I've been using Roon for some months now and found your explanation of and enthusiasm for what it provides enjoyable to watch. A great UA-cam channel and I think it offers someone like myself (a lover of time spent listening to music at decent audio quality) something really worth watching. I hope you keep making the videos and your channel grows in the way you want it to.
Very informative video, and it's great to hear a British voice. It's could do with updating, particularly given the current situation with the Roon Nucleus One server being available in the EC but not the UK, and Roon seemingly reluctant to quote a UK release date.
I was lucky; I purchased a lifetime subscription in 2019 for $499. It has more than paid for itself. It is like marmite; I love it, some people hate it. I have both a Tidal and a Qobuz subscription. Two sources on my HiFi, a Roon Endpoint, a Topping D90LE DAC, and a Pink Triangle Anniversary turntable, the latter sounding a little better with older vinyl.
Thank you so much. I came across the term "roon" in a couple of videos, since I'm trying to get into the whole audiophile scene, as music plays a big part in my life. Your video stated roons functions and purpose and functions quite clearly and easy to understand. I can definitely see the appeal and might consider it in the future, but atm I'm afraid my wallet is a little tied, since I'll be attending uni for the first time this year. Thank you very much tho, you helped me a lot 🖤
Your ending comment about not trying it if you're not in a position to continue using it is so spot on. I'm in process of testing both Audirvana (which I though sounded really good) and Roon. This morning I did side by side comparison's of the same local FLAC and one DSD128 files along with Tidal streaming and there is no question to my ears Roon sounds superior. I'll be staying with the Roon subscription and ordered a NUC PC to start off running Roon server. Great overview of the features, thank you.
Roon radio is getting way better ! I may have only a Tidal account , but i wouldnt have found great stuff without the discovery algorithms. Also, the sound processing at the app level is awesome. Audirvana fans may disagree with me because of the reasoning for the app to force exclusive mode, but i gotta do other things too other than listen to music! Roon passes this test IMO. Great sound processing while doing other things!
Bought a new Denafrips Venus II DAC this year for $3K and a lifetime Roon sub for $700. Although the DAC is nice, if I had to choose I keep Roon over the DAC without a doubt. The metadata, the organization of my discs plus the Qobuz library and the top notch and easily accessible sound make it a bargain, a steal!
Probably the first video I tend to understand what Roon is all about … yet it’s still rather confusing as I have yet to understand if you can actually use a streamer and Qobuz and what is the benefit of Roon and if you actually need Qobuz for using Roon? So confusing Roon, they should explain way better how it actually works with or without a streaming provider.
Hmmm, I thought Roon's aim was to give a vinyl cover like experience; whereas tidal provides: sound stream, name of track, band, and album. I have one off subscription myself running in an LX container. All wired LAN using separate 100Mbit switches throughout. Roon does quite a job of the looking through vinyl covers with a reasonably sized iPad.
Roon is great when it works...if support doesn't forget about you, don't be surprised if you wait at least 2 weeks for a response. That's a long time to wait without music. The forum is full of people who are kind, however when you have a problem, alot of the members will defend roon and more will tell you that you're the problem. In my case, I read all the roon best practices, run ethernet through my house and had problems. Edit I just noticed that one of the features of the new update is they are making roon less network intensive so that tidal can work properly. This makes me chuckle cause one of my main issues has been trouble with Tidal through roon. And the members would say that my network was the problem. Roon is super cool when it works and super frustrating when you have to spend a few hours troubleshooting solutions.
Suppose you downloaded from web such as Rutracker, YES, Rutracker, files that have metadata but no cover. Can Roon add the right cover art if it is not in the music file?
There are many other options that manage music collections Roon's main rival is JRiver which manages . . . music, videos and photographs . . . with the added bonus it costs less
Thank you for a good intro to ROON. I've had it for six months now and absolutely love it. Yes I am (One of Those) who bought the nucleus and play it through my Naim Unity Atom and Heresy 4 speakers. The only thing I am having trouble with is getting My Apple Music playlist in my Roon playlist. Which I did have at one time. My music tracks are there but no playlist. My Qobuz playlist are. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I have about 10 thousand lossless albums on my new Roon install, so it’s definitely a great way to help me navigate and discover many gems in this massive collection that I’d likely miss on my own. I just wish you could buy Roon outright for $300 or less. Even then, I’d consider it overly expensive-but worth it.. at over $800, it’s just not justifiable for me … I’ll probably cancel after $45 in payments and go back to using Apple music discoveries to help me manually curate my offline collection. I’ll miss Roon’s dense metadata but Wikipedia is just a click away.
I really like your way of being an audiophile. I would consider myself a pragmatic audiophile as well. I feel like we accept the limitations the hobby is bundled with, but enjoy non the less. Best regards from Germany, your channel that I newly discovered, is rather enjoyable.
Very helpful video. Thank you. I guess one would need to rip their cds to utilize roon to its full potential - however I recently donated all mine (I may soon regret this - wish I had heard of roon before). My main interest in roon was to display album art etc on my tv while listening to music through tidal etc. are there any other alternatives that could fulfill my needs? Thanks
At home I have Roon endpoint devices such as WiiM pro plus or Raspberry Pi but do I need to have another PC turned on? Is there a “web Roon core”? Think about it, many AI services are online, why not Roon? At home I use cds, vinyl, not ripped to hard drives, and on the go dap with downloaded music. So to have an online Roon at home with Qobuz organized makes me more sense than to depend on an always turned on PC.
