours, or a day later. Rebooting the router and other devices makes no difference.
Hardware support, for this $3,100 product (including the software subscription), is the same as for the software -- meaning you post your issue on the Roon forum, and then wait for hours, or up to a day to see if someone responds with anything helpful. For me, this has been going on since my purchase, over four months now.
In their "warranty", Roon only offers an email address for customers requesting service: no phone number, and no mailing or physical address. When I email the provided address, and request an RMA, describing my long-standing problems, I get a response telling me to post on their forum. And I have been told, multiple times, that they offer no phone support. My RMA request has been ignored. Multiple times.
So, basically, they won't take back their machine for service, but expect me to pick up a wrench and fix my own car. Sadly, I'm no mechanic. And if that's the deal, fine, but state that up front so the buyer can beware.
Contrast this with an Aurender I purchased from Mike years ago. That also had a problem in the beginning, and Aurender immediately contacted me, sent me an RMA, paid shipping both ways, fixed the problem, and my X100L has worked flawlessly ever since. Flawlessly. Day after day for over six years now.
My Roon Trabant has never worked flawlessly for three days in a row.
My advice to anyone considering Roon: get the software, run it on any hardware other than something Roon offers. Or buy it directly from Roon so that you can ship it back to them and dispute the charge with your credit card company when it doesn't work properly. I bought it from a dealer I know well and like, and now he's stuck in the middle.
Well, not stuck in the middle, but he graciously offered to get involved when I recently told him about my problems. Thanks again Mike. I didn't want to burden him because none of this is his fault.
From now on, I will look closely at the warranty terms for any product I buy in this hobby. If there's no phone number, I'll get something else. And you should too.
