Is anyone using Roon with a combination of Naim and BlueSound streamers?
My home set-up is based on a combination of BlueSound and Naim. In three locations I have BlueSound Nodes into Naim DACs and amplifiers, and in three other locations I have standalone BlueSound Powernodes.
I like to play the same thing in different zones at the same time and with the BlueSound app it’s very quick and east to do this and add and subtract zones from what I’m listening to.
I would like to add at least one Naim streamer in one zone but I have always been put off by the fact that it would be standalone and couldn’t be used in multi-room playing. I’m not really up for replacing ALL my BlueSound streamers.
Roon, I think, solves this and allows Naim and BlueSound to play in sync together. I’d be interested to hear of others’ experience. In particular, is it as quick and easy in Roon as it is in BlueSound to add and subtract zones when playing something, or does Roon require you to create and dismantle formal groups of streamers that play together?
As long as you use Naim streamers from the current range, they can be used as Roon endpoints, and will play in sync with other Roon endpoints including Bluesound or any other brand.
AirPlay or Chromecast can also be used to create multiroom groups, with or without Roon. What you can’t do is have a mixture of multiroom protocols (Airplay, Chromecast, Roon or Naim) running a group.
The only slight drawback is that (last time I checked at least), you can’t have a standing group and the separate zones set up at the same time. You have to group zones to achieve this and then ungroup to play the zones separately again.
That said I end up largely never doing that. What I do alot is transfer playing music between zones. Moving from my kitchen to my living room, I often do that. Works really easily on Roon. I have bluesound for some in bathroom/bedroom speakers and it works seamlessly with Naim gear elsewhere (x3 different systems).
