I use a Bluesound Node 2i with a power supply upgrade in my main system and a Vault 2i in my second system. The Vault has about 800 CDs and my old iTunes in it. They are both on the same LAN so I can access either and listen anywhere in my home. I stream mostly Qobuz, Amazon Music, and various streams through Tune In. I like the Bluesound App (on two computers in two locations) a lot, but find that it gets clunky and has to be rebooted from time to time.
FWIW, I use a modern very powerful MacBook Pro and hardwire it directly to a McIntosh DA2 dac to stream Tidal. AB testing with CD, to me, really proved CD as superior digitally. I’m not sure what happens to data as it moves through servers, lines, and into my house etc but the complexity seems to add to loss of quality.
I would just hardwire to stream but that depends if you are chasing quality or convenience. Wireless streaming if Tidal and Roon are great ways to explore new music but not the way to enjoy your fav albums.
Roon features reliability and performance has gone off the charts in the last few months since taken over by Harmon. It’s a pleasure to use these days.
Agreeing with most here that Roon is great. I too bought lifetime years ago, and through optimizing my digital front end it sounds amazing. Play your music and when it ends, Roon is very slick at playing similar music; this is how I find many new things. And it learns. Skip a track it selected and it wants to know why.
You do not need to download Roon to two places. ROON CORE needs to live and exist on one network connected SERVER. Listed in terms of sound quality, it can be a Laptop, MacMini, Roon Brand Server, or one of many audiophile Roon Servers. My Roon Core resides on my Grimm MU1, which hosts Roon Core and is an excellent streamer. Where you play music is called Roon Endpoints. These communicate with your Roon core via Ethernet. Communication can be wired or wireless depending upon equipment. Your Nodes are Roon endpoints.
The key words here, and often confused by many, are:
SERVER, STREAMER AND ENDPOINT.
Then there are Roon Remotes. Any network attached (usually wifi here iphone or ipad or computer) can function as a Roon remote, meaning it can control playback anywhere. Different Endpoints can be 'grouped' so playback is synced between endpoints.
As to some services not being on Roon, this is inevitable. My example is that I play spotify over carplay in my autos. If I hear a song that I like, I take a quick pic with my phone. Later I go through my photos and play these songs on Roon, often adding them to my playlists or library. Best of both worlds.
Finally, many say Roon is bad because their native app (on Aurender or Innuos for example) sound better. I will not dispute this. But I will say that Roon will sound great, besting Bluesound. If and when you get that critical, choose a streamer that does both Roon and its native app so you can switch if you want for very critical listening.
To all the responders, thank you very much!!!!!! I guess I can't go wrong with the free trail. Just one last question. Do you know if Ron will allow me to download to two different Macs so I can control from two different locations in my home.
I was hesitant re Roon, but about two years ago, I started using it and it is completely worthwhile, based on the organization, music discovery and more. It does help if you have a reasonably sized music library.
Roon appeals to many because of its cataloging/discovery/multi-room features which are awesome. I'm not arguing with anyone on this.
However, I have a somewhat revealing system and after a pretty thorough audition (using an older Windows PC for the core, which I admit may have not been optimal) I did not feel that Roon offered any improvement in sound quality. I am presently streaming Qobuz using an opticalRendu with mconnect.
Roon did play my favorite radio station (KUVO), though. When I want to listen to radio, I switch my DAC to Bluetooth and use my Android phone to stream the station from their app, my phone has an LDAC feature which sounds pretty darn good.
P.S. I think Qobuz offers some suggestions for new music that are pretty good. So does Stereophile magazine. I get a lot of suggestions reading the equipment reviews (when the reviewer references a track used to audition a component), as well as the actual recording reviews at the back of the magazine.
"Buying the lifetime subscription to Roon was the single best investment I have made in my audio system." - @jaytor
Me too. I have discovered more new music that I love than I EVER thought possible. I love that there are so many streamer/servers that are Roon-certified, so one has many good choices. Harman seems to be doing good things and is committed.
Buying the lifetime subscription to Roon was the single best investment I have made in my audio system. At the time, it was $500. I've spent way more than that on a single cable, and there is no comparison on the value and satisfaction I have received.
I like Roon for all the reasons already mentioned. The features I really like are:
1) Combining local files, Qobuz and Tidal streaming into one unified library.
2) Ability to control multiple systems around the house, from multiple devices, and to be able to sync them together when desired.
3) Incredibly rich metadata and cross-referencing of content.
4) Great discovery tools and recommendations.
5) Excellent sound quality with the ability to share the same environment on hardware from lots of different brands.
6) DSP functionality and integration with HQ Player.
I posed the Question on another thread that had a fair number of Innous Sense app chest thumpers. I specifically ask if it did several things that were highly regarded in ROON. Crickets.
I too need a better system from cataloging classical albums. I use a Melco N100 NAS and 2 Cambridge Audio CXN2 streamers in my house. The CA streaming app is an improvement over other apps but I still wind up with multiple listings for the same composer, with multidisc box sets split between the various tabs, etc. I lasted looked at Roon many years ago and didn’t like it, I had to reload it every day of my free trial and the last time I thought the MacAir I was using as a controller was going to blow up.
