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Roon, tell me about it

manicatel

pfm Member
I've had a very brief look at Roon ( in conjunction with an Innuos mini) & I’m aware of the costs.
At first glance it Looks good & seemed to be pretty slick.
Any users here?
Presently I’m Using a MacMini with Audirvana+.
Does Roon have any sound quality benefits or is it all about the visual presentation & sleeve note info etc.
I’ve recently tried twice to upgrade to the latest version of AV+ & it just messes up my library, with several albums missing & also duplicates or others created with just 3 or 4 tracks on it.
So maybe it’s time for a change?
What’s the opinion on here?
 
I signed up to Roon when Qobuz was integrated into it. Before that I used Audirvana, since installing Roon I haven’t used Audirvana. The main advantage is the way it handles meta-data, though you can upsample and convert on the fly to DSD if your DAC supports it. I use Roon with HQPlayer and that supports similar filtering etc to Audirvana.

Overall I’ve been very pleased with it. It does sometimes get the meta data wrong, but you can correct that manually, and it doesn’t do anything with the underlying files.
 
I’ve been using it for about 3 weeks. I use it with an Innuos Zenith II (soon to be III), and Qobuz.

Indexed about 1100 Cds using the Innuos software. I love the usability of it. I don’t think it has any sq benefits, but we tried Roon radio today (whilst decorating), and it threw up some very interesting music.

I’ll be paying for the lifetime license once the trial period expires.
 
With Roon you need to have the media stored in a 'core', is that correct? I will probably have to consider this at some point but the thought of loading a 1000cds fills me with dread.
 
With Roon you need to have the media stored in a 'core', is that correct? I will probably have to consider this at some point but the thought of loading a 1000cds fills me with dread.
No, your player is the core, your files can be anywhere on the Network (preferably a NAS)
 
With Roon you need to have the media stored in a 'core', is that correct? I will probably have to consider this at some point but the thought of loading a 1000cds fills me with dread.

The way I run it all my music files are on a Mac Mini. I have the Roon server installed on that. I then control Roon using the iOS app. My DAC is attached to the Mac Mini via usb, and the sound plays through the DAC. You can also send the music from Roon to any Roon enabled hardware, so if I wanted I could send Roon to my Apple TV or surround sound receiver.
 
Sorry, the core is where you install the software, in my case my PC upstairs, my files are on a NAS connected to my router
 
It’s best to have Core running on a pc on your network while say a streamer or dac is the front end- that’s what’s recommended for best sound quality by Roon, and I have to say I concur. Store your music on a NAS. You can use the pc with Core on it as the fro t end also though.

Been using Roon for a couple of years now along with Tidal, best sounding digital I’ve had to date
 
With Roon you need to have the media stored in a 'core', is that correct? I will probably have to consider this at some point but the thought of loading a 1000cds fills me with dread.

Roon comes in three parts. There is a Roon Core server which indexes music and optionally carries out additional processing (resampling, EQ, DSD conversion etc). There is at least endpoint which outputs the audio. Finally, there is a controller which allows you to select what music you want to play, which endpoint to use, volume and other settings. These components can all run on the same device, depending on the device, or they can be distributed across multiple devices. The music can be stored on the Roon Core server or on network attached storage.
 
I’ve been using Roon for a few months and am delighted with it. It’s real power for me is that it integrates my own rips and my Qobuz favourites into the same library - Audirvana, which I’ve also tried, keeps them separate which is nowhere near as useful. You get lots of interesting artist bios, album reviews, and links between things which can make discovering both stuff you've forgotten about and stuff you never knew about enjoyable. If you have tagged your collection in idiosyncratic, pernickety ways you won’t like it, if you use folder browsing you definitely won’t like it, and if you don’t have Qobuz or Tidal you might not see the point. Although there are technically three bits, there’s nothing whatsoever stopping you from installing and using it on one machine just like you do with Audirvana. But down the road as your system evolves you will have the option of having a Roon core running on a mac or pc sending stuff to Roon endpoint enabled products.
 
It all feels rather intimidating

There's definitely more capability there than you get with most other streaming platforms, but it is pretty easy to get the basic features up and running. There is also plenty of quality documentation and Roon has a network of partners who can help you out. I'm one of those partners. If you'd like some help getting started, please just give me a call.
 
I’ve been using Roon for a few months and am delighted with it.

I'm going to chalk that up as the second thing we have actually managed to agree on. One more and you get a free Strictly Stereo t-shirt (limited edition 180g re-issue).
 
It isn’t. Just install Roon on the Mac that you have Audirvana on and point it to the folder where you have your music. Think of it as Roon replacing Audirvana.

+1. It’s pretty straightforward, and good fun. It makes A+ look pretty clunky.
 
It's a fun and informative browsing experience, but I'drather focus on listening to music.

I (tag and) browse with iTunes, then drag-drop into HQ Player which to my ears is the best music player for Mac OS.

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A possibly unique feature of Roon, and important if you are into classical music, is that it has the concept of a composition, as in Beethoven Piano Concerto Number 5, Bach St Mathew Passion, etc. This is very useful, especially in conjunction with Qobuz.
 


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