My Roon annual subscription renewed in August before I realised but I had intended to change to a lifetime subscription.
Waiting until next year seemed the best idea until I received an email from Roon yesterday offering a 20% discount. I upgraded because it came to the same price as if I paid full price in August.
Just thought I would share.
Mine will renew on Sept 18th; lifetime would be 829 usd, so your offer might be account specific.
Yes my 20% discount on 829USD equals 663USD (£532) plus my August renewal of 149USD (£117) means I have paid near enough 812USD in total. Not much of a saving but allowed me to switch without losing the value of my recently renewed annual subscription.
One thing about the Roon lifetime subscription is that you will have to stick with it for life, you can’t cancel it and get a refund, or transfer it to someone else.
I regret having bought a Roon lifetime subscription because:
Not at all - of course you can change to something else! It is simply as if you bought a piece of kit costing what the same as the lifetime subscription, the money written off the moment you pay. You just have to be convinced it represents suitable value for money to you, and I suppose the annual subs approach is a bit like renting instead of buying. Whether for anyone it lasts as long as a lifetime, or as long as hardware, either in terms of meeting their desires or remaining in existence is something anyone must consider if they feel it relevant to the cost.
Interesting, I can’t fathom why people pay for this.
Martin
Happy Roon lifer for >4 years now, over which time the offering has been built out and improved. Nothing is perfect but if your main source is streaming and you like it - knock yourself out as it appears to be a decent deal.
In my case: DSP, user interface, Roon Radio, ability to discover new music by artists I’ve never heard of. bargain 
I’d probably have stuck with Roon if they had a version that was just an app with the music playing direct to a streamer, rather than processing sound through the Roon Core (as that comprised sound for me using the software on my Mac).
That’s a good software design, why do Roon dev people not figure that out? It may be why it compromises the SQ of my streamer?
Someone here likes the user interface, but it’s definitely dated.
It feels cynical that we get the 20% deal a day after paying for the next year.
Thank you for the detailed response @sean86 , I have used Roon for 3 or 4 years and really do like it. The SQ is good to my ears in my own comparisons of ripped CDs via core and Naim app plus the same comparison for Qobuz.
Obviously point 3. is the the one that applies to me - I hope I never have to use it!
I wish I had taken out the lifetime earlier whereby I would be closer to the ‘break even’ point now.
I too have discovered so much more music via Qobuz and the Roon interface is very useful. I love the ability to create playlists or add to the queue, from all sources at once.
I do not use DSP but it is always there if I change my mind.
Too true!
Roon user since 2015 (the Beta)
Lifetime subscriber since 2017
No SQ difference for my NDS between a UPnP server from local library vs. Roon and a SonoreUPnP Bridge, as it’s a UPnP stream into the NDS.
Better UI, metadata enrichment, better Artwork, DSP, multi-manufacture device support, ARC, MQA support (1st unfold)
I use DSP to address an annoying room mode for music with very low bass. For that alone it’s indispensable for me.
This👆100%.
If you have the right kit you can clearly hear the difference with roon, it just isn’t as dynamic sounding, sounds more compressed.
Many have found this to be the same.
Plus you can use the same free site’s to search for new music just as what roon uses to find this new music.
So really with roon, you are really paying for convenience and the way it all work’s together.
Obviously this is fine if that’s for you, but for me and other’s the loss in sound quality is the first huge no, no, then the fact if i want to find new music i can just use site’s to do so. Don’t think i am allowed to link to such music sites?
Cheers dunc
And re DSP which you didn’t mention, there are other ways to implement. As one example, Audirvana on Mc Mini can use Dirac Live audiotool. However when I trialled that in my early days with Audirvana I wasn’t impressed. Maybe 8 years on it might be better, who knows. I think a dedicated unit would likely be best, but not cheap.
@simon.pepper sums up my feelings well; I would add a few points: