a remarkably basic question about Roon

Thank you, thyname. That confirms what I've been reading. One of the reasons that I find their website confusing is that they seem to have moved away from the "end point" language and now primarily talk about "apps" and "devices," using the term "Roon ready" to signify a device that can stream Roon.

I think that part of their logic is to cater to multi-room set-ups, which is fine, and to selling their Nucleus, but I personally find it easier to think about Roon as an organizing app that I download on my laptop that will interface with my streamer, either through the laptop or phone, and allow me to control my music. That makes sense to me!

By the way, they're running a three-month trial, so that's got me a bit more motivated!

And thank you as well, kr4. Very helpful! 

I'm sorry about the confusing term "media player." That's the term that Bryston uses for the part of its software program that selects songs, shows streaming rates, and controls volume. It's the face of the interface, if that makes sense. I don't have any video set up. 

That's exceptionally helpful, @jbuhl. I'm hoping to avoid the SGC bullet-bite, but I can certainly see why it's valuable. I have already added a mesh booster/node to hardwire the BDP, and it absolutely helps with dropouts. 

I'm going to sign up for Roon this evening and will enjoy playing with it over the holidays. I'll report if I can detect any difference in sq, and more likely I'll be back with questions! 

And @fuzztone: the part of me that has a job and a family and a million projects around the house; the part of me that has limited internet speed and isn’t interested in technology or flashy interfaces but just wants to listen to the music; the part of me that knows that these monthly subscriptions add up (e.g., the two music streaming services I use, the four or five video services, etc); and especially the part of me that doesn’t want to spend hours (which I don’t have) on something that I simply don’t need....

But I get your point and I AM going to give it a try. I suppose the worst that can happen is that I like it!

You've all been very helpful! I just signed up for Roon and had Qobuz playing happily within five minutes. It's too early for me to tell about sound quality but I can say that it's much *louder.* So either Roon miraculously doubled my amp's watts ... or my BDP volume was somehow set at a lower output. (I've been mulling a new amp for a year, so maybe Roon just saved me $$$$.) I still need to figure out how to control the volume but I'm sure that's manageable. And I will say that the interface is much more attractive than the BDP's MM. 

So, with all of two minutes of listening under my belt, I like it! 

And, seriously, thank you all for the support and encouragement. (A special shoutout to @jbuhl. By directing me to the "MM Dashboard Player" dropdown, you saved me a lot of time messing around.)

Enough, please.

Yours truly,

The OP

Thanks for asking. I haven't joined the fray here simply because I know so comparatively little about streaming technologies and equipment.That said, I've had Roon for about a week and I love it! I admit, though, that I may be like a man who has never seen a flower and is overwhelmed by the discovery of a dandelion. Perhaps there are orchids and birds of paradise up ahead.... 

Like others, I never understood why I should buy something that seems like just a nifty version of what I already own. For a few years now I annually have looked at the Roon website and found it bright and shiny--and not in a good way. So I'm quite surprised by how much I like it. Call me shallow but I love the easy interface that allows me to move easily between internet radio, my stored music files, and Qobuz.  (Yes, I KNOW--I could do all this before I got Roon. But it's so much nicer now!)

I can't yet respond to the big question: how does Roon affect sound quality, if at all. There are too many variables in play for me at the moment (in my system but also in my life). That's up ahead. 

I have a few quibbles, naturally, though I may just not yet understand all the features. While they talk the "audiophile" game, I wouldn't bet a nickel on their customer support. It looks to me like they put a lot of their energy into marketing some kind of bougie lifestyle. Blah. Still, I will report that I've already been emailing with Andrew at Small Green Computer, researching $$$ ethernet cables, pondering "bridges," and the like. Better and best, I've been listening to music. This may be the honeymoon period but I am enjoying it. (Ask me again in three months....)

Oh, and yes, plenty of queries, coming soon.