Why would I need Roon?

Benefits of Roon:

1. Let’s you mix your collection of personal files with hi-res streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz
   
2. Let’s you transcode / upsample music from streaming services  (for me transcoding to DSD has sonic benefits)
3. Roon Radio will basically give you lossless Pandora
4. Lots of streaming endpoint clients
5. MQA decoding in software if your DAC doesn’t support it natively

I got Roons Core running on and SGC Sonic Transport with a Bryston BDP pi endpoint.  Solid setup. But the Bryston Pi MPD SQ beats the paints off Roons.  Both stream Qobuz and playing Radio Paradise FLAC.  Paid for a years subscription of The Roons and if I can't find a tweak or RoonLabs dont come up with an enhancement I am for sure not renewing my subscription. Might still hang on to the ST cause I can play around with BubbleUpnp.

@pratorious  BubbleUPnP will do that for $5.  Or free, if you don't mind some ads.

It has sort of been mentioned here but I want to make it clear what I think is the greatest advantage of Roon is that it is ONE consistent library/interface for ALL of your music whether from streaming services or files on your hard drive or rips in your streamer.

Then... controlling/playing to multiple zones (roon endpoints) in sync.

The Node2i works as a Roon endpoint, so no need to get ride of it. 

You will need some device to run Roon core if you decide to go that way. This can run on a Mac/PC on the same network, or a dedicated music server. I use a dedicated Intel NUC running Roon ROCK (which is Roon's optimized custom operating system), but this isn't required. 

For me, the strengths of Roon are:

Excellent user interface with lots of great content about artists, albums, etc.

Integrating content from multiple sources including my own music library (about 1500 CDs), Tidal, and Qobuz. 

Ability to control and synchronize music playing in multiple zones. I have five zones in my house. Most of the time, I'm playing the same music, but sometimes my wife wants to listen to something different in her office.

Excellent sound quality with DSP processing for upsampling and equalization. I use the upsampling in my main system, and occasionally use equalization, particularly for older recordings that need a little help.

After using for a year, I bought the lifetime subscription. Probably the best value for the dollar of anything I've purchased for my music system. 

@djones. Good to know. I only recently bought the Node so I’m feeling squeamish about ditching it yet. 

Ok...finding new music...I hadn’t thought I needed that, but an interesting angle. Information on tracks is a an important plus.

I don't know that you need roon but the reason I got roon was the user interface and sound quality. In my subjective opinion as I never tested blind is roon has better sound quality over my Node2i, both with my ripped CDs and Quboz. I like the user interface a lot better and the fact with roon I don't really need a dedicated streamer. I let the core handle the streaming and use a roon bridge with RAAT to connect to my DAC. The DAC controls the clock of the stream and IMO gives me a nice simple solution with excellent SQ. 

You can get a 30 day free trial. Try it and see. Great way to find new music you like as well as providing useful information about bands, performers and their influences