Roon ? Is it worth it?*

Foobar isn't a very good comparison to Roon to begin with. Roon is really closer to a DLNA server/client arrangement then a traditional music library/player program. Roon solves a lot problems that people have in the arena of having a very well organized whole-house digital music solution. People looking to use it exactly the way they would Foobar or iTunes might not be the target audience.

 

I, too, am among the group that claims Roon has changed the way I interact with my music.

I had no problem getting the software to perform on my mac mini. I ripped all my CDs (about 1500, I guess) to flac. And I found a quality vendor who has ripped nearly 200 SACDs, DVD-As to computer files. Yes, the process is legal.

I playback my 5.1 files through HDMI to Roon to my pre/pro with excellent results. My 2.0 files I play through USB-B to Roon, again to my pre/pro (sounds as good or better than through a Bifrost Mulitbit). The Schitt DAC, though excellent, will be for sale soon.

Tidal ($11.99 a month with a veteran's discount) delivers excellent MQA and 44/16. I am impressed with Roon's ability to seamlessly integrate Tidal files into my library as if I own them, instead of renting.

I can't imagine I will ever make a different choice. I am, since last April, playing more music than ever at home and enjoying it more.

Even my wife, who puts up with my sonic nonsense, is a fan.

 

Remote streaming is something I'd really, really like out of Roon as that would completely close the loop - I'd never have to leave the Roon environment for digital music ever.

I wouldn't say Roon isn't un-tweakable; things that are actually aspects of the software can be adjusted as needed. Streaming outside the local network isn't an advertised feature, so that would be more of a hack then a tweak.

The way it plays with networks is one of my complaints. I had to basically replace all of my network infrastructure because Roon seems to treat CD quality audio like its 4K video in that there can be dropouts if things aren't perfect. I've definitely benefitted in other ways by modernizing my setup, but I have to point out Sonos never had any problems with my old network setup.

 

Maybe If I felt I could add credit info the many titles that

Its Not the Learning curve ,it means a lot of work for my stuff ,because each of these companies has there own way of doing things ,How about just reading the lp title ? then worry about the tracks I can see spending weeks fixing things ,Simple enough changing art work for one title ,why should I have to do it ,it should know what the original cover of the lp looks like ,some come up fake covers when in my folder is the proper cover
the import menu when you start up is simply poorly designed if you want to do anything other then pick your music file on your computers hard drive ,

 

Speaking of Video, that's something which Roon also doesn't do, which is a big con for a videophile like me.

 

do you get phone support

 

This is Roon's import settings screen. Note how easily the OP's complaints can be addressed by changing Artwork/etc to "prefer file" with one mouse click.

 

.....when it works.

 

Never needed phone support, as I've only had one questions since I began using it. The Roon Community forum is great and provides a wealth of knowledge.

 

I actually think it does a good job. I don't know how a transition from Sinatra to Montrose works, but it does.

 

wish I could say the same ,fooling around took me a while to get it working I could have saved some time if the web page was better or that almost Useless Community page which you could spend hours trying to find your one problem
Maybe Phone or email support is there if you pay up This is like one of those big receivers ,with every feature under the sun

 

Thanks but I had bigger problems to solve before I even found that menu! ,Like getting it to read just the folder I wanted ,Like I said I finally got this fixed ,but with no help or guide ,it took a few tries,I can see people
giving up ,My Bluesound app has to do the same thing ,find the Music file ,and the only music file I want it too,But that's very clear and easy to figure out ,and of course if you have a problem they have great phone support

 

this is a perfectly reasonable answer to my post. It seems like some people are using it as a player on a computer with a connected DAC. That is what I would question why pay for it as opposed to using foobar. nb for in-house streaming i use lms as I still have a bunch of squeezebox devices. logitech really goofed up on that product line, imo.

 

Second best.

 

No experience with the full, but the "lite" version called Roon Essentials included with my Elac Discovery music server works great-I love it.

 

The way it integrates with Tidal and pulls in other albums based on what's already in you collection is quite nice too. Pretty much everything it pulled in was stuff I own on LP already.

And compared to Foobar (which I used for years), it's a breeze to setup. I only had to help it regcognize three albums out of 1100+.

 

The FAQ and User Guide isn't available to you?

Roon Labs: Support

 

I had a hard time finding my problem ,I tried those ,and even email I had to fix it myself
Getting over that ,it seems pretty easy to Operate , They should have used some of the their funds and paid DISCOGS for their much Bigger better database ,I don't care to see reviews by ALL Music guide , I have the Book
Many lps come up with unidentified ,they cant have everything I know

 

The idea that the music reviews and agreement with them is such a sticking point here is kind of amazing. It never occurred to me to bring up with Roon that their reviews claim Harvest Moon is better then Harvest, but you know what? I shouldn't take that laying down.

 

every time I play Holland I have to see that stupid review These people's star reviews are all over Roon

 

I’ve had Roon for about 6 months on a one year deal. I don’t think I’ve optimized it and I probably need to try to get it off of my computer and onto my nas, but it works well enough that I will probably renew for another year. As far as I can tell streaming on Roon is limited to only Tidal, so I don’t think I’d do a longer term deal because if Tidal ever ceases to exist Roon will lose a significant amount of it’s value.

 

How about “I paid like $130 for a finicky piece of ****.” Better?

 

I switched over to Roon recently after being an iTunes user since the original release. I love it. Once you get used to the way it works, and optimize it for what you want to see, it’s really great.

In my case, it caused me to re-organize my entire digital library one album at a time after I learned what it was capable of. It’s all good though - I am at the point now where the reorg made sense anyways, and the way I am doing it would still benefit me a lot if Roonwent away tomorrow.