Roon….The Gordon Knot of concierge musical services?


Not sure what my options are going forward.  Had my Roon server on a windows desktop and bridged to both my I pad and my I phone. Everything worked OK for the most part but had to uninstall and reinstall every once in a while . I updated my desktop to a new unit with Windows 11 and after some wrangling got both my I phone and my I pad to work.  Then, first the iPad lost the core and then the I phone lost it.  I have read and tried everything I can find about permissions, firewalls, bridges etc.

So here are a number of questions:

Throw good money after bad and buy a NUCLEUS?   I currently am using a LUMIN D_2 which I have been happy with.   I was smart enough not to buy a lifetime membership to Roon so is there another music concierge service that links up to Apple products more reliably?  Would the nucleus fix these problems or just create more “R.R.A.”? (Roon Related Animosity!)

OR…….Should I chuck the I pad and switch to Microsoft Surface tablet?  That still wouldn’t fix my lack of connectivity to my I phone.

I have been running Tidal directly to my LUMIN which works but I really miss the concierge look and apps of Roon.  Just have had it with them technically because they are doing more to ruin my musical experience rather then enhance it.

Lastly, would love to connect with any true budding Audiophiles in S.W. Michigan!
Particularly tech savvy ones.

 

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance here.

 

 

katieb

I took the plunge and got a Roon Nucleus+ and enjoy it very much. I think the strength of Roon is how robust their software is, at least when run on the nucleus. Added benefits, you’re able to rip all CDs and then put those in the attic. Another added benefit, the Roon ARC software lets you access your library anywhere you have an internet connection. This is all in addition to seamless integration with all the streaming services, many providing ultra hifi. Is the Nucleus expensive, yes. But considering how much I’ve invested in vinyl and a SACD player, it makes sense to invest in a good streaming platform. 

My PC is just slightly under spec based on Roon published platform requirements. It runs fiine most of the time. But the cpu does get pegged from time to time so I am certain an upgrade on my pc running the core would make things run faster and more consistency. As it stands it’s fast and reliable enough. Sometimes access to qobuz lags a bit retrieving metadata but that’s not necessarily Roons fault.

 

Also there are always apps and services running on Windows that are not needed for Roon alone so shutting those down always helps if needed.

linux is surely a much lighter weight ps for running Roon efficiently but it’s nice that it core runs on windows or Apple ie the computers many people already have.

I’ve had lifetime on Roon since early days on my iMac and it has never given me a moments trouble with my iPhone or iPad.  Not suggesting you go Apple on your core, but perhaps a Microsoft surface with your Windows core will work better.  Good luck whatever you do.

I've had Roon for about six months.  Not being an engineer, the learning curve was a little steep.  But ultimately worth it.  I installed the core on a dedicated MacBook Air (M2) with a 2TB hard drive on which I have my music library.  I also have Roon ARC on my iPad and iPhone 11.  I am able to use Roon ARC at the gym (iPhone) -- a big plus.  All this runs into my Moon390.  I all runs smoothly.  Maybe Apple and Microsoft (and other apps) just don't play well together.

P.S. I recently found about 200+ cassettes from the 1970s and 1980s in the garage.  I bought a $27 "Walkman" on Amazon.  With good headphones (no bluetooth) it sounds pretty good.

 

Is your network in good shape? PC running Roon hard-wired to the router with ethernet? Router, switches, phone, and tablet rebooted? Router settings thoroughly checked? My iPhone, older windows laptop, and NUC running ROCK that replaced it all run fine.