I would have to get it for 6 years to break even. However, software and streaming is a such a moving target that Roon could be eclipsed by something better in that time, or a better streaming service comes along that makes Roon redundant, or Roon losses its allure for other reasons.
You can believe for yourself that’s unlikely, but you have no evidence for that, and I don’t share your long term confidence in it. I’m a software engineer and know very well that even years is an eternity and lots can happen. I wouldn’t put my eggs in that basket for a lifetime subscription.
If I’m wrong then it means Roon will be that much better and I still don’t mind paying a subscription for it. In the meantime I have better things to do with $700.
Same here, I have no desire to be on a computer when I’m listening to HiFi which is why I didn’t go with Audirvana either. The Naim app with Tidal integration has allowed me to find all sorts of new music. As has Radio Paradise. The missing link for me is making playlists for my NAS music. If I could get all the tracks on my NAS into a .M3U file I’d be in heaven.
That is an odd concept, “on a computer”. I run Audirvana on a mac mini, and there is no evidence of a computer in use unless I decide I want to do something else with it: a little square silver box about 6” wide and deep and maybe 1.5” high, that can be turned off and on with impunity simply by pressing a button, silent, no screen, no keyboard, just an app on a tablet or phone not fundamentally unlike the Naim app or any one of dozens of others other people use to control a variety of streamers etc. Could even have Roon on it in place of Audirvana had I preferred Roon.
Similar… I use an Intel NUC for Roon. Its headless, sits on a shelf unseen and I never touch it. I use an iPad as a remote controller for it, and the UI is far better than the Naim app on a phone.
That’s great it can be ran with an app and a computer. I already have a NAS, if this thing can be installed on my QNAP and used via app on my ipad I might be able to consider it. But my marginal utility curve for learning another product is pretty flat right now. The result of having a great mix of music selections with my current set up.
Lockdown got the better of me so I started another Roon trial (I left Roon in favour of iPeng purely to benefit from my server/core track RAM buffering), as the experimental Squeezelite option wasn’t very robust, but now things have changed.
I am still running Qobuz and Tidal, the former via iPeng was clearly superior.
However now back with Roon Experimental Squeezelite option Tidal MQA with it first unfold is so much more detailed and makes Qobuz sound limp.
Will let the Roon trial continue, but finding a total flip and switch to Tidal for MQA, even exclusively creating my own MQA only playlists, but as before MQA content is still lacking.
All this without playing around with the Roon DSP and other functions.
Only dislike of Roon this time you is for iOS no lockscreen remote and even via the app, flipping back and forth to the app it always has to refresh.
Hi, I like Roon, but I do think ultimately all the sound processing tools (DSP) are best kept clear of… sure play around with them. it’s fun…and get the curiosity out of your system, but ultimately if you want the best sound from your Naim I found it best to fully disable.
It’s almost like comparing PCM with MQA… you notice something not quite right or being held back with the DSP on just like when listening to MQA…
Sure the FIR filter is less intrusive than the IIR filter, but even with the FIR filter with only subtle shifts it ultimately compromises the sound on a revealing setup.
I assume you mean compared to hi res from Qobuz, not 16/44? So something that MQA is doing to the sound in the 24/96 (actually IIRC, max 17/96) makes it sound better to you than straight 24/192, both across the internet. Have you compared with home stored hi res?
Probably one of the reasons I personally disliked the price hike was that the ‘heads up’ on the option potentially being removed may only have been clear to regular Roon forum users - just as with Naim or many support forums I suspect a large number of customers simply do not frequent the support forums much if at all.
It is what it is, I’ve renewed as it is overall a polished product, and for the annual cost it won’t break the bank.
I wasn’t ever going to do the lifetime purchase, so the hike doesn’t affect me. My subscription renewed a few days ago, so now it’s water under the bridge until next year. If something better comes along in the near or distant future, then I don’t feel tied to Roon.
I agree. The people behind Roon were the people that did Sooloos in the mid-2000s. Sooloos was a Stereophile product of the year in 2008 or 2009 (can’t remember). Meridian bought the company. The team left a few years later to form Roon, which, in essence, started as the software of Sooloos running on publicly available platforms. The big issue with Sooloos was the very expensive hardware.
These people have been on top of that game for 15 years or so. It might be possible that some upstart will dethrone them soon, but unlikely.
Maybe, Roon will be around for another 15 years or longer.
Or, maybe, another company buys them out for the Roon technology to use in a competing product they are developing, keeps Roon going for a few years until their product is ready, and forces all subscribers to the new product, which is somewhat similar but different enough to disappoint many loyal fans who jump ship. Some will like it and some won’t.
This is precisely what happened to Aperture. Apple bought it, developed it for a few years, then added what they wanted from it to Photos and obsoleted the product, telling users to migrate to Photos. Many jumped ship to Adobe Lightroom instead.
This happens all the time, a company buys a popular product for the technology and IP and moves the goalposts enough to lose the legacy, loyal following. I’m in the industry. It happens all the time.
This is why I would never buy a lifetime subscription to a software product.
Suppose on lifetime if you can hit 7yrs plus then it was worth it.
I think I will be ditching Qobuz in favour of keeping Tidal and put the saving to an annual Roon sub, as discovered more music after an album or playlist end, courtesy of Roon radio.
