a remarkably basic question about Roon


I'm considering trying out Roon and, despite hours spent on their too-busy website, I'm still not entirely sure what it would do for me. (Trying to get through their "support" section is an exercise in misery all around.) 

Here's my clueless question. I currently stream music through a Bryston BDP. I use the Bryston software, "Manic Moose," on my laptop or phone to create playlists, move between digital sources (flash drive, Qobuz, radio), and as a remote control for volume, song choice, etc. The Bryston software isn't at all elegant but it's functional.

So, if I get Roon, would I be doing the same thing from the Roon app on my laptop or phone? Would I be completely bypassing "Manic Moose"? and doing everything on the Roon app, including such things as volume and song selection? I understand that Roon is an effective organizer of music from multiple sources; is it also a "media player?? (I have a traditional two-channel set-up and don't do multiple rooms.) The Manic Moose software is clunky enough that I'd consider swapping it out for Roon, if that's in fact what I would be doing. 

Thanks! 

northman

My take on Roon is that they've developed some features and functions, and combinations thereof, that are unique and it's the best multi-zone music library software available.

That said, it is also very buggy and flakey, and the Roon development team has some very odd takes on what the software should represent.  Roon was developed on a multi-platform video game development kit and it has its limitations.  This allows Roon to work on many more platforms without dedicated programming for each one, but it also limits what can be done where other software is much more capable.

So, enjoy Roon, and try not to get frustrated when you get in deep and something just doesn't go right, but understand you're not alone.  

Roon is a love/frustrate sort of thing...

And I think that’s the key point here. Some talk about Roon as though it is incredible and god’s gift to music. It’s not. It’s software.
 

Like all software it comes with bugs and like all software the content, process and UI are very personal  things. Some can live with the issues and some cannot. Evangelising helps no-one make an informed decision.

Well done to Roon for spotting the gap in the market but perhaps less well done for not recognising the inevitable shrinking of that gap as manufacturers step into it and for electing to take the traditional route of largely ignoring customer feedback,

Despite protestations to the contrary a user base of 100,000 world wide is very small and shrinking, Assertions to the contrary confuse Roon certification and Ready status with actual users. The numbers of the latter likely do outstrip the number of users and to not very bright people they probably suggest the user base is massive. The reality is no more complex than that of devices which come with Bluetooth. Some manufacturers include it because they think it’s a valuable tool. Others include it because not including it would exclude them from the market space in which they expect to compete. My example would once again include Innuos. Every device they sell works smoothly with Roon. Few Innuos Sense/2.x users will actually be using thar functionality at this point simply because the latter sounds way better. 1,000 sales of a product which Is Roon certified does not equal 1,000 Roon users any more than it indicates 1,000 Bluetooth or Spotify `connect users.

I have no reason to use Roon now. The UI is not especially accessible and the sound quality can’t compete with Sense. However, even if it did I don’t find it’s use of data from AllMusic especially helpful, enlightening or even competent. In the same way Amazon continues to recommend albums to me that I already own, having bought them from… Amazon… the recommendation engine of Roon is basic at best. “Give me less well known and largely mediocre facsimiles of what I already own or have listened to.” For me that’s useless functionality. For others it regains something outstanding. If you enjoy music that you get out of that then brilliant. Each to their own. However, far better to walk into that knowing the reality of it than believing it to be some previously unheralded work of programming genius.

I absolutely stand by my previous assertion re: lifetime membership. There is no software on the planet which will last your lifetime. As several bids to buy Roon have recently been rebuffed and both would have used it to serve only their own product base then it’s a matter of time really. Nevertheless if it represents value to you and you have a lump sum available then go for it.