Official Roon User Impressions Thread

[gnan]

If you haven't tried Roon yet, why not? Seriously, I want to know and I want you to let me do something about it :-)

 

Danny, I haven't tried Roon because it doesn't tick enough boxes.

 

You only support Windows and OSX. My music server runs Debian. So:

 

I don't want to have to turn on a computer to play music.

 

I want players that are purpose built - if your player software will be available on commercial products as well as DIY on RPi or similar that would be ideal.

 

I want to control my music from either my iOS device, Android, Chromebook, IR remote or computer.

 

I want to be able to sync players.

 

I want fully customizable personal radio.

 

I want something other than Tidal. IME their service is unreliable.

 

My current music player ecosystem already provides a gateway to AMG data. Definitely not as pretty or with as many hooks as Roon, but it checks all the above (and is free).

[One and a half]

 

snip : I have been waiting for an alternative to JRiver I find the attitude of that company very hard to stomach.

 

Amen to that.

[dannyroonlabs]

Amen to that.

 

What's the issue? They seem really friendly on their forums.

[Zakus]

I love your amazing software so much that after 2 days into my free trial have subscribed.

 

However last night I felt something wasn't right in a piece of music and did my first A/B with A+. What was muddled and unpleasant made sense with A+. Further A/B testing I generally found A+ more detailed with more space around different sounds. Some sounds that in Roon were just in the background and perhaps muffled in A+ were clear and separate. I do not use any DSP tweaks in A+ and exclusive mode is enabled in Roon.

 

I know it doesn't make sense but neither does A+ sounding better without iTunes integration.

 

I know you are talking to the author of HQ player perhaps you should also talk to Damien of A+.

 

Anyway I still think Roon is as Chris puts it "a game changer" and look forward to its evolution over time.

[sdolezalek]

I have quite the same response. I actually renewed my Tidal subscription because the Roon integration made it far more valuable than it was standing alone. The integration of making my own library much more interactive and then adding all of the Tidal content as an overlay means that I absolutely love Roon as a software tool.

 

However, in playing Roon versus Audirvana through the same DAC through the USB outputs of my computer, I can report the same sound quality differences. In some ways Roon sounds like the very first release of A+. With each subsequent release Damien somehow removed layer upon layer of whatever was affecting the sound. I haven't tried the comparison with HQ Player yet, but inasmuch as I prefer both it and A+ over JRiver, I would expect similar differences here.

 

Most of us here had the patience to subscribe to and follow the development of A+ for more than a year and I certainly have bought into the benefits of Roon enough that I too subscribed just a few days into my free trial. It is a terrific piece of work and I really appreciate how actively you have interacted with the community here. Hopefully, we can collectively progress these great pieces of software into something that truly is the best of both worlds.

[gldgate]

Overall I think it is a good first step that shows promise. The classical genre needs work and of course support for Asio and DSD would be very welcome. None the less, Roon enriches the musical experience, leading the listener through all sorts of musical back alleys that can often lead to wonderful new discoveries. Some think it too expensive but for the price of one download a month it seems reasonable to me. Paired with Tidal I am having a lot of fun exploring.

[One and a half]

What's the issue? They seem really friendly on their forums.

 

Sore point. Won't discuss too much in this thread, the results are thrashed out here and there. There was another thread started by Jriver advocating bits are perfect when controlled by software, that opened a real can of worms, but I can't find this.

[eternaloptimist]

..... AND .... to get this thread back on topic -- have you played with Roon?

 

Besides SQ and the "prefer local metadata" feature, what other feedback/impressions do you have? We want to improve this stuff and we need your feedback. I know a lot of you want hardware support too. Hardware guys move slow due to the nature of their business and product lifecycles, but it's coming.

 

If you haven't tried Roon yet, why not? Seriously, I want to know and I want you to let me do something about it :-)

 

Hi Danny. I'm excited by Roon, but am holding off the trial until the iOS control app is out. I have a headless Mac mini to USB DAC as endpoint and would rather not keep using VNC.... If the trial time were to include a couple of weeks with the promised iOS control app I would have signed up day one.

[PNCD1]

More importantly, we NEVER throw away your groomed data. Our database is structured as 3 layers:

 

1) your directory/file structure + file tags

2) the metadata from our metadata servers

3) edits you make to the metadata

 

You see the data from #3, and if it doesn't exist, you see #2, and if that doesn't exist, you see #1. This is not done as a whole, but on a field by field basis.

 

#3 isn't really exposed right now, and we are working on a full database editor that will let you create your own works, performances, etc, and edit pretty much any piece of data you see.

 

#2 is what you are complaining about. The feature I'm actually working on at the moment lets you reverse the priority for certain fields of #1 vs #2. For example, right now, if you get a metadata match with our servers, we hide your album title and artwork. This new option will let you keep our credits data, or classical composer/work/performance structure, but use the album title + artwork from your tags.

