This. People think Roon is a fancy music player. That’s wrong.
Yes, it plays music, but it’s the wrong way of thinking about it. It’s akin to thinking SQL is just a fancy spreadsheet program.
This is a music server, database, and metadata manager.
I think I have about 1.6TB of music stored on my local NAS. Roon has completely taken away the pain of using a streaming service to fill in the gaps of what I have (or don’t), where it lives, how I use it, etc.
My library is an amalgamation of both local and streaming, and presented in a single streamlined interface, and at any given time I probably couldn’t tell you if I was streaming that music or getting it off my local network. Nor would I care, because the interface is that seamless. Nothing else does that like Roon.
I also have it upsample everything, akin to HQPlayer / Mscaler, and I think it does a pretty good job of that.
So, do I recommend it? Absolutely. Do I think everybody should get it? No. If you don’t have a local library that you need to incorporate with streaming, multiple rooms, and everything else a music database program can manage, then it’s quite a bit of Overkill.
It’s also not something that will run on an iPad by itself. You need to have the core running somewhere. The iPad will provide an interface to that core, and give you all of the controls you need, but it is not a simple standalone program for iPads.
I built 3 “End Points” using Raspberry Pi Zero W kits + SD cards, USB C Phone DAC Dongles & USB C to USB Mini adapters. Roughly $50 each, they could be used as ROON devices or as DLNA / LMS devices as I have done.
I have a Pi 4 Kit ( About $100 from Best Buy ) running LMS for a “core”, again ROON should be easy to put on one.
The overall cost of roughly $250 was quite reasonable for streaming to all my various systems and setup was not difficult at all.
ROON would be way overkill for me, but it may be just what you need.
If you are even lightly skilled with computers and everyday tools, assembling a Pi-based endpoint is straightforward, and can be competitive with “high-end” endpoints. I’m a fan of Pi2AES-based endpoints to drive separate DACs. The Pi2AES measures very well, and sounds excellent, even compared with >$1K devices. For the last few % of sound quality, maybe add a linear power supply, and still stay well under $1K.
But with the right USB DAC (not every DAC has a high-quality USB input, unfortunately), a simple Pi4B is good endpoint and Pi+case+accessories cost ~$100.
TL;DR >$1K endpoints are way overkill in most situations.
One thing a few of you kind folks need to keep in mind, @elliot currently does not have a computer to run Roon Core. The Pi4, while being a great bang for your buck Roon Endpoint is not supported for running a Roon Core.
Wanted to make it clear as the sun should he sign up for Roon and wonder why he can’t install the Core onto a RPi.
The Roon website explains how it functions in very straightforward manner:
Your best option is to buy the NUC as you do not currently have a computer, then perhaps buy a RPi4 and instal ropieeXL to connect as an endpoint for your DAC.
If you are an Apple user @elliot you could also think about picking up a Mac Mini and run that as your roon Core, I believe you could use your iPad pro as it’s monitor or get a less expensive monitor for.your mac mini if you only want to use it for that purpose. This process will be familiar and easy for the most part if you are already in the Apple eco system.
A $200 HP laptop 2 Black Fridays ago was my solution and added an 8 terabyte hard drive. <$400 all together. Got it solely to run my music (Spotify/Apple music library/ Qobuz/ Roon) and it’s been perfect. Serves as my core for my speakers around the house.(Apple HomePods)
