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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
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 

i have a nuc running the roon os and it has been excellent ... many who use multiuse computers to run roon do report issues that can arise

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jazzman7
348 posts
 

Given that you really like Roon and have already invested in a lifetime Roon subscription, I think it is a relative no brainer to make the further investment in a dedicated Roon server.  A non dedicated device such as a PC is constantly multitasking and monitoring all sorts of things whether you are using them or not. A dedicated, purpose built device is a much better way to go. I suggest looking into acquiring something like a Roon Nucleus or a Small Green Computer Sonic Transporter or some such.  Or if you are handy and tech savvy enough, cobbling together a Roon NUC. A Roon Nucleus has been my ticket to ride since 2019 and in my case the ride has been well worth the fare.

 

erik_squires
16,063 posts
 

First, it’s Gordian Knot. :)

I run Roon on a Linux box and it’s fairly solid. I’m not usually happy with their "upgrades" vs. bug fix choices, but the combination of DSP and more-or-less working search capabilities is pretty sweet.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,213 posts
 

Roon is pretty cpu and resource intensive in general. Check the documentation for recommended specs running on each platform including windows.

I have noted that Roon seemed most resource intensive when I first ran the core and it had to analyze my ~1tb music library initially. Things settled a bit after that which took a few days. There are parms in system menu that allow you to throttle the library analysis if needed.

Now it runs pretty well. It does get hung and require a restart on occasion.

Use the windows system monitor to monitor cpu usage in particular. Roon can really run that hard. If any of memory cpu disk or network monitors stay pegged at 100% for periods of time you probably need a beefier PC. I will probably need up my PC for Roon eventually but it runs pretty well for now.

Read the docs. Use of dsp is another feature that can be resource intensive.

Running on Roon certified hardware like their nucleus is probably a good bet but perhaps just not the most cost effective way to go.

I also run Plex alongside Roon. Plexamp is a decent alternative to Roon that costs less but you get what you pay for in regards to overall sound quality and user experience. Plex is a great option for headphone listening especially remotely but otherwise Roon is much better.  Plex works with your music library and Tidal only and only up to CD resolution. 

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