a remarkably basic question about Roon


I'm considering trying out Roon and, despite hours spent on their too-busy website, I'm still not entirely sure what it would do for me. (Trying to get through their "support" section is an exercise in misery all around.) 

Here's my clueless question. I currently stream music through a Bryston BDP. I use the Bryston software, "Manic Moose," on my laptop or phone to create playlists, move between digital sources (flash drive, Qobuz, radio), and as a remote control for volume, song choice, etc. The Bryston software isn't at all elegant but it's functional.

So, if I get Roon, would I be doing the same thing from the Roon app on my laptop or phone? Would I be completely bypassing "Manic Moose"? and doing everything on the Roon app, including such things as volume and song selection? I understand that Roon is an effective organizer of music from multiple sources; is it also a "media player?? (I have a traditional two-channel set-up and don't do multiple rooms.) The Manic Moose software is clunky enough that I'd consider swapping it out for Roon, if that's in fact what I would be doing. 

Thanks! 

northman

Generally speaking Roon is worthwhile. I like the articles on music and musicians, as well as the arrangement or curation of my library. They do have a lot of software glitches. If you have a big music library that is well organized on your MacBook or whatever I don’t consider Roon to be necessary. All in all, it is something of a luxury, but nice to have.

I held off on streaming fir a long time because I didnt know where to start.  Small Green Computer kept coming up and I called and talked to Andrew Gillis who has his own line of music servers / Roon cores and also sells the Sonore rendu products as end points.  He had me up and running in just a few days and provided great remote setup.  I use Roon / Tidal Masters and have never looked back.

I agree with whoever said, "what a great thread!" above. I'm a Roon user/lover too. My only regret is that I did not sign up for the lifetime subscription back when it was less expensive than it is now. Perusing the multiple contrasting opinions here, it is clear that there are as many variables that affect one's need and satisfaction with Roon or any other music player, as there are variables in audio systems themselves. My favorite thing about Roon is the quantity of metadata available and all the linked information for further exploration. I love most having an LP or CD cover in my hand and reading every word in the insert or on the back as I listen. Of course, no audio player really replaces that, but Roon comes closer than anything else I have ever found. It is not perfect - none of them are - but it is my favorite so far. I am a two-channel person only. I am not streaming Tidal or Qobuz. Rather, I am all digital. (Someday I'll add vinyl.) All of my music is ripped to external hard drive in lossless format. I have over 4Tb of music, the majority of it classical (for whoever above said Roon wasn't good for classical music???)  I have an M1 Mac Mini that is essentially my "music server." running to my Emotiva DAC (which doubles as a pre-amp.)  The MacMini is my Roon core and I have Roon Remote set up on a Macbook Pro, an iPad and on my iPhone. So far, I have never run out of things to explore when listening through Roon!

pweay we distribute quality dedicated servers, they far outperform a nuc.or a pc.

 

our servers run Roon and sound amazing.

 

with digital it is all about implimentation.

 

roon’s design has nothing to do with this "essentially a software attempt at making computer equipment perform high quality audio tasks, "

 

roon does nothing to eliminates a computers issues a device can just host the software.

 

the issue with a pc is emi and rfi and data pollution.

our 432 Evo servers totally isolate the audio data

 

we have a seperate low noise cpu board which runs a customized operating system

we have a seperate high quality clock board

we also have a very high quality usb board

even the linear power supplies are seperate and isolate the cpu, clock and usb sound cards

 

Dave and troy Audio intellect nj

US. importer 432 Evo music servers

 

 

 

in our servers all data is completely isolated so you can hear roon perform optimally

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roon is comfortably outstripped by Innuos Sense/2 and, although you’d not think so reading any forum about it, the interface is not for everybody. Roon may not feel like it but it’s user base is small and more and more manufacturers will be eventually do as Innuos have done squeezing it further. A lifetime membership is a luxury some can afford but fairly dumb otherwise. Not a lot of software lasts beyond a decade.