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Roon, tell me about it

JemHayward said:
I'm currently using the Logitech Squeezebox architecture, which enjoys a lot of 'community' support and is open source, so there are plenty of third party plugins available to add features. However the basic structure is long in the tooth, so I decided to try Roon on a free trial. What I like is the fact it integrates mu local music with Tidal, and the searching of both together is really useful. Extra data is interesting on occasion, but I've never been one for reading sleeve notes and don't actually know the song titles on many of my favourite albums, so I think I really just want to listen to the music.
Two major issues with Roon, for me:
1. It doesn't offer an integrated plug-in for Radio Paradise, offering FLAC and the different mix streams - the Squeezebox plug in does this really well and RP is possibly 30% of our listening.
2. No alarm clock / sleep facility - my bedroom Squeezebox wakes us gently to Radio 4 weekdays and Radio Paradise at the weekend, and when we go to bed, we ask it to 'sleep' in 45 minutes and finish listening to our evening playlist as we drift off.

Neither of these are core hifi facilities, but they are how our life works. I'm wondering if I could run Roon and LMS together, but not yet tried that. LMS is free and well supported, Roon costs quite a lot of money, so I feel LMS may be the winner.
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Funnily enough im listening to Radio Paradise on Roon right now. Do you really consider those major issues? Cant you just add a different preset into the radio section for each stream you want?
 
JemHayward said:
1. It doesn't offer an integrated plug-in for Radio Paradise, offering FLAC and the different mix streams - the Squeezebox plug in does this really well and RP is possibly 30% of our listening.
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There's an 'internet radio' section in Roon. You just need to add the RP URL - sorry I'm not at home at the moment so can't tell you what it is.
 
I think all this available content & software is amazing but it just doesn't have the same appeal to me as playing a record or a CD. I know I am a bit of a luddite but thoughts of all the tech support needed fills me with dread.
 
Woodface said:
I think all this available content & software is amazing but it just doesn't have the same appeal to me as playing a record or a CD. I know I am a bit of a luddite but thoughts of all the tech support needed fills me with dread.
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I know I've got an LP of The Wall, but I can't find it. So the appeal of playing the LP is rather reduced <grin>.
 
JemHayward said:
If I get Roon to see my Squeezebox, and then switch LMS back on - what would happen? (not at home to try it!)
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Roon has a SB server emulation built in that you can optionally activate, but you can't have LMS running together with it and use your SBs. One or the other. Ive tried it, they aren't kidding when they say you can't do both.
Roon works fine to the SBs, but you can't run anything but the more basic features on your SB units if they are connected to your Roon server - no plugins and no SB alarm clock.
You can add various Radio Paradise streaming addresses to the regular Roon Internet radio function, however.
 
Trialling Roon atm.
Yes, its very slick indeed. So easy to install & use (which is important for a computer numpty like me). Impressive.
Makes Audirvana etc look amateur.
Sounds excellent as well & you have the option to delve into Parametric EQ &/or DSP if you feel the need. EQ settings are better/easier to use than with AV+.
My main question still holds though, in that the BIG plus points revolve around the visuals & info on screen as opposed to the SQ. It's a lot to pay for the "visual info side" of music. Once I've decided what to listen to, I'm not one for continually looking at a screen for lyrics, other suggestions etc.
However, having said that, I am impressed with it.
It will be interesting to see how I feel when I switch back to AV+ in 14 days time, to see how much of Roon I miss. Only then will I be able to judge whether the $$$ is worth it or not.
 
manicatel said:
Trialling Roon atm.
Yes, its very slick indeed. So easy to install & use (which is important for a computer numpty like me). Impressive.
Makes Audirvana etc look amateur.
Sounds excellent as well & you have the option to delve into Parametric EQ &/or DSP if you feel the need. EQ settings are better/easier to use than with AV+.
My main question still holds though, in that the BIG plus points revolve around the visuals & info on screen as opposed to the SQ. It's a lot to pay for the "visual info side" of music. Once I've decided what to listen to, I'm not one for continually looking at a screen for lyrics, other suggestions etc.
However, having said that, I am impressed with it.
It will be interesting to see how I feel when I switch back to AV+ in 14 days time, to see how much of Roon I miss. Only then will I be able to judge whether the $$$ is worth it or not.
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I would look at spending my money on a streaming service like Qobuz first, and then Roon. I have both; I certainly wouldn’t bother with Roon if it was just for managing my own music.

As far as SQ is concerned, I’d be very surprised if there was any difference between Roon and A+ on the same machine. I certainly didn’t hear any changes when I moved from J River.
 
In the context of the systems we buy in the PFM community, do you guys really think £400 is alot to pay for your front end interface?
 
You can't play a CD without a CD player, and the intrinsic value of a £400 CD player is readily apparent.

The intrinsic value of a piece of software is rather less apparent. Since you can stream and play stored files perfectly well without Roon... yes, £400 seems a lot to pay for it.
 
AndyU said:
I would look at spending my money on a streaming service like Qobuz first, and then Roon. I have both; I certainly wouldn’t bother with Roon if it was just for managing my own music.
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I already have Tidal hifi quality service, so my digital music comes from Tidal &/or my iTunes library which is on my macmini ripped lossless.
Whilst £400 isn’t an earth shattering amount relative to some of the other stuff audiophiles pay for, compared to other software such as audirvana, amarra, or just using iTunes, it’s a lot of £££ for something which doesn’t have SQ as it’s primary goal.
 
Just sat here listening to some stuff via Qobuz and Roon, via Innuos Zenith II via an Onkyo Av Reciever/AirPlay into LS6/f speakers.

Daft sq for the cost. I’ll bee keeping my Room, and I like it’s usability. But as I’ve said before - each to their own and yes u can argue either way.
 
manicatel said:
Whilst £400 isn’t an earth shattering amount relative to some of the other stuff audiophiles pay for, compared to other software such as audirvana, amarra, or just using iTunes, it’s a lot of £££ for something which doesn’t have SQ as it’s primary goal.
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I think you're fooling yourself there.... SQ is their primary concern, they have just also added the best frontend - it's a win-win bit of software. No need to try and find fault, they've simply made the best player by a country mile...
 
Cereal Killer said:
I think you're fooling yourself there.... SQ is their primary concern, they have just also added the best frontend - it's a win-win bit of software. they've simply made the best player by a country mile...
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I do agree that the SQ is excellent. Up there with AV+ in what I’ve heard so far on the small time I’ve had to play with it.
However, the advertising, promotional material & advocates seem to mostly highlight the visual aspect rather than prioritise the SQ & then secondarily praise the visuals.
I’ve read far more positives about its interface than I have people saying “wow it’s so much better sounding than AV+ or Amarra, Pure Music et al”.
My reason for starting the thread was mainly to learn about the SQ benefits, & also to read feedback from satisfied users. I’ve started the trial period & so far I’m impressed in pretty much every area. It’s undoubtedly a very well thought out system.
I’m just grappling with whether the SQ is a step up from AV+ which I’ve been using for years & is a quarter of the cost. 13 days left to decide!
 
I bought the lifetime version its £400.
Once you have it setup properly and subscribe to qobuz it's pretty much on the money.. Nothing i can criticize it for TBH, and I'm proper OCD with my metadata. The SQ is is the best I've ever had. I've tried to better it but in my current system i can't. The amps internal UPnP streamer sounds identical, so I'm done with trying.

I currently have roon installed on my QNAP NAS (which is in the media unit to the right of the amp) and is wired to amps internal DAC via USB, and controlled via an iPad.
No streamer required this way, but it's cool to have the UPnP option to compare the in/outputs :)
 
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