Should I try again? And would I need a new piece of hardware? And does it run Apple Music? The Roon site only mentions Tidal and Qobuz
Roon is a game changer for me, and I use bluesound node 2i as well as multiple cheap streaming devices scattered around the house. Without it, I found using BluOS or the streaming service app (Qobuz, Tidal , Spotify) to be clutsy and confusing when looking for music to play. Roon’s integration of my server files with streaming service libraries completely fixes how I find music, and finding new music is a breeze.
@adeep42I used Roon for quite a while (I have a lifetime subscription). It has an excellent interface and more bells and whistles than any other music management system that I've used. It had more features than I needed, but that's another story.
About 5 or 6 years ago, I started using the Innous Sense app and stopped using Roon in my listening room. IMHO, Sense's SQ is noticeably better than Roon's. I still use Roon but moved Roon Core from my Innous Zenith to a Mac Mini. I now use Roon for my whole house music needs, connecting Roon to Airplay speakers in almost every room in the house and the backyard.
Roon is a great product, and you can't go wrong with it. I just found something I like better (and Sense is free!).
And one last question. I use the Bluesound app on two computers in different parts of my home. they are on the same network, so I can control from two locations in the house. Will I be able to download Roon twice.
@adeep42Its been a couple years since I looked into Amazon Music on Roon. I was told that Roon needs a list (daily?) of changes in the offerings from the streamers. Amazon could not or would not provide it. Have not investigated lately. I’m a Prime member, so it would be nice if Roon could offer Amazon Music. TBH, I’ve not missed it…
Thank you all for your most useful input and thoughts. One thing I wasn't aware of, that Roon doesn't support Amazon Music. I don't think that Amazon is any where as good in terms of audio as Qobuz, but I do like a lot of their playlists and stations. Is there a workaround?
@zgas-musicAnd by golly the Roon Labs Community like the folks here have helpful folks when/if you needed. Don’t know about BlueSound support but Lumin and Grimm support are excellent and fast.
I did a 180 on living in Roon once I got it sounding great...a lot of it was my back of the house network stuff. Ethernet, switch, filtration, DAC, maybe even a clock too gets one there.
Recently Roon added the ability to save tracks into my Qobuz playlists. No more jumping from one app to another needed. Nice!
Roon has changed how I listen to music for the better. It watches what you listen to and suggests similar music. The suggestions have always been good and led me in new directions. The UI is very good. I’ve got a Tidal subscription and 1500 CDs in iTunes. It feels like I’ve got every recording in the world in my personal library. (I don’t, of course, but there’s not much I can’t find.)
Roon sometimes calls themselves “Airplay for Audiophiles.” Roon is led by software designers and is very much an engineering based company, IMO. They have written proprietary software for moving the digital sound files thru your network with no loss. But you can run using Airplay, which is how I got stared with Roon.
Couple of downsides…
You need to have some admin chops to install and Troubleshoot Roon.
Roon crowdsources their support. My experience on the rare times I’ve had problems was not good. My fix was to uninstall Roon and reinstall it. Once was with a poorly tested release.
Finally, Roon does not support Amazon Music.
Good news is that Roon is generally stable and works great I’m a fan and don’t intend to drop them Roon was recently purchased by Harman and it appears their engineering focus will continue. I do hope they’ll get better at support
Roon is great if you need that sort of data handling and cataloging etc. I would avoid the Roon nucleus though its not the best made device out there and is way over priced for what you get. there are better options for Roon streaming IMO.
if it was me I'd stick with what you have for now as you seem to like the app and that's one of the biggest hurdles to streaming IMO. Upgrading maybe your DAC first if not already done.
I would imagine streamers will come down in price as new tech and implementations come available. we are still relatively new into the streamer tech world. Every year there are new ones coming available that have solved much of the earlier issues like bad apps etc. Mind you there are some nice unite available now.
+1 @dinovHaving used Roon at first with a laptop and then w/ a Roon nucleus please be aware that the Roon nucleus is the far better way to go. The new Nucleus One will be $500 and the Nucleus Titan is $4000. If you clean up your ethernet (lot's of info on these fora...lots) you just might be amazed. Getting a Network Acoustics Muon, audio grade or enterprise grade switch you are there! Ditch the blue cat 5 too.
Initially I wasn’t sold on ROON, another subscription, costs etc. After using it for over a year, Id be hard pressed to go back. The way it manages my music is on my NAS is outstanding and gives you a tremendous amount of control over the metadata. The information that I can read about the albums I stream is way more than just entertaining and is something I now rely on and enjoy. The way it interfaces with Quobuz is amazing using the ROON radio function. I haven’t used its DSP but that’s just another bonus. What finally pushed me to go with ROON was how buggy the blu os software was getting. It was driving me crazy. So going from blu os to ROON would be a huge upgrade in my opinion.
One advantage of Roon is that it is hardware independent in the sense that it eliminates the use of proprietary apps for accessing content so a hardware change doesn't require having to use a different manufacturers app. That and the fact that Roon's interface is superb.
After years of frustration with apps from numerous streamer manufacturers I eventually succumbed and subscribed to Roon, principally for one reason - because it is the only app I know which catalogues classical albums properly. Roon does other things too most of which I have no idea how to use and their customer service is next to non existent, relying mainly on responses from other subscribers. If you don't have a large classical album content in your streamer library and don't need the DSP you probably don't need Roon.
I think among the best features of Roon is the music discovery and automatic metadata handling. The ability to integrate your personal library with your online libraries.
DSP is of course good too.
The downsides is another subscription, and that you often need separate hardware to act as the roon server.
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