But you did not mention that some claim that Roon alter, or compromises the artist initially sound quality - EVEN when the DSP function is switched off! Do you have any comment, or experience on that?
appreciate the video. thought about getting roon(havent tried it yet). if you pay for the lifetime cost, it equates to 5.5yrs worth of subscription. im not a massive fan of subscriptions and think it would ne the better way to go if you think its really how you like to consume your music.
This is probably one of the best videos on room. The sky has the ability to articulate all the features and take out all the bullshit of all the other people during reviews nice job
Excellent video summary, thank you for creating this! Q: what are the necessary specs for a M1 Mac Mini? I’ve seen 16gb as required memory over 8gb. Is that true? Thanks for your help!
Thank you so much, for your very clear and sound explanation. You got me totally enthousiastic about it. First I will get me an ifi streamer as I a total ifi addict and trh out round with my 14TB Digitalised music collection, that surely serves a lifetime but as it is its hardly managable wich will change for the better soon as I came to u derdyand it now. I' ll for sure give you a like and subscribe. Greetz, Rick from Holland, EU.
I guess that this is not a plug and play solution. How long time does it take to configure and set up? Is it easy? Any challenges with software/firmware upgrades?
Thank you for a very helpful / informative video. I have over 150,000 digital files ripped from my CDs over many years. I am not that bothered about streaming around the house but do want good quality for the room I listen in / headphones I use. I have external hard drives for storage and back-up and external USB DAC connected to a Windows 10 PC. For years I used (was very happy with) MediaMonkey v4 (Gold version) ... then came major "upgrade" in 2021 to v.5 ... which killed its usability (it's a wee bit better now but still some way to go). Tried Foobar2000 ... not for me, way too much faff .. Eventually started using MusicBee (slightly steep-ish learning curve re setting your screen layout the way you want but now got the hang of it) ... MusicBee is (surprisingly, given its capabilities) free ... and has become my bench mark for sussing out improvements to MediaMonkey v5 (slowly getting there) and trialling alternatives. I rip CDs separately using DBpoweramp which is great for ripping what you want in the format you want (including the handy "rip as one" capability)... MusicBee reads hard drives very quickly / efficiently and accessing your musuc is fast (best of all products I've used) .. as is editing metadata ... the ability to rip to a temporary location, fix / amend / make all metadata consistent across multi CD album rips then move to the ultimate organised music directory is really helpful for ensuring your library is very well organised. I am currently trying out 30 day Audirvana (Origin) ... not overly impressed ... surprisingly slow to access / sort / find music ... certainly no way I'm going to get it. The best feature I like in it is the ability to "see" what format is being output to your DAC, the auto switch to Exclusive Mode, and clarity re use of accessing / playing HiRes and DSD files. MusicBee (and MM v5) are both much better at finding / sorting your music. MMv5 is actually better at creating playlists compared to others but MusicBee is better at storing them ... MusicBee is also much better at getting music onto your phone / mo3 player / DAP ... I am tempted to give ROON a go (based on your video) but it does seem expensive ... and, ultimately, may not provude any more for my own needs (listening to local music in one place) at this time). I do subscribe to Qoboz and like it quite a bit but, to date, have not yet used it for anything other than listening to albums as / when (in HiRes) and for chwcking out new releases each week / exploring new music ... although its search capabilities could be improved (using USB Audio Player Pro App search helps find things thare are actually available in Qobuz .. but, bizarrely, don't appear as output of a Qobuz search) .... Anyway, enough rambling. Thank you again for a helpful video ... CMcG, Aberdeen, Scotland .... p.s. for novices, do give MusicBee a go as a first step
Great video. 👍. I'm a newish Roon user and it's really enhanced the pleasure I get from music. Is it expensive? Well in the UK the monthly cost is less than a trip to my local cinema to see one film; less than a round of drinks in the pub; less than a posh coffee and a slice of cake. So compared to other spending on pleasure its a bargain. And as a bonus it just bloody works on my gear without any fannying around trying to get a million settings correct. Highly recommended.
Thanks for the video! Can i ask somthing? I have a HifiRose150 streamer that is roon ready. If i buy an mac mini and innstal roon and roon rock, do i need to conect the streamer and mac, or is this over the network? Best regard Jan Vidar
Very good video. Often wondered about software like Roon, Plex, MusicBee, MediaMonkey and such like and the video explained it perfectly, keep up the good work.
My dac can only do pcm/dsd. Will Roon help with converting quoboz flac to pcm? Also do you think Mqa hardware decoding is better than the Roon software switching would be? Great videos for beginners like me thank you!
Sounds interesting and looks good but I'll stick with Plex. It can play my flac files as well as my video files (movies). It looks goods, sounds great and is cheaper at $5 usd/month. The only thing that Roon has in it's favor is it has more hardware affiliation than Plex. Would love to see say a Bluesound node with Plex integration but they've said they won't go that route. : (
I’ve set up Plex and I’ve been using PlexAmp for about a week. I just setup a trial of Roon this evening. It would be good to understand the real differences between how both programs deal with audio files. I think Roon’s Advance Audio Transport does some tech wizardry that makes a huge difference to how music sounds, especially when it upscales lossy tracks. PlexAmp can’t compete with that “electrickerery”, but it would be good to know for sure.
