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Spotify and Roon

Whaleblue

Whaleblue

Southbound
I occasionally look to see if there’s any progress on this, and came across a (now closed) thread on the Roon forum.

The final response was:

“Roon can play over many different protocols which allows it to work across a wide range of products. AirPlay is just one of these. Roon has its own streaming protocol called RAAT which is lossless and supports the highest pcm and DSD and MQA it’s what devices that are called Roon Ready use. Roon provided their own lightweight Roon bridge software to allow playback via this on computers. It can be installed on windows, Mac, and Linux. I suggest you read up on Roon from the knowledge base. This is accessible from the support section in the app. If you’re using Volumio Roon bridge can be installed on it.”

What does this actually mean??

I currently have two options for running Roon, either as an app on Windows 11, or on a NUC as the Rock install.

I then use my iPhone’s Roon app to play stuff.

Does anyone know what the above quoted text actually means? What can be achieved in the Roon/Spotify space?

Thanks for any advice.
 
If you mean is Spotify integrated into Roon in the same way Qobuz and Tidal are, then the answer is no.
 
Roon cannot access Spotify. End.

Roon bridge can turn a spare bit of hardware into a streamer if you want mutliple zones around the house. I don't - so Roon core sits on an old Mac Mini and a USB Dac then directs music to the Hifi Amp. Control from a laptop or a phone or a tablet.

Roon allows integrated access to Tidal and Qobuz only. Within Roon you just apply your existing user details and it links up. No such access for any other services apart from Internet radio. So no Apple music, Spotify, Amazon Music, BBC Sounds and so on.
 
Tidal and Qobuz work with Roon because they are prepared to allow it, and make the API available to Roon and others should they wish to integrate it. Spotify have never done this for anyone else, so it’s a pretty safe bet that they won’t do it for Roon. Spotify Connect from their own app, or via Airplay/Chromecast/Bluetooth, is the only available option
 
Thanks chaps, that’s what I’d always understood, but wondered if the quoted reply was some sort of cludgy workaround to allow Spotify to be used with Roon in some fashion.

Oh well!
 
Whaleblue said:
Does anyone know what the above quoted text actually means? What can be achieved in the Roon/Spotify space?
Click to expand...

It has to do with getting music from your Roon server to whatever endpoint devices you use. These can be the Roon server itself, Roon Ready streamers, AirPlay, Chromecast Audio and Sonos devices or computers running Roon Bridge software. None of this really has anything to do with Spotify integration.

Roon integrates with Qobuz and TIDAL, both of which offer lossless music streaming. Spotify currently only offers lossy streaming, but they have announced that they are working on a lossless service. Even if Spotify does add a lossless service tier in future, I doubt that we will see Spotify integrated with Roon anytime soon. For several years now, Spotify has been steering its partners towards integration via their Spotify Connect technology, with music selection and playback control carried out in Spotify's own app. This is at odds with Roon's strategy, where music from various sources is presented via the Roon app.
 
Whaleblue said:
Thanks chaps, that’s what I’d always understood, but wondered if the quoted reply was some sort of cludgy workaround to allow Spotify to be used with Roon in some fashion.

Oh well!
Click to expand...

Whilst Spotify is not integrated directly in to Roon, it can be played via Airplay using a Roon Ready end point that is Airplay capable. Airplay on that device needs to be enabled, in the same way as any other device. This is simply done via the Roon Remote app.
 
The settings in the Roon app control whether or not Roon is allowed to send music to a particular device via AirPlay. This does not turn AirPlay on or off on the device itself and does not affect Spotify’s ability to use AirPlay with that same device. An AirPlay device does not have to be Roon Ready in order to work with Roon.

The purpose of Roon's AirPlay support is to broaden Roon's reach to include devices which are not certified Roon Ready. Some devices are both Roon Ready and support AirPlay, in which case they will show up twice in Roon's audio settings page, once as an AirPlay device and once as a Roon Ready device. You can choose to enable one, the other or both options as Roon endpoints, but in pretty much every case it is best just to choose the Roon Ready option.
 
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Thanks chaps. The key for me is that Spotify isn’t in any way controllable within Roon. Not surprised, but had had hopes!
 
evand said:
Users coding plugins trying to make Roon something more than lipstick on a streaming service.
Click to expand...

This looks like an interesting extension. I would argue that Roon is already much more than just lipstick, but if you do not need the extra features then there are plenty of alternatives available.
 
Strictly Stereo said:
This looks like an interesting extension. I would argue that Roon is already much more than just lipstick, but if you do not need the extra features then there are plenty of alternatives available.
Click to expand...

Have had a lifetime license since 2015. Shut down the server months ago and haven’t looked back. Don’t miss the bugs or the bullshit. LMS with Material skin gives me the same experience without any of the bugs, hassle and arrogance.
 
Tried Roon but it couldn't mix my local tracks with my favourites on Tidal while playing random mode nor show the albums in My music. Uninstalled and continued using LMS.
 
evand said:
Have had a lifetime license since 2015. Shut down the server months ago and haven’t looked back. Don’t miss the bugs or the bullshit. LMS with Material skin gives me the same experience without any of the bugs, hassle and arrogance.
Click to expand...

Gosh, they really have p1ssed you off Evan, haven’t they?

the Roon forum has fallen off my radar and my expectations somewhat lowered but Roon is still very much front and centre of my home audio universe.

.sjb
 
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