Is Roon Worth It?

Lifetime subscriber here! But this is new to me, out-of-curiosity, what new features are not free of charge?

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I used to have annual Roon subscriptions for a few years, but didnā€™t feel I needed it when cutting back various subscriptions.

Just logged on and looks as though I could do another free trial.

Payment options seems to still list ā€˜lifetimeā€™ as an option for $849 (or $899).

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Itā€™s a nice app, but I stopped using it as I didnā€™t find it indispensable. To me SQ marginally worse but very little in it. Certainly not an improvement. There used to be a commercial plugin you could buy from another vendor which supposedly helped with SQ but I never tried that.

Iā€™d also suggest trying the free trial to see if it works for you, but less likely if only using Qobuz favourites not local files.

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I donā€™t know if Roon still does a free trial - if they do they you can try for yourself. Quite a few years ago, when it was first ā€œflavour of the dayā€ for some on here, I had a trial, and positively disliked it. Two or three years oater, having learned that the functions that put me off had changed or could be turned off, people still raving about it, I had another trial. That time, with unwanted things switched off, my felling was neutral - it worked OK, did what I wanted as well as my existing library/playing software (I didnā€™t assess sound quality), with other features that werenā€™t of interest or value for me - but was expensive, with nothing to justify the cost for my purposes. If the bells and whistles appeal to you, you may find different.

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  • Will Roon give me greater options for sorting of my Qobuz favourites, even though nothing has actually been downloaded

Yes, to a certain degree. You would need to play around with Roon to see if it does what you need

  • Is Roon just software thatā€™s linked to Qobuz and the Linn app or will I need any additional hardware

Yes, you would need a PC, or a Mac to download and run the Roon Server app, a mobile device such as iPad, iPhone or an Android to run the Roon remote control app

  • Will there be any sound quality improvements

Maybe, maybe not. Please see answer below about DSP, upsampling, and HQPlayer

  • What else will Roon bring that I donā€™t know about

Roon is useful for integrating local files and streaming into a single interface, itā€™s good for music discovery and learning about artists/composers, can be integrated with room correction measurements out of REW, upsampling with or without HQPlayer, can do a number of DSP functions

  • Is the Roon / Qobuz / Linn app fairly seamless or are there issues I should be aware of

Yes, the Linn app can be used to play music on Roon, but not for searching or controlling Roon directly

  • Is Roon worth the extra monthly subscription fee on top of Qobuz

No, it is kind of expensive. I bought a lifetime subscription (with discount) from my Linn/Naim dealer a long time ago when it was relatively less expensive

  • Itā€™s appreciated that there would be some learning to do, but is the Roon / App fairly intuitive.

Yes, it is very intuitive

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absolutely no, why anyone pays for this is beyond me.
Martin

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For me, Roon didnā€™t sound as good as using the Naim app, so I no longer use it.

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Interesting to read that some of the comments mention that it had a negative effect on the sound quality.

As mentioned earlier, will stay where I am given that additional app and software required. More steps to get wrong.

DGā€¦

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If you donā€™t access your music from multiple compatible sources then there most probably is no reason for you to get roon. Its main function being to act as a single access point for those sources.

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None as yet, I think they said any new features. A dealer told me this, but I did not find a reference to it

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Itā€™s not the stated position of the Roon team either - so Iā€™m guessing a misunderstanding somewhere along the way. I also suspect it would be a non-trivial change to the software, and ultimately not worth the grief.

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Iā€™ve got the same system as DG and am a Roon user and love it. I have been comparing the Linn app and my ears cannot discern any noticeable difference in SQ. I would advise you DG not to go with Roon unless you want to read up on what you are playing, it also makes it easier to find similar artists with loads of information. With the new system Iā€™m casting my net wider for new music and Roon really helps with this.

Tim

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I think the major thing with Roon is you feel it is made by a bunch of music loving people that wants to own the market of software controlling your music. For most brands the app is just a companion app to make you do the minimum thing to get going. Roon is much more than that.

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Lifetimer and love it. Best thing to do is setup a free trial.

If you visit their site and canā€™t find the free offer, either I or another member can provide a referral link to you that would give you 30 days free trialā€¦ itā€™s a link so it would need approval to post here or, Iā€™m happy for my email to be passed on so you can contact me and Iā€™ll send you the link!

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Also love Roon. It is great for discovering more background about the music. It offers a really nice and immersive metadata structure that can be nicely navigated. I was also skeptical about sound quality and did not like it when running Roon on a windows laptop. But recently got a Small Green Computer Roon core for 1000 bucks. It is a small fanless box with only Roon running on it and can be connected to your router or switch. It made a huge difference. Helps if you disable Dsp and volume control in Roon to improve sound quality.

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Not really, more they are controlling apps intended to enable you to readily find and play music at will, whether from your own collection or online, but without additional services like links to online information about album and artist.

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As others have said, it all depends on what your needs are. I tried Roon a few years back (at the time the Innuos server I use didnā€™t have an app of its own) and I did enjoy the user interface a lot.

In fact I believe itā€™s still the best interface for music control out there. I did the trail twice in fact, but as time went by I noticed that the music discovery algorithm was not as good as I was hoping for. And I didnā€™t care for the multi-room functionality.

I still on occasion check out what the latest Roon offerings are. I have some CD rips on my server, but I now mostly use streaming from Tidal and Tidal Connect, which I find has much better music discovery and new daily playlists. Once the Innuos Sense app was launched for my server, It really didnā€™t make sense to use Roon, and it sounded better as well.

So to me Roon is not worth the extra outlay. But to some it very much is worth it, especially if your streamerā€™s native app is lacking in features and the interface leaves a lot to be desired.

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Iā€™ve been told numerous times that Roon would not cause any difference (or maybe a small marginal difference) in SQ for any Roon Ready device, and I would want to believe it.

However, I listen and listen again and compare the Linn App versus Roon on my NG KDSM, and definitely to my ears, Roon sounds a bit boring and flat, playing the Linn App brings the music back to life.

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When I had my Linn, I noticed that the sound wasnā€™t as good with Roon. Thatā€™s why I often listened directly into the Linn application.

But now that Iā€™ve replaced my Linn with a Naim Nova PE the sound is the same with or without Roon.

I think the collaboration between Linn and Roon was never very good.

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I guess it makes sense if you have lots of digital sources to integrate but for me it solves a problem that doesnā€™t exist and adds an unnecessary paid ā€˜middle-manā€™.

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