Unfortunately, Roon cannot play local files if you disconnect from the internet. This is not a good solution for those looking for an offline music solution.
Very interesting. Rather than incurring the expense of buying an additional Mini Mac , could I host Roon on my iMac . And if so , how much space would it take up on my hard drive ? Thanks !
Thanks for this. I’ve not long subscribed to Tidal and it is sufficiently irritating to ensure my main listening will continue to be CDs. I put up with it for portable listening and finding new music to buy on cd, or occasionally LP. Much as I’m sure I would love Roon and it would fix my issues with Tidal, I don’t have a streamer or DAC in my main system yet, so it’s a no for now. Good luck with the channel, I’ve subscribed.
So I'm getting an M10 and it has BluOS. Is having to have a computer on all the time so I can use Roon really worth the switch? The only thing that seems to be Roons advantage (and maybe it isn't much anymore) is the recommendations it makes for music, so I hear. What are your thoughts?
Can I use the usb port in the M10 for my music files, and just my phone for tidal/roon ? If I was to get a iPad for the screen, I could use that as the 'roon' server? And would it recognize the USB files?
Wait a sec! haha...a phone can be the server? Why would they even call it a server. Obviously you're going to need a smartphone, tablet or computer to run an app. Why make this weird distinction? Am I missing something?
Hey, really loving your videos. You presentation style is enjoyable and relaxed, and you make complex things easy to understand. Keep it up! Looking forward to seeing you hanging out with established names in the audio scene.
I have been looking to try Roon for some time but have found limited real info so I have never taken the next step because of the expense. Your video is outstanding and just what I have been looking for. In the mean time I have been using Plex Amp which has worked great for at home and on the go. You mentioned Plex briefly in your video. If there is any chance you could do a review or comparison it would be fantastic. Keep up the great work.
On the Roon can we streaming music from Roon, in Tidal the subscription US$12.98 for Hifi Sound Quality if for the Master Quality Audio have to subscribe the Hifi+Plus US$25.98 so my question for Roon Subscription can we listen the MQA. If Roon provide MQA music I can cancel the Tidal subscription and goes to Roon Subscription tks for your feedback.
4000 cds 68 yrs old I've got what I want I'd go mad digitizing all this, as nice as it would be. If I find something I have to have, I'll buy the digital file, but otherwise, I'm just an old rhino running out of breath. I'm gonna sit this all out. Heck, I've got a Furtwangler "Ring" that hasn't even had the plastic taken off of it. enough is enough This stuff all perishes, I thank the Lord for my cup over flowing with the important things in life.
No mention of how Roon provides no tech support. They expect other users to help you solve your problem on the forums or you have to spend hours reading thru meandering threads to try to solve the issue yourself. Roon's support, or lack there of, is a glaring shortcoming of the software.
Tried to trial this software and couldn't work out how to add my Qobuz integration as it kept on wanting to connect to some server. Uninstalled straight away. Useless software.
I have been using the demo for a few weeks and I just don’t really see the point of it. I’m not understanding why everybody is so in love with it. Not to mention the subscription cost is way too high because of the hardware R&D they had to do. A few notes from my end why it just doesn’t seem to be working for me, I don’t really have an off-line library. All my CDs were scanned when I was a kid and so everything is variable bit rate mp3 because I was an idiot, not thinking of the future. Luckily I still have all the CDs to rip but what’s the point of that when it’s all online to stream. So for me, the file server aspect of it is out of the picture. Not to mention about 85% of the music I listen to in my teens and 20s. I have absolutely zero interest in now. Some of that stuff I haven’t listened to in decades. I don’t really care about Medadata and album covers, etc. I got other things to do besides enjoying the “rich sensory information” while I’m listening. I couldn’t tell you the name, or song names of 90% of the music I listen to. I just hear a song, I added it to my favorites and it just becomes another song in my playlist. Streaming devices also put album art on the screen. With roon , I don’t want to have to worry about if the equipment I’m buying is “roon ready”. And I don’t need bit perfect audio to my echo dots or whatever else I use Chromecast for that’s absurd. And it’s not some miracle you can listen to different music in each room. Been doing it for years with smart devices plugged into good speakers at a good enough sound quality. Remember not everybody’s a 40-year-old bachelor living by themselves with no obligations and unlimited time to engorge themselves in their hobbies. The next thing is this full house audio. I’ve had that under control for years. I don’t need bit perfect audio in my kids bedroom. And nor do I need it in my kitchen or any of the other rooms I have set up. There’s enough ambient noise and im far enough away from speakers that even 128 MP3 is going to sound just fine. Serious listening happens elsewhere. And of course I don’t need another computer running server software 24/7. Although it’s a fun little gimmick to see the signal path after you do it one or two times it’s whatever. As far as music discovery, just keep using your free Spotify account and adding songs to your favorites and it’ll keep generating those lists that you can quickly move over or even synchronize for free if you use Qobuz and free transfer software they give you one of the numerous other providers Sound quality seems pretty nice, but honestly, honestly, it sounds a little bit better coming straight through the streaming service. Everything coming through seems to have a processed sound. The equalizer is pretty good but it’s super annoying that it goes dead quiet every time you make a simple change and can’t listen to it real time. And really really really annoying that it will sit there and play second loop over and over and over again again you’re holding one of the bands down. Not to mention that it’s ridiculous that they’ve taken the time to put all of audeze’s products In the software, but absolutely no other brand and you have to go and dig through forums and try to find a good convolution file that wasn’t created by some 17-year-old in his basement with a shure SM58 microphone. Another annoyances if you’re just listening at one workstation and have more than one audio device sometimes it’ll just decide to start playing the audio stream on your deck, and your system default at the same time. Of course you only hear one stream, but you’ve got two streams pumping And it’s weird to try to figure out how to turn off and when you do it and you’ve got the other playlist you weren’t trying to listen to. The conclusion is that yeah there’s a few nice things but none of it couldn’t be done from other sources. And did I mention you need a freaking server? it cost more than the streaming service and you can’t listen to your music outside of your house what you can simply do is straight from your streaming provider or even from a technology disk station if you listen to your old files. I don’t think it’s a good value because it is wrapping up a lot of features, but it’s all things that you can do already and things we’ve all been doing for years. I think this is for people who love to obsess over things and nitpick whether 26 strand copper cable sounds better than 34 strand copper cable. Have more important things to do in my life than worry about Details that I’m not gonna hear anyway, because of the birds tweeting across the street
This doesn't really explain what Roon is for. I have been listening to music for over 60 years and I have never had any problem finding the music I want to hear.
Main advantages i think Roon has is Roon Radio (great for discovery), DSP and Parametric EQ (also mobile through ARC), extensive information on artist/songs/writers/composers) and the ability to have both your local library (possible on a cheap NUC) and streaming service (Qobuz/Tidal) on the go. So what is Roon for? Well tbh, everything you can think off.
@@endody9519 Thank you for your reply but my catalogue takes me straight to the CD I want and all the information i need is in the booklet. So as far as I can see, Roon adds nothing to my listening experience.
Roon is s good software, but Nucleus is really a disaster, it never works properly, i don’t recomend to buy it as long you don’t want to become crazy and Unless you throw it out the window in an attack of frustration seeing how useless is this garbagge!!
I lost interest when he said 'losless playback' into your phone, iPad or tablet. That simple statement tellls you instantly that he does not understand the benefits of lossless playback. If he's willing to do a 'blind' test in my recording studio, I guarantee he will fail miserably. Losless music has it's place, but it needs high-end digital-to-audio (DAC) converters and high-end amps and quality speakers before you reap the benefits. Nothing like what you get from your typical laptop, phone or tablet. The muic is already compromised before it comes out of thse £4 audio chips. Laptops, phones and tablets aren't produced oi be music playback devices - that's a secondary issue for these gadgets.
This has been the most informative video that I’ve seen on Roon and how it works. Thanks.
I've been using Roon for some months now and found your explanation of and enthusiasm for what it provides enjoyable to watch. A great UA-cam channel and I think it offers someone like myself (a lover of time spent listening to music at decent audio quality) something really worth watching. I hope you keep making the videos and your channel grows in the way you want it to.
Thanks for the kind comments Richard
Hey Richard, do you have any tips for getting started with Roon? What settings should I set to get the best out of it?
Best explanation I’ve seen. Actually the only one that makes sense of it! Subscribed.
Another great video. You’ve explained Roon better than most other UA-cam Audiophile channels!
Wow, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Very informative video, and it's great to hear a British voice. It's could do with updating, particularly given the current situation with the Roon Nucleus One server being available in the EC but not the UK, and Roon seemingly reluctant to quote a UK release date.
I was lucky; I purchased a lifetime subscription in 2019 for $499. It has more than paid for itself. It is like marmite; I love it, some people hate it. I have both a Tidal and a Qobuz subscription. Two sources on my HiFi, a Roon Endpoint, a Topping D90LE DAC, and a Pink Triangle Anniversary turntable, the latter sounding a little better with older vinyl.
Thankyou so much for a great review on Roon ! Like you I can not live without it now !
Thank you so much. I came across the term "roon" in a couple of videos, since I'm trying to get into the whole audiophile scene, as music plays a big part in my life. Your video stated roons functions and purpose and functions quite clearly and easy to understand. I can definitely see the appeal and might consider it in the future, but atm I'm afraid my wallet is a little tied, since I'll be attending uni for the first time this year. Thank you very much tho, you helped me a lot 🖤
Your ending comment about not trying it if you're not in a position to continue using it is so spot on. I'm in process of testing both Audirvana (which I though sounded really good) and Roon. This morning I did side by side comparison's of the same local FLAC and one DSD128 files along with Tidal streaming and there is no question to my ears Roon sounds superior. I'll be staying with the Roon subscription and ordered a NUC PC to start off running Roon server. Great overview of the features, thank you.
Great to hear about your experience, thanks
Outstanding review. One of the best in terms of delivery and accessibility.
Roon radio is getting way better ! I may have only a Tidal account , but i wouldnt have found great stuff without the discovery algorithms. Also, the sound processing at the app level is awesome. Audirvana fans may disagree with me because of the reasoning for the app to force exclusive mode, but i gotta do other things too other than listen to music! Roon passes this test IMO. Great sound processing while doing other things!
Thanks Rishi - totally agree that Roon recommendations seem to be getting better
Love that piece of advice at the end! I did the free trial thing some time ago and almost 3 years later its still in my computer!
Glad it worked for you, I found navigation on their app painful.
This is an excellent overview - many thanks.
6:17 What do you use for speaker in a bath room? I have been looking at Sonos Play 5, however is it good for the purpose?
Bought a new Denafrips Venus II DAC this year for $3K and a lifetime Roon sub for $700. Although the DAC is nice, if I had to choose I keep Roon over the DAC without a doubt. The metadata, the organization of my discs plus the Qobuz library and the top notch and easily accessible sound make it a bargain, a steal!
Best Intro and Overview to the ROON Subject I have found yet - Congratulations
Thanks Wilfried!
totally new to all of this, I really appreciate your explanation
Superb review that was pitched just right for me to understand the difference between a content platform and a discovery platform. Thanks!
Probably the first video I tend to understand what Roon is all about … yet it’s still rather confusing as I have yet to understand if you can actually use a streamer and Qobuz and what is the benefit of Roon and if you actually need Qobuz for using Roon? So confusing Roon, they should explain way better how it actually works with or without a streaming provider.
Hmmm, I thought Roon's aim was to give a vinyl cover like experience; whereas tidal provides: sound stream, name of track, band, and album. I have one off subscription myself running in an LX container. All wired LAN using separate 100Mbit switches throughout. Roon does quite a job of the looking through vinyl covers with a reasonably sized iPad.
brilliant description of a service i haven't quite understood fully, its cleared the fog for me thanks, subscribed, i'll be back...
Very interesting, thanks for this.I will look into this over the next couple of weeks.
Please do! Let us know how you get on!
EXCELLENT presentation!!!! I’m just started the free two-week trial yesterday using my old Sony Vaio laptop and new Bluesound Node 2021👍👍
Great content - thanks for explaining this so clearly!!
Thanks for watching 😃
Roon is great when it works...if support doesn't forget about you, don't be surprised if you wait at least 2 weeks for a response. That's a long time to wait without music.
The forum is full of people who are kind, however when you have a problem, alot of the members will defend roon and more will tell you that you're the problem.
In my case, I read all the roon best practices, run ethernet through my house and had problems.
Edit
I just noticed that one of the features of the new update is they are making roon less network intensive so that tidal can work properly. This makes me chuckle cause one of my main issues has been trouble with Tidal through roon. And the members would say that my network was the problem.
Roon is super cool when it works and super frustrating when you have to spend a few hours troubleshooting solutions.
Suppose you downloaded from web such as Rutracker, YES, Rutracker, files that have metadata but no cover. Can Roon add the right cover art if it is not in the music file?
Wow - you are incredible at explaining at complex process, so very clearly and concisely. Great work thank you.
Excellent and clearly understandable overview of Roon. Thanks
Another great video! Not really in my "need" list right now but I'll keep it in mind as I build out my hifi system.
Definitely worth giving it a try Brianna, nice to hear from you!
Thank you for this great video. Can you load an ISO file containing several DSD files with Roon ?
There are many other options that manage music collections
Roon's main rival is JRiver which manages . . . music, videos and photographs . . . with the added bonus it costs less
Can you also make a video on Audirvana?
Yes, indeed. I'm planning one
one of if not the best videos i’ve seen on room
Is there a monthly fee which will be in addition to my monthly tidal fee? plus hardware?
Thank you for a good intro to ROON. I've had it for six months now and absolutely love it. Yes I am (One of Those) who bought the nucleus and play it through my Naim Unity Atom and Heresy 4 speakers. The only thing I am having trouble with is getting My Apple Music playlist in my Roon playlist. Which I did have at one time. My music tracks are there but no playlist. My Qobuz playlist are. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
You've probably been asked already, but what model are the desk speakers?
I have about 10 thousand lossless albums on my new Roon install, so it’s definitely a great way to help me navigate and discover many gems in this massive collection that I’d likely miss on my own. I just wish you could buy Roon outright for $300 or less. Even then, I’d consider it overly expensive-but worth it.. at over $800, it’s just not justifiable for me … I’ll probably cancel after $45 in payments and go back to using Apple music discoveries to help me manually curate my offline collection. I’ll miss Roon’s dense metadata but Wikipedia is just a click away.
I really like your way of being an audiophile. I would consider myself a pragmatic audiophile as well. I feel like we accept the limitations the hobby is bundled with, but enjoy non the less.
Best regards from Germany, your channel that I newly discovered, is rather enjoyable.
Very helpful video. Thank you. I guess one would need to rip their cds to utilize roon to its full potential - however I recently donated all mine (I may soon regret this - wish I had heard of roon before). My main interest in roon was to display album art etc on my tv while listening to music through tidal etc. are there any other alternatives that could fulfill my needs? Thanks
At home I have Roon endpoint devices such as WiiM pro plus or Raspberry Pi but do I need to have another PC turned on? Is there a “web Roon core”? Think about it, many AI services are online, why not Roon? At home I use cds, vinyl, not ripped to hard drives, and on the go dap with downloaded music. So to have an online Roon at home with Qobuz organized makes me more sense than to depend on an always turned on PC.
But you did not mention that some claim that Roon alter, or compromises the artist initially sound quality - EVEN when the DSP function is switched off! Do you have any comment, or experience on that?
appreciate the video.
thought about getting roon(havent tried it yet).
if you pay for the lifetime cost, it equates to 5.5yrs worth of subscription.
im not a massive fan of subscriptions and think it would ne the better way to go if you think its really how you like to consume your music.
This is probably one of the best videos on room. The sky has the ability to articulate all the features and take out all the bullshit of all the other people during reviews nice job
Thanks Mark
Excellent video summary, thank you for creating this!
Q: what are the necessary specs for a M1 Mac Mini? I’ve seen 16gb as required memory over 8gb. Is that true?
Thanks for your help!
Runs fine on m1 with 8GB👍🏾
Thank you so much, for your very clear and sound explanation. You got me totally enthousiastic about it. First I will get me an ifi streamer as I a total ifi addict and trh out round with my 14TB Digitalised music collection, that surely serves a lifetime but as it is its hardly managable wich will change for the better soon as I came to u derdyand it now. I' ll for sure give you a like and subscribe. Greetz, Rick from Holland, EU.
I guess that this is not a plug and play solution. How long time does it take to configure and set up? Is it easy? Any challenges with software/firmware upgrades?
Thank you for a very helpful / informative video. I have over 150,000 digital files ripped from my CDs over many years. I am not that bothered about streaming around the house but do want good quality for the room I listen in / headphones I use. I have external hard drives for storage and back-up and external USB DAC connected to a Windows 10 PC. For years I used (was very happy with) MediaMonkey v4 (Gold version) ... then came major "upgrade" in 2021 to v.5 ... which killed its usability (it's a wee bit better now but still some way to go). Tried Foobar2000 ... not for me, way too much faff .. Eventually started using MusicBee (slightly steep-ish learning curve re setting your screen layout the way you want but now got the hang of it) ... MusicBee is (surprisingly, given its capabilities) free ... and has become my bench mark for sussing out improvements to MediaMonkey v5 (slowly getting there) and trialling alternatives. I rip CDs separately using DBpoweramp which is great for ripping what you want in the format you want (including the handy "rip as one" capability)... MusicBee reads hard drives very quickly / efficiently and accessing your musuc is fast (best of all products I've used) .. as is editing metadata ... the ability to rip to a temporary location, fix / amend / make all metadata consistent across multi CD album rips then move to the ultimate organised music directory is really helpful for ensuring your library is very well organised. I am currently trying out 30 day Audirvana (Origin) ... not overly impressed ... surprisingly slow to access / sort / find music ... certainly no way I'm going to get it. The best feature I like in it is the ability to "see" what format is being output to your DAC, the auto switch to Exclusive Mode, and clarity re use of accessing / playing HiRes and DSD files. MusicBee (and MM v5) are both much better at finding / sorting your music. MMv5 is actually better at creating playlists compared to others but MusicBee is better at storing them ... MusicBee is also much better at getting music onto your phone / mo3 player / DAP ... I am tempted to give ROON a go (based on your video) but it does seem expensive ... and, ultimately, may not provude any more for my own needs (listening to local music in one place) at this time). I do subscribe to Qoboz and like it quite a bit but, to date, have not yet used it for anything other than listening to albums as / when (in HiRes) and for chwcking out new releases each week / exploring new music ... although its search capabilities could be improved (using USB Audio Player Pro App search helps find things thare are actually available in Qobuz .. but, bizarrely, don't appear as output of a Qobuz search) .... Anyway, enough rambling. Thank you again for a helpful video ... CMcG, Aberdeen, Scotland .... p.s. for novices, do give MusicBee a go as a first step
how does Roon change the sound quality of Tidal? yes i know it has some neat features, but how does it increase the sound quality.
Loving the videos! Make a video about mqa, what are your impressions of it?
Haha thanks. As for mqa, not sure I want to wander into that minefield! To my ears, it sounds ok, no better than cd quality though!
Thanks, that was really informative!
You’re welcome
Really good intro. Thanks!
Great video. 👍. I'm a newish Roon user and it's really enhanced the pleasure I get from music. Is it expensive? Well in the UK the monthly cost is less than a trip to my local cinema to see one film; less than a round of drinks in the pub; less than a posh coffee and a slice of cake. So compared to other spending on pleasure its a bargain. And as a bonus it just bloody works on my gear without any fannying around trying to get a million settings correct. Highly recommended.
Just what I was looking for.
Thanks for the video! Can i ask somthing? I have a HifiRose150 streamer that is roon ready. If i buy an mac mini and innstal roon and roon rock, do i need to conect the streamer and mac, or is this over the network? Best regard Jan Vidar
Very good video. Often wondered about software like Roon, Plex, MusicBee, MediaMonkey and such like and the video explained it perfectly, keep up the good work.
My dac can only do pcm/dsd. Will Roon help with converting quoboz flac to pcm? Also do you think Mqa hardware decoding is better than the Roon software switching would be? Great videos for beginners like me thank you!
Very interesting intro. Many thanks.
Can you plzz tel me ..is this an application for listening songs like Spotify ???
Sounds interesting and looks good but I'll stick with Plex. It can play my flac files as well as my video files (movies). It looks goods, sounds great and is cheaper at $5 usd/month. The only thing that Roon has in it's favor is it has more hardware affiliation than Plex. Would love to see say a Bluesound node with Plex integration but they've said they won't go that route. : (
I’ve set up Plex and I’ve been using PlexAmp for about a week. I just setup a trial of Roon this evening. It would be good to understand the real differences between how both programs deal with audio files. I think Roon’s Advance Audio Transport does some tech wizardry that makes a huge difference to how music sounds, especially when it upscales lossy tracks. PlexAmp can’t compete with that “electrickerery”, but it would be good to know for sure.
Unfortunately, Roon cannot play local files if you disconnect from the internet.
This is not a good solution for those looking for an offline music solution.
for this problem i switched to audirvana studio + plex, very good combination. also roon has a problem with tidal mqa
Very interesting. Rather than incurring the expense of buying an additional Mini Mac , could I host Roon on my iMac . And if so , how much space would it take up on my hard drive ? Thanks !
Definitely! The programme itself doesn’t take up much space but you’d probably want an external HDD to store all your music.
@@AudioFixation Thanks ! I already have the music stored on my 1TB iMac . Cheers !
My ROON setup on an NUC is incredibly stable and never crashes
I downloaded roon for PC a few days ago. It's version 1.8 and there is no Discover tab or option.
Thanks for this. I’ve not long subscribed to Tidal and it is sufficiently irritating to ensure my main listening will continue to be CDs. I put up with it for portable listening and finding new music to buy on cd, or occasionally LP. Much as I’m sure I would love Roon and it would fix my issues with Tidal, I don’t have a streamer or DAC in my main system yet, so it’s a no for now. Good luck with the channel, I’ve subscribed.
So I'm getting an M10 and it has BluOS. Is having to have a computer on all the time so I can use Roon really worth the switch? The only thing that seems to be Roons advantage (and maybe it isn't much anymore) is the recommendations it makes for music, so I hear.
What are your thoughts?
Can I use the usb port in the M10 for my music files, and just my phone for tidal/roon ? If I was to get a iPad for the screen, I could use that as the 'roon' server? And would it recognize the USB files?
Wait a sec! haha...a phone can be the server? Why would they even call it a server. Obviously you're going to need a smartphone, tablet or computer to run an app. Why make this weird distinction? Am I missing something?
11:09 If the delay in the touch of Android itself did not make you a nervous reck already.
Can raspberry Pi be Roon core?
The war on drugs album in the background
What year and spec Mac mini are you using?
2020 M1 Mac mini base model
Hey, really loving your videos. You presentation style is enjoyable and relaxed, and you make complex things easy to understand. Keep it up! Looking forward to seeing you hanging out with established names in the audio scene.
Hey thanks for that! Haha don't see me getting any invitations to hang out with any audio dudes for the immediate future though 😀
I have been looking to try Roon for some time but have found limited real info so I have never taken the next step because of the expense. Your video is outstanding and just what I have been looking for. In the mean time I have been using Plex Amp which has worked great for at home and on the go. You mentioned Plex briefly in your video. If there is any chance you could do a review or comparison it would be fantastic. Keep up the great work.
Thanks, and will definitely be looking at plex in the future
On the Roon can we streaming music from Roon, in Tidal the subscription US$12.98 for Hifi Sound Quality if for the Master Quality Audio have to subscribe the Hifi+Plus US$25.98 so my question for Roon Subscription can we listen the MQA. If Roon provide MQA music I can cancel the Tidal subscription and goes to Roon Subscription tks for your feedback.
3:38 Audio files for… audiophiles 😂
🤣
4000 cds
68 yrs old
I've got what I want
I'd go mad digitizing all this, as nice as it would be.
If I find something I have to have, I'll buy the digital file, but otherwise, I'm just an old rhino running out of breath.
I'm gonna sit this all out.
Heck, I've got a Furtwangler "Ring" that hasn't even had the plastic taken off of it.
enough is enough
This stuff all perishes, I thank the Lord for my cup over flowing with the important things in life.
No mention of how Roon provides no tech support. They expect other users to help you solve your problem on the forums or you have to spend hours reading thru meandering threads to try to solve the issue yourself. Roon's support, or lack there of, is a glaring shortcoming of the software.
that is a very good point - i have to agree that for such an expensive piece of software the support should be better!
The cost is insane for what it is
Please make the how to video to get roon on a raspberry pi
I like this video.
Zero and I mean zero customer service. If something goes wrong you are on your own.
Oh dear - sorry to hear that, and I hope you managed to get your issue sorted through the forum - agreed, customer service could be better
Tried to trial this software and couldn't work out how to add my Qobuz integration as it kept on wanting to connect to some server. Uninstalled straight away. Useless software.
why Roon is expensive? life time cost less than $1000 USD. for audiophile , one speaker cable cost more than $1000 USD
Yes. Wasting money is key element of audiophile hobby
Awesome intro - "hello music geeks". Love it. Yep, that's me
Rock on!
Still expensive
agreed
The prices are going up Jan 1 2023.
yeah - even more expensive - will have to re-evaluate whether it si worth it
I have been using the demo for a few weeks and I just don’t really see the point of it. I’m not understanding why everybody is so in love with it. Not to mention the subscription cost is way too high because of the hardware R&D they had to do.
A few notes from my end why it just doesn’t seem to be working for me, I don’t really have an off-line library. All my CDs were scanned when I was a kid and so everything is variable bit rate mp3 because I was an idiot, not thinking of the future. Luckily I still have all the CDs to rip but what’s the point of that when it’s all online to stream. So for me, the file server aspect of it is out of the picture. Not to mention about 85% of the music I listen to in my teens and 20s. I have absolutely zero interest in now. Some of that stuff I haven’t listened to in decades.
I don’t really care about Medadata and album covers, etc. I got other things to do besides enjoying the “rich sensory information” while I’m listening. I couldn’t tell you the name, or song names of 90% of the music I listen to. I just hear a song, I added it to my favorites and it just becomes another song in my playlist. Streaming devices also put album art on the screen.
With roon , I don’t want to have to worry about if the equipment I’m buying is “roon ready”. And I don’t need bit perfect audio to my echo dots or whatever else I use Chromecast for that’s absurd.
And it’s not some miracle you can listen to different music in each room. Been doing it for years with smart devices plugged into good speakers at a good enough sound quality. Remember not everybody’s a 40-year-old bachelor living by themselves with no obligations and unlimited time to engorge themselves in their hobbies.
The next thing is this full house audio. I’ve had that under control for years. I don’t need bit perfect audio in my kids bedroom. And nor do I need it in my kitchen or any of the other rooms I have set up. There’s enough ambient noise and im far enough away from speakers that even 128 MP3 is going to sound just fine. Serious listening happens elsewhere.
And of course I don’t need another computer running server software 24/7.
Although it’s a fun little gimmick to see the signal path after you do it one or two times it’s whatever.
As far as music discovery, just keep using your free Spotify account and adding songs to your favorites and it’ll keep generating those lists that you can quickly move over or even synchronize for free if you use Qobuz and free transfer software they give you one of the numerous other providers
Sound quality seems pretty nice, but honestly, honestly, it sounds a little bit better coming straight through the streaming service. Everything coming through seems to have a processed sound.
The equalizer is pretty good but it’s super annoying that it goes dead quiet every time you make a simple change and can’t listen to it real time. And really really really annoying that it will sit there and play second loop over and over and over again again you’re holding one of the bands down. Not to mention that it’s ridiculous that they’ve taken the time to put all of audeze’s products In the software, but absolutely no other brand and you have to go and dig through forums and try to find a good convolution file that wasn’t created by some 17-year-old in his basement with a shure SM58 microphone.
Another annoyances if you’re just listening at one workstation and have more than one audio device sometimes it’ll just decide to start playing the audio stream on your deck, and your system default at the same time. Of course you only hear one stream, but you’ve got two streams pumping And it’s weird to try to figure out how to turn off and when you do it and you’ve got the other playlist you weren’t trying to listen to.
The conclusion is that yeah there’s a few nice things but none of it couldn’t be done from other sources. And did I mention you need a freaking server? it cost more than the streaming service and you can’t listen to your music outside of your house what you can simply do is straight from your streaming provider or even from a technology disk station if you listen to your old files.
I don’t think it’s a good value because it is wrapping up a lot of features, but it’s all things that you can do already and things we’ve all been doing for years.
I think this is for people who love to obsess over things and nitpick whether 26 strand copper cable sounds better than 34 strand copper cable. Have more important things to do in my life than worry about Details that I’m not gonna hear anyway, because of the birds tweeting across the street
Use Jellyfin
Sounds far too complicated for me.
Too bad it crashes all the time
My ROON NUC never crashes.
This doesn't really explain what Roon is for. I have been listening to music for over 60 years and I have never had any problem finding the music I want to hear.
Main advantages i think Roon has is Roon Radio (great for discovery), DSP and Parametric EQ (also mobile through ARC), extensive information on artist/songs/writers/composers) and the ability to have both your local library (possible on a cheap NUC) and streaming service (Qobuz/Tidal) on the go. So what is Roon for? Well tbh, everything you can think off.
@@endody9519 Thank you for your reply but my catalogue takes me straight to the CD I want and all the information i need is in the booklet. So as far as I can see, Roon adds nothing to my listening experience.
Way way tooo expensive, only the dsp is the real added value for the kind of pricing.
Roon is s good software, but Nucleus is really a disaster, it never works properly, i don’t recomend to buy it as long you don’t want to become crazy and Unless you throw it out the window in an attack of frustration seeing how useless is this garbagge!!
Mine works great. A shame yours doesn’t 😢
I lost interest when he said 'losless playback' into your phone, iPad or tablet. That simple statement tellls you instantly that he does not understand the benefits of lossless playback. If he's willing to do a 'blind' test in my recording studio, I guarantee he will fail miserably. Losless music has it's place, but it needs high-end digital-to-audio (DAC) converters and high-end amps and quality speakers before you reap the benefits. Nothing like what you get from your typical laptop, phone or tablet. The muic is already compromised before it comes out of thse £4 audio chips. Laptops, phones and tablets aren't produced oi be music playback devices - that's a secondary issue for these gadgets.
Problem is it sounds awful.
Overpriced.
agreed