 

I agree that this is what is needed, Danny, I would note that you may be surprised at just how many fields users will want to have control over: all! That control may be to use #2 if #1 is not available or to use #2 even if #1 is available. You may also find that this preference is conditional: on obvious example might be field preferences for classical/opera versus pop.

 

I appreciate your keen sense of pride in your accomplishment with Roon but you may have misjudged the needs of the "audiophile" community versus the mass market. We have used our primitive tools for years to get what we needed and one thing we do not need is someone scrambling everything we are familiar with. Your Meridian credentials give you great credibility but I would understand if your first priorities were to focus on the broader market. Why not?

 

You will also find that there is no consensus on SQ. It is the reason that the audiophile community is not dominated by one computer platform, one player, one network standard, one DAC etc. Some feel passionate about their ability to master the audio replay chain.

 

I am keen to see how this story will play out.

[Duke40]

If you haven't tried Roon yet, why not? Seriously, I want to know and I want you to let me do something about it :-)

 

From the CA video, I really love the UI ... just holding off until the RoonSpeakers iOS app is released ... just hope the introductory offer lasts that long. The ability to turn an iPad into an endpoint, well, I think this RoonSpeakers is very innovative.

 

RE "I want you to let me do something about it :-)"

... Oh, you already are ... it is good to see that you guys are working with Auralic ... I'm looking into getting an Aries.

[OneHandWaving]

Well, I signed up to the trial, but I think I'll be cancelling before the end of the 14 days.

 

I appreciate that aspects of the interface are better than say iTunes, but personally (and it's a personal thing) I don't think it's worth $120 a year, every year.

 

The are some things that bug me. Why the mix of horizontal and vertical scrolling? Was it just to differentiate itself from other media players? I'd like smooth vertical scrolling rather than the page at a time horizontal scrolling when working though albums.

 

Why can't I start an album at a selected track? What seems to happen is that it plays the track I've selected, and then continues with another track from a different album - I'm assuming it's doing some kind of match based on genre. If I select track 3 to play, I'd like the program to play track 3, then 4, then 5 etc. If I'm missing an option for this I apologise, but I haven't found it.

 

Why when I say I want to play an album does it then come up with another screen asking me to confirm that I want to play the album? If I've selected 'play the album', I'd expect it to do just that.

 

When an album's finished why does it then immediately play a random track from another album? Again I suspect it's based on the genre of the original album, but I don't want it to do this. When an album finishes I want silence until I select the next piece of music I want to listen to. Again, apologies if there's a setting to stop this from happening.

 

Viewing genres gives some amusing result. For example Sir Georg Solti comes under 'Latin'. and Keith Jarrett under 'Vocal' (maybe that last one is a joke).

 

I have no interest in Tidal as I have a Qobuz account. Are there plans to incorporate other streams, if so which ones?

 

Sorry if the above seems negative. I appreciate that it's a v1 product, it's just that I can't justify the ongoing annual cost of running the software as things stand.

[Distinctive]

I have been browsing this thread, but haven't found an answer to the following; How sensitive is Roon to bad library tagging? I am hesitant to do a lot of manual edit of my metadata and had a hope that a system came along that fixes it beyond just getting an album art. Maybe a pattern recognition system could do the trick (more like a silent version of Shazam).

Is a proper Editor in Roon's development pipeline?

[Audio_ELF]

Is a proper Editor in Roon's development pipeline?

From what I have read/recall, yes.

[sdolezalek]

One comment I would make to those thinking about trialing Roon and some of those who have commented negatively after giving it a try: This is a MUCH more ambitious and complete library management tool than anything else on the market. Especially when coupled with Tidal it allows you to explore your tastes and your existing collection in ways that will take real time to learn to fully enjoy. As a result, its flexibility and capabilities can be overwhelming at first. And, because it does so much, there will be more little things to fix than on less complex software.

 

For those thinking about a trial, I would recommend finding a weekend where you can spend enough time with it to really learn about how powerful and flexible it is and take advantage of Tidal's free trial to trial both together. The combination probably isn't for those who want the mindless ease of a Pandora or Spotify, but it absolutely is for those who really want to explore the range and limits of their musical tastes.

[magicknow]

Sore point. Won't discuss too much in this thread, the results are thrashed out here and there. There was another thread started by Jriver advocating bits are perfect when controlled by software, that opened a real can of worms, but I can't find this.

 

My Issue with JRiver is that they will censor posts they don't agree with, About a year ago a number of us found that the SQ of V19 had a decided decrease in SQ. they would not allow any posts to discuss it. A while later SQ improved again. Not to mention the thread mention above with Jim insisting that bit perfect was bit perfect in spite of very reasonable evidence to the contrary. In summary they do not seem open to healthy discussion on issues that they disagree with. I like dealing with companies that are open to constructive criticism. Roon certainly appears to open to various opinion and views. I am excited about the product.

[magicknow]

[quote=dannyroonlabs

 

Danny will you be demoing Roon at the THE Show in Newport? If so what room?

[Markhh2]

I'm gonna wait till the iOS app is launched. That's how I control my PC and I don't think using it via splashtop will be a fair trial. I'll echo the concern re: lack of ASIO driver support but I'll wait to try it before I make a final decision.

[mevdinc]

I welcome Roon, there was truly a need for a great piece of user friendly and clever library management/browser software. Although I have not tried it yet it seems to be a great client software but lacking quite a bit on the playback functionality (missing ASIO and DSD support from day one) and, of course, the all important sound quality.

 

We all spent a lot of money and time on finding the best playback software in Audirvana+, HQPlayer and JPlay.

A lot of us are using and more importantly are very happy with the optimised sound quality of our playback engines.

I believe it would be fantastic for Roon to allow the successful playback engines to integrate with it! This would be similar to what happened in the 90s in the gaming industry. Some people created some clever 3rd party game engines which allowed the game designers/coders to concentrate on the actual development of the games rather than coding their engines.

 

This approach would probably increase the sale of Roon and also allow the likes of Damian and Miska to continue to work their magic and give us better SQ. This way the Roon the team would concentrate on improving the UI, UX and streaming integration and other nice things, which to me should/could be the biggest selling point of Roon.

 

I know it's a long shot and wishful thinking on my part but I'm sure there are quite a few here on this forum agreeing with me.

I do hope the Roon team would take notice of this suggestion, and wish them luck with their software!

 

Happy listening to all.

Mev

[eligeorgia]

Roon Trial just setup and downloaded on my Macbook Pro. It has indexed my NAS library successfully and is able to play on my computer. My Tidal account login and integration went smoothly too, and I can play Tidal as well.

 

I want to stream through my Aries, and know that real integration isn't available yet. But I should be able to play through my Aries via Airplay right?

 

I have my Aries set to Airplay. Roon has the standard "System Output" icon, and I would think that if I click it, and look for any available "network devices" the Aries would show up.

 

If, for example, I am using my Tidal iPad app, and want to access the Aries for Airplay, the Aries DOES show up as a selection option, but it's not showing up in the Roon software.

 

I've probably missed an answer for this somewhere earlier in this thread or an Aries thread, but I figured I'd ask again and see what I'm missing.

 

Thanks in advance!

[dannyroonlabs]

I have my Aries set to Airplay. Roon has the standard "System Output" icon, and I would think that if I click it, and look for any available "network devices" the Aries would show up.

 

I've put this up on https://community.roonlabs.com/t/issue-finding-aries-airplay/946 -- please check that out.. I'd rather not clutter up this forum with tech support :-)

[robbbby]

I have been browsing this thread, but haven't found an answer to the following; How sensitive is Roon to bad library tagging? I am hesitant to do a lot of manual edit of my metadata and had a hope that a system came along that fixes it beyond just getting an album art. Maybe a pattern recognition system could do the trick (more like a silent version of Shazam).

Is a proper Editor in Roon's development pipeline?

 

Roon works awesome if you have neglected to tag your library or have bad tags. Even if your library has no tags, Roon can get all the info it needs based on folder name and the filename of the songs in that directory.

[eligeorgia]

I've put this up on https://community.roonlabs.com/t/issue-finding-aries-airplay/946 -- please check that out.. I'd rather not clutter up this forum with tech support :-)

 

No worries. Thank you Danny.

 

Regarding your offer to another forum user to honour the discount prior to the end of 14 days, if he chooses to "commit" before that time, you told him to email you directly and you would take care of it. I am curious if that offer still stands, and if it does, is your email simply [email protected]?

 

Thanks!

[dannyroonlabs]

No worries. Thank you Danny.

 

Regarding your offer to another forum user to honour the discount prior to the end of 14 days, if he chooses to "commit" before that time, you told him to email you directly and you would take care of it. I am curious if that offer still stands, and if it does, is your email simply [email protected]?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, but you should contact [email protected] -- my response time is spotty right now as I'm on baby duty with my 4 month old this weekend.

 

The intention of the 10% off was a thank you to those who would be willing to commit immediately, but we understand that it's reasonable to want to try it out first. These are our first paychecks, and we have bills to pay, so anything to get the cash flowing is good for our little startup :-)

[eligeorgia]

Wow...4 month old! Congratulations!

 

I'll say here what I just said to you over on the Roon Forum. I am extremely impressed by your responsiveness, especially on a Sunday and ESPECIALLY while on baby duty!!

 

Thanks for the great support. My first impression is you guys are seriously on the ball!

[ted_b]

Spotty? Hardly...but realize that if you respond in 5 minutes the crowd will then expect 2.5 minutes.

 

Roon support has been great, especially to us on CA! Thanks for all this.