Review of Roon Media Player and Server

[Andre Marc]

Andre, multi-channel?

Honestly I highly doubt it. I really know very little about Multi Channel and I have not once seen that request on their forum.

 

[Andre Marc]

And one of the reasons I am a Roon customer is that they listen. Folks wanted Bryston support, now they will get it.

where did you see requests for Bryston integration?

 

[amirm]

where did you see requests for Bryston integration?

I had run into it in their forums while I was searching for other things. Just looked up and here it is: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-through-a-bryston-bdp-1/4145/6

I just did a search on Bryston's own forum and there are mentions there too: http://support.bryston.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=238

"I’ve started experimenting with Roon, software from RoonLabs to manage, listen and experience your music files. From the first minute I started the software on my desktop pc I knew that this was it. The software makes you discover your music-database in a way you couldn't imagine before.

After some playing around I was able to use my BDP-1 as a playback device using 'shareplay'. In the beginning it was not behaving very stable and playback was sometimes breaking up. Once I rebooted everything, I disabled all services I did not need on the bdp1. Now only 'shairplay' is running as a service on the bdp1. And it works great!

This is the software that should be running on the bdp1 itself! And, sorry Bryston, but it will take ages before the mpd-software can do what Roon does."

Anyway, what is the reason for asking? I now know the founder of Roon and my chief designer knows the CEO (?) of Bryston so if there is a reason to know, I can maybe go and find out although I doubt they would want to say anything public until they have a working system.

 

[Andre Marc]

I had run into it in their forums while I was searching for other things. Just looked up and here it is: https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-through-a-bryston-bdp-1/4145/6

I just did a search on Bryston's own forum and there are mentions there too: http://support.bryston.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=238

"I’ve started experimenting with Roon, software from RoonLabs to manage, listen and experience your music files. From the first minute I started the software on my desktop pc I knew that this was it. The software makes you discover your music-database in a way you couldn't imagine before.

After some playing around I was able to use my BDP-1 as a playback device using 'shareplay'. In the beginning it was not behaving very stable and playback was sometimes breaking up. Once I rebooted everything, I disabled all services I did not need on the bdp1. Now only 'shairplay' is running as a service on the bdp1. And it works great!

This is the software that should be running on the bdp1 itself! And, sorry Bryston, but it will take ages before the mpd-software can do what Roon does."

Anyway, what is the reason for asking? I now know the founder of Roon and my chief designer knows the CEO (?) of Bryston so if there is a reason to know, I can maybe go and find out although I doubt they would want to say anything public until they have a working system.

Thanks for posting the attached info.

Just curiosity..I was under the impression that Roon was not soliciting specific manufacturers..but however they come together, so be it.

I do wonder who is going to carry the cost burden. Are manufacturers going to build this into price increases? To activate the use of Roon does the end user need to fork
over a credit card? Interesting times.

In the meantime, I streamed a ton of music today via UPnP...

 

[amirm]

Since this is pure software, I don't think there will be any cost increases for customers of either product. The cost will be absorbed as part of having a product with high enough margin to tolerate it. Or a strategic reason to do it.

 

[asiufy]

What hardware manufacturers will implement is RoonSpeakers, *not* Roon itself (or Roon Core as they sometimes call it). This is just the playback/streaming part of Roon, not the library/UI part of it. The *next* step is for Roon to port RoonCore to the different NAS platforms, so we can be rid of computers completely!

There *is* a cost involved for the hardware manufacturers who want to implement Roon(Speakers), as they need to actually implement into their software. Roon has eased a lot of this by providing code for manufacturers (not only Bryston, it's open to everybody), but there's still work to be done on the manufacturer side, of course. But as Amir said, the R&D cost of integrating Roon is offset by the fact you're supporting an up and coming technology. Same thing happened with Tidal. Those that were at the forefront of Tidal integration, like Auralic, reaped benefits, no doubt.

Now, come to think of it, since the Bryston units probably have enough computational power, they *could* implement the full Roon experience inside the unit... That would be pretty cool too...

 

[Andre Marc]

What hardware manufacturers will implement is RoonSpeakers, *not* Roon itself (or Roon Core as they sometimes call it). This is just the playback/streaming part of Roon, not the library/UI part of it. The *next* step is for Roon to port RoonCore to the different NAS platforms, so we can be rid of computers completely!

There *is* a cost involved for the hardware manufacturers who want to implement Roon(Speakers), as they need to actually implement into their software. Roon has eased a lot of this by providing code for manufacturers (not only Bryston, it's open to everybody), but there's still work to be done on the manufacturer side, of course. But as Amir said, the R&D cost of integrating Roon is offset by the fact you're supporting an up and coming technology. Same thing happened with Tidal. Those that were at the forefront of Tidal integration, like Auralic, reaped benefits, no doubt.

Now, come to think of it, since the Bryston units probably have enough computational power, they *could* implement the full Roon experience inside the unit... That would be pretty cool too...

Yes, I understood that RoonSpeaker was what the hardware folks will implement. Although I do admit that I do sometimes find the Roon architecture confusing.

YES! Get RoonCore on the NAS and get the computer OUT OF THE LISTENING ROOM once and for all.

Interesting notion about the "full Roon experience" on a BDP-2..or an Aurender or what ever...but I doubt they have the horsepower..the beauty of these machines is that travel light and they have but one task, bit perfect file playback. But as I said..the market will determine the end result.

 

[amirm]

Interesting notion about the "full Roon experience" on a BDP-2..or an Aurender or what ever...but I doubt they have the horsepower..the beauty of these machines is that travel light and they have but one task, bit perfect file playback. But as I said..the market will determine the end result.

Roon takes little CPU resources. If I did not have its display on, I don't know that I could even measure its footprint in the server I just built. That said, the hardware needs to be fast enough so that when it gets busy managing the other things it is already doing in the NAS, that it doesn't cause Roon to fall behind and cause an audible glitch.

 

[asiufy]

The Bryston has an Intel Atom CPU, which is the same as on most NAS units, like the QNAP! It surely has enough capacity to run RoonCore, specially since all the UI work will be done by another device (computer or tablet on the network).

I don't know what the Aurender units have for a CPU, but it's possible it's something in that same league!

 

[Andre Marc]

The Bryston has an Intel Atom CPU, which is the same as on most NAS units, like the QNAP! It surely has enough capacity to run RoonCore, specially since all the UI work will be done by another device (computer or tablet on the network).

I don't know what the Aurender units have for a CPU, but it's possible it's something in that same league!

Then implementation is certainly possible. Of course, I understand that all these units, the Byrston, Aurender, Auralic, etc are computers per se, but
they are purpose built for audio...these are interesting times!

 

[sbo6]

Roon takes little CPU resources. If I did not have its display on, I don't know that I could even measure its footprint in the server I just built. That said, the hardware needs to be fast enough so that when it gets busy managing the other things it is already doing in the NAS, that it doesn't cause Roon to fall behind and cause an audible glitch.

CPU is only 1 resource, how about NIC and HDD?

Also, sounds to be a very well thought out app, the gate to market adoption is the cost. $400+ is a lot of scratch when competitors comparatively are <15% or free....

 

[dallasjustice]

I started my Roon trial. I have tidal working as well. My question has to do with the Roon "Radio" function. Currently the Roon radio only plays music off my server. Is there a way to configure the Roon Radio to pull in some tracks from Tidal as well? Is there a place to adjust other settings as to the radio?

Michael.

 

[bplexico]

There are quite a number of enhancements planned for the Radio function, including playing Tidal content that has not been added to your library. At the current moment I suspect the primary focus is on RAAT (RoonReady) and RoonSpeakers.

Some snippets from the Room Community on the Radio function:

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/whats-radio-and-how-does-it-work/164

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/understanding-radio-functionality/4195/3

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/what-is-the-expected-behavior-of-radio-for-all-albums/1500

 

[dallasjustice]

Thanks Barr! I'm loving Roon. I am on the trial. My only worry about becoming an Roony forever is Tidal. If Tidal fails, then Roon is Doom. I hope more tidal finds its way into the radio. It's a natural fit.

There are quite a number of enhancements planned for the Radio function, including playing Tidal content that has not been added to your library. At the current moment I suspect the primary focus is on RAAT (RoonReady) and RoonSpeakers.

Some snippets from the Room Community on the Radio function:

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/whats-radio-and-how-does-it-work/164

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/understanding-radio-functionality/4195/3

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/what-is-the-expected-behavior-of-radio-for-all-albums/1500

 

[amirm]

CPU is only 1 resource, how about NIC and HDD?

Sorry for the late reply. Did not see this before. Audio data rates are very slow compared to HDD speed so I expect traffic to be negligible. Ditto if your are using gigabit Ethernet.

Also, sounds to be a very well thought out app, the gate to market adoption is the cost. $400+ is a lot of scratch when competitors comparatively are <15% or free....

It is a big barrier. I suspect a lot of that expense is for the rich metadata license that comes for a lifetime that way. We paid millions of dollars per year for metadata licensing when I was at Microsoft! There is very little competition out there and so there is not much room for negotiation specially when you are a small company like Roon.

 

[bplexico]

Michael -

Yeah I love it too, been using it since about day one, and I went with the Tidal integration as well which I found a wonderful manner to discover new music and "expand" my collection. Your point regarding Tidal and Radio is dead on, a natural extension of the integration of the two.

If you asked me two years ago, I would never have seen myself paying for a Tidal subscription, now I cannot imagine being without it ( and Roon ).

Barr

 

[Whatmore]

Thanks Barr! I'm loving Roon. I am on the trial. My only worry about becoming an Roony forever is Tidal. If Tidal fails, then Roon is Doom. I hope more tidal finds its way into the radio. It's a natural fit.

Tidal is failing badly in Australia
Constant dropouts, long buffering - it's almost useless

 

[dallasjustice]

Tidal is failing badly in Australia
Constant dropouts, long buffering - it's almost useless

Yes. I read about all the problems on their forum. I'm not a big Tidal fan. I am worried about their long term viability. Roon is a different matter. It is wonderful software.

 

[Steve Bruzonsky]

Thanks to reviews like The Absolute Sound, Amir of course, and my Theta Digital dealer buddie Craig Shumer who also has heard raves about ROON - and thanks to Roon's Black Friday Weekend 30% of sale, I decided to buy the whole shebang life time membership.
I got around to installing ROON on my CAPSv4 Pipeline 2 channel USB music server about ten days ago. And last nite moved up to an iPad Pro (had a smaller "iPad" before) which is amazing, too!

Took awhile to figure out ROON musically to maximize sound quality! I've been using JRiver for several years, outputting 96-24 (88-24 for DSD) via USB to Berkeley Audio USB converter (thank you Amir for this, too) to Theta CBIV SSP (bass management and Dirac room correction at 96-24) then digital out full bandwith to Theta Generation VIII Series 3 DAC. JRiver's sonics were (that is "were) superb.

Today, I figured out why JRiver sounded better than ROON. Andrew Gillis of Small Green Computer has demod the CAPSv4 Pipeline (which they sell) with ROON lately, but in the past they were using/recommending JRiver. Andrew just advised me that he feels ROON is better sounding that JRiver. So what was I doing wrong.

A bit of research on the web. And then I realized that my CAPSv4's "sound" control panel was set for JRiver. I reset the default sound to the TUSB audio driver (for the Berkeley USB converter). Funny, even with JRiver not opened or running in server mode, JRiver remained the default sound in the audio control panel until I changed it. WOW! Suddenly my dynamics, voices, everything was so much more real, like comparing being on a roller coaster dynamically to driving on a bit bumpy road. HA! ROON is much better sounding than JRiver in my system!

Now I've got the graphic interface, metadata and web info, everything to accomodate my music listening at top level sonics. I am very, very pleased.

Note ROON outputting JRiver is a no go. First, you will get a lot of stutters. Andrew Gillis advises that it just doesn't work this way. Second, ROON sounds way better by itself than using JRiver with it, anyway. Though I do understand that ROON does work with HDPlayer and perhaps some other stuff! But I luv ROON alone. These dudes are audio geniuses! And understanding what Amir explains how ROON is designed from an objective engineering standpoint is consistent with how fantastic ROON works and sounds.

 

[joaovieira]

I am using Roon integrated with HQPlayer since last Saturday. An amazing upgrade. I was using Audirvana.
The great thing now is upsampling everything to DSD and not having to pull button on Big 7.
Great sound quality. Great interface.