For a decade I run an LMS (Logitech Media server) which handle all my music collection (allmost all in flac 16bits/44Hz), iRadio and podcast with a good multiroom system (4 rooms). I’ve selled all my squeezebox touch, radio or Boom. I want an upgrade in SQ, and user interface
I’ve used Roon for the 14days of trial but not completly conviced by it, taken into account the price. (You have to pay 2 times if you want to have your server in 2 houses ; You are not the owner of the tag of your music (and I’ve spent a lot of time to tag my music, with lyrics, covers, etc…).
Thinking it was the good update, this summer, I have bought the last bluesound node, to install it… but in one hand, it is a good system, sound quality is ok, apps are good, but I’m not satisfied enough with it (SQ and more possibilities with the app). The user interface of LMS was old… but I found it easier to find music, navigate into my music, and having the random music by genre, album or anything else.
Now, my kids begin to listen music, so I need a multi-room with 3 bedrooms, 1 living room, and my bathroom, all with Ethernet.
I’m looking for a new system, probably with rasberry+Audio HAT (and eventually a touch screen ?). I spent so much time in ripping my CD,s, and checking every tag, cover, lyrics, I am not really interesting in services like spotify.
As I have only 2 naim system, I can’t rely on the naim app (and still not have any naim streamer). For people who have a proper Music server inside their own house, which server do you use ?
Thank you
The answers will be interesting…
When I had an ND5XS I first used Twonky which came with my NAS, but I didn’t get on with it very well. Switched to LMS and was quite happy with it. Changed NAS to a Mac Mini, and (free) Serviio server - worked fine.
Then I changed to Audirvana on the MM, giving both library and rendering functions (with output direct to DAC). Better sound quality, and no streaming across a network. Audirvana is OK where music tags are good - but it struggles with poor and sometimes missing metadata on a good chunk of my music (ripped before I was aware, and a real pita now to try to fix). I miss the capability that all previous servers had to browse simply by file name/structure, my filing system being very effective though simple, and as there seems to be no will to add the simple file-based facility as an alternative to metadata, despite years of requesting, I will likely change some time. But finding as good sound quality rendering function as well as library handling will be a challenge, and likely will require more expensive hardware…
Have you looked at SongKong?
I think it may be just the thing to sort out your errant metadata.
.sjb
I used to use LMS running on a QNAP NAS. I switched to Roon a couple years ago, added Qobuz, and shut the NAS down completely. I didn’t really want to keep up with the security updates for the NAS all the time, and Roon has worked out better, although their iPad OS software is buggy and has been for quite some time.
I replaced my LMS and Touch with a 172 and Qnap/MinimServer combination.
You only need to purchase Roon twice if you using both system simultaneously which is sort of fair enough. You can have two systems in place authorise/de-authorise the core as needed probably suitable for holiday home.
Roon doesn’t change your music tags, well it doesn’t change mine! Any changes you make within Roon are held in the Roon database AFAIK. Plus you can always set the Roon user to only have read only access to your music.
I use Roon myself and have Asset as a backup, I struggle to hear any SQ difference between the two but the U X is completely different
Thanks for the recommendation SJB… Several years ago I tried several editors, though only free, or with free trial, and all seemed to need far more soul-destroying work by me to be worth it. I read some mention of Songkong elsewhere not long ago, which made me wonder. Your endorsement prompts me to try. 
However that means that if at some later date you move away from Roon, or they collapse, any changes to metadata you did through Roon would then presumably be lost, so you’d be back where you started.
Take a look at the Innous server products.
In my experience the touch screen requirement is a red herring, my kids/wife never touched it, why would they with their phones, and I never touched it why would I with my phone?
Roon all they way here, each year when I hand over my hundy I take a look at whats out there, nothing comes close.
Ran LMS for years switched to Roon 5 years ago next month. Best thing I did music wise as I kept all the squeezebox hardware to start with, Radio still going strong in the kitchen, my touch died though
As for tags the advanced metadata used in Roon is licensed and thus cannot be used outside of the licensed software. If you already have good tags which was essential for LMS I found I don’t see any issue. Basic metadata tags you add in Roon such as changing genres etc that’s not copyrighted can be added to your files if you use their export tool on your library. One thing Roon by design does not modify your original files in any way.
If you still have your Squeezebox stuff then Innuos hardware will work with all of them out of the box and via USB to a dac but you need their hardware it’s not a software only solution and at 900 for entry isn’t cheap if you already have server hardware. That said they are well made and have superb support by all accounts. If I ever decide to ditch Roon then if and when they have more reliable and better range of hardware support for playing to I would consider it.
Audivarna is not great from my experience and doesn’t have good multiroom support at all. It only supports local playback or via UPnP which is very flaky from my experience with it. Also software experience itself was flaky and found it a bit sluggish. It’s really designed as a desktop app and not a headless server although it does have an app, it’s limited and only runs on Windows and Mac.
I tried LMS again last year for nostalgic reasons and to try the new material web interface and it’s integration of Qobuz and stuff to your own library. Didn’t last long. Whilst it’s an improvement on the apps and older UI , it still felt old and not lacked the advanced stuff I like in Roon and it still does the full integration better in my opinion.
Roons not perfect and they have made some decisions of late I am not happy with but it’s the best of the bunch still by a country mile and I get it to play to 11 different music zones without dropping a beat, it manages my collection of local and streaming brilliantly and aids my new music discovery and sounds fab.
There is an export feature:
As for the OP’s question, my solution is Roon. As CrystalGipsy wrote, it is not perfect, but it is very good and nothing else comes even close. It’s true that despite the export feature you can’t export everything if you ever leave, but this is the same for every solution that contains more info than basic file tags. I purchased lifetime and the cost is long forgotten.
Ah, I didn’t know that. So Roon’s tagging approach need not be negative in the future.
Whether any individual finds Roon to suit their needs, and value for money, will be a personal choice - some people love what Roon does, and feel it is excellent value for money, others don’t see particular benefit to themselves, with the opposite conclusion. But for the OP, Roon does at least offer free trial (I assume still the case - they certainly used to), so you can assess for yourself.
Absolutely, it depends on what one wants or needs. Though I recommend exploring what it can do. There is still the free trial, and running the Roon Core on an existing computer is just fine for evaluation.
In my opinion, the advertised 14 day trial is not sufficient for really exploring it in depth, but the Roon guys are usually happy to extend it on request. Many people who only know the Naim or similar apps think they don’t have a use for Roon because can’t even imagine what would be possible 
iMac/iTunes to rip CDs/iPad Pro/Airport Extreme/optical output to DAC/ RCA-DIN to 5italic.
Easy setup, CD quality…
Synology with Minimserver.
Worked flawlessly for approx 10 years. Loved Minimserver since the beginning, especially as I have/love classical music.
The way you can configure it to send information/metadata to your endpoint is great. Also the logging it provides to make sure your data is correct 
Thank you, looks like an interesting one. I will test it
That’s one of the big reason I do not go for Roon. The price is not an issue (even if it is not cheap) for the quality. But nothing live forever. So I do not know if it is in 5, 10, 15, or 100 years, but if it fail before me, I will have lost all that time with their tag without having improved mine.
Thanks to let usknow this, I have missed the opportunity to extend it. Maybe I should try an another couple of weeks.
In my living room I have an Naim DAC (on a 282/250 nonDR), and in my dek, I have a Chord qutest on a SN2. In the 2 kids room, I have no dac, just one TEAC mini-system in each room, and nothing in the bathroom…
So I need 2 “boxes” plug on dac (BNC should be a plus, or classical SPDIF), I need 2 “boxes” plug on analog RCA, and one box with speaker.
Right now, my music is stored in a NAS ( Synology)