Roon….The Gordon Knot of concierge musical services?

First, it’s Gordian Knot. :)

I run Roon on a Linux box and it’s fairly solid. I’m not usually happy with their "upgrades" vs. bug fix choices, but the combination of DSP and more-or-less working search capabilities is pretty sweet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot

Roon is pretty cpu and resource intensive in general. Check the documentation for recommended specs running on each platform including windows.

I have noted that Roon seemed most resource intensive when I first ran the core and it had to analyze my ~1tb music library initially. Things settled a bit after that which took a few days. There are parms in system menu that allow you to throttle the library analysis if needed.

Now it runs pretty well. It does get hung and require a restart on occasion.

Use the windows system monitor to monitor cpu usage in particular. Roon can really run that hard. If any of memory cpu disk or network monitors stay pegged at 100% for periods of time you probably need a beefier PC. I will probably need up my PC for Roon eventually but it runs pretty well for now.

Read the docs. Use of dsp is another feature that can be resource intensive.

Running on Roon certified hardware like their nucleus is probably a good bet but perhaps just not the most cost effective way to go.

I also run Plex alongside Roon. Plexamp is a decent alternative to Roon that costs less but you get what you pay for in regards to overall sound quality and user experience. Plex is a great option for headphone listening especially remotely but otherwise Roon is much better.  Plex works with your music library and Tidal only and only up to CD resolution. 

My O.P. Stated I was smart enough TO NOT buy a lifetime membership in Roon,

Also the reference to Gordian Knot was a typo.  I used to have a tongue in cheek F.B. account under “Gordy N. Knott.  Canceled that when I got sick of all the scammers on Market Place.

Either way, thanks and I will continue to read and wait for the “Magic Bullet” that will immediately render Roon as user friendly………..

I don’t use Roon, but my understanding is that some streamers (which I also don’t use) have made the U.I. to include Roon like features. Heck, Apple Music has a lot of Roon like features.

  I don’t like Roon because like the OP, I found it to be a PITA with constant crashing, having to reboot, etc.  I would investigate the apps that go with streamers such as Aurender, Innous, and perhaps Audirvana loaded onto your PC.  You mind find they offer you enough of the Roon experience and perhaps less hassles 

I just put another CD into the player and hit "play".
Never fails.

All the best,
Nonoise