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Exploring Roon

cctaylor

cctaylor

pfm Member
There is quite a bit of discussion about Roon on PFM, having always wondered what all the fuss was about, I have started a trial.

The trigger was the purchase of a Cambridge Audio 851N Azur streamer which is a Roon end point.

Initial impressions are that the interface is more useful than either the native Qobuz app or the LMS setup I have been using. It is easy to set up different devices to play in sync. The amount of information on the screens allowing me to explore artists and connections looks to be very helpful. It also seems to be easier to access lyrics.

I'm running the Core on my laptop which works fine, it boots very quickly but for longer term use it will need to be plugged in and the power settings adjusted to keep it from going to sleep. Obviously a dedicated server might be useful if I make a long term commitment to Roon.
 
I now use an innuos but have used a Mac mini running headless as a core with no probs or there are several fanless nuc for about £600 with Roon rock installed.
 
I have discovered plenty of music through Roon, I do really enjoy the links between artists, reviews, albums.

I have a couple of RoPieee end points and the core running on a QNAP NAS.
 
cctaylor said:
There is quite a bit of discussion about Roon on PFM, having always wondered what all the fuss was about, I have started a trial.

The trigger was the purchase of a Cambridge Audio 851N Azur streamer which is a Roon end point.

Initial impressions are that the interface is more useful than either the native Qobuz app or the LMS setup I have been using. It is easy to set up different devices to play in sync. The amount of information on the screens allowing me to explore artists and connections looks to be very helpful. It also seems to be easier to access lyrics.

I'm running the Core on my laptop which works fine, it boots very quickly but for longer term use it will need to be plugged in and the power settings adjusted to keep it from going to sleep. Obviously a dedicated server might be useful if I make a long term commitment to Roon.
Click to expand...

I really don't like the Qobuz UI. It feels ugly and the suggestions for 'similar' music are laughable, actually laughable. Roon is simple, clean and from my experience good suggestions, with only a few missteps into the dreaded auto-tune territory...
 
I have considered Room a number of times but not made the jump. I only stream using Tidal and Quobuz HD services. I don't have a large stored music library.

Whilst I find Quobuz's interface adequate but it's suggestion AI seriously wanting I am reasonably happy with Tidals native app. All through Chromecast.

Not sure I can justify Roon and the required additional hardware for the above (I wouldn't want to use my MB Pro).
 
Seems many LMS users haven't discovered the artist info plugin with lyrics, album review, artist bio and suggested similar artists (from Allmusic.com?). Seems they haven't discovered the seamless integration of online streaming services where for instance Tidal favourites are played randomly together with the local files. Great. LMS also has DSP/EQ and work is done to make it user-friendlier. The UPnP plugin works fine, too. And the support is very good. All for free.
 
I'm on a two week free trial at the moment. I should have waited for the Black Friday deal !

I don't have a streaming service, so it just pulls things off the NAS. I find it very frustrating when browsing to find something to play, but that's probably my fault. The NAS has everything stored in separate files by composer and work, and ripped CDs were separated into individual works. The upshot is that the Album page is very cluttered, with multiple offerings of the same CD cover picture, but each with a different piece. Scrolling goes on for ever ! So, browsing is done with CD / LP or direct access to the NAS file structure.

If you know what you want to listen to, though, the search function is good enough, and I like Roon radio when you just want background music whilst eating or otherwise being busy, and it's good way of rediscovering music I'd forgotten about.

I pay during the winter months, but with the better weather, we're mostly in the garden, so the subscription stops until the late autumn. I'll wait for Black Friday next year !
 
eisenach said:
I'm on a two week free trial at the moment. I should have waited for the Black Friday deal !

I don't have a streaming service, so it just pulls things off the NAS. I find it very frustrating when browsing to find something to play, but that's probably my fault. The NAS has everything stored in separate files by composer and work, and ripped CDs were separated into individual works. The upshot is that the Album page is very cluttered, with multiple offerings of the same CD cover picture, but each with a different piece. Scrolling goes on for ever ! So, browsing is done with CD / LP or direct access to the NAS file structure.

If you know what you want to listen to, though, the search function is good enough, and I like Roon radio when you just want background music whilst eating or otherwise being busy, and it's good way of rediscovering music I'd forgotten about.

I pay during the winter months, but with the better weather, we're mostly in the garden, so the subscription stops until the late autumn. I'll wait for Black Friday next year !
Click to expand...
If only had my own rips I’d probably find Roon as irksome as you do for the same reasons. J River was much better for managing my own rips. But when I got into Qobuz I needed a player that combined my own rips and my choices from Qobuz into a single library, and had a good search, and Roon gives me that. It is now pretty good with classical and has the concept of composition built in so you don’t need to split your stuff up as you have. And the album/artist/composer info is very good - I’ve found lots of good stuff. Perhaps you should try Qobuz too and see which is worth spending your dosh on. 3 months of Qobuz won’t break the bank, and you’ll have thousands of cds to discover and enjoy over the winter months!
 
I have thought about giving it a go but I mainly listen to my own rips, I don’t have Qobuz but do use Spotify a fair bit. Annoying thing about Innuos is that Spotify is not native you have to go through Connect.
 
Zombie said:
Seems many LMS users haven't discovered the artist info plugin with lyrics, album review, artist bio and suggested similar artists (from Allmusic.com?). Seems they haven't discovered the seamless integration of online streaming services where for instance Tidal favourites are played randomly together with the local files. Great. LMS also has DSP/EQ and work is done to make it user-friendlier. The UPnP plugin works fine, too. And the support is very good. All for free.
Click to expand...
Interestingly I haven't. I used to use LMS. I shall have to investigate.
 
chiily said:
Interestingly I haven't. I used to use LMS. I shall have to investigate.
Click to expand...
Works best with the Material skin that can double as an app as well, just press the "i" button.
What's also neat is you can add a track, album and/or artist on a streaming service (Tidal in my case) while playing it to the favourites on the streaming service directly in LMS.
 
Along with the advantages of a good library management system and integration of my own CD rips and Qobuz, Roon provides an easy way to introduce convolution filters into the signal path. I have recently bought filters from Home Audio Fidelity https://www.homeaudiofidelity.com/ which have made a real difference to the sound of my system and my enjoyment. I didn’t want to start playing with Roon’s DSP controls or with REW (it took me ages to position my speakers optimally never mind have lots of other variables to control) so I took the HAF route.
In conjunction with a streaming service Roon playlists and Roon Radio are easy ways to find new music similar to your preferred artists. I’ve listened to tons music that I would have otherwise never have listened to.
 
Woodface said:
Annoying thing about Innuos is that Spotify is not native you have to go through Connect.
Click to expand...
Maybe if Spotify finally delivered on their promise of 'lossless' that would change?
The fact is that both Tidal and/or Qobuz integrate seamlessly into a single library with the Sense app - and it's free.
 
Billsie said:
Along with the advantages of a good library management system and integration of my own CD rips and Qobuz, Roon provides an easy way to introduce convolution filters into the signal path. I have recently bought filters from Home Audio Fidelity https://www.homeaudiofidelity.com/ which have made a real difference to the sound of my system and my enjoyment. I didn’t want to start playing with Roon’s DSP controls or with REW (it took me ages to position my speakers optimally never mind have lots of other variables to control) so I took the HAF route.
In conjunction with a streaming service Roon playlists and Roon Radio are easy ways to find new music similar to your preferred artists. I’ve listened to tons music that I would have otherwise never have listened to.
Click to expand...
How do they create their filters, does someone come to your home to measure?
Keith
 
No, one has to make recordings of the test signal using the downloaded tool and then send the generated file off to Thierry (Monsieur HAF) who then sends a link to the filters on Google Drive.
 
Just beginning with Roon, here. It's default metadata is not too shabby, but it does throw up weird stuff, some editing is required/
 
Roon is great, I need to get a new core, so I think k I’ve settled on getting a Mac Mini M1, I will have it connected to my main TV, and I prefer the on screen display from a conputer rather than a firestick. If any Roon experts would like to offer advice it’s appreciate it!!

what video output does a Newcleus have? …. Although Roon really annoy me, as all of their Neucleus offers are USA only!!. :(
 
Hi Keith
I’ve never really looked into REW in any detail. The very thought of it scared me off. I’d assumed that there was a certain expertise needed to interpret the measurements and implement the filters. There must me some facility to adjust the results, as I’m sure the filters REW initially generates don’t always sound fantastic and I’m guessing it’s that adjustment that takes the skill / experience to get optimal results. I’m sure you’re an expert in REW Keith and can easily make the adjustments and optimise the sound and are selling yourself short by saying that anyone with no experience of REW can get great results.
Regards
Steve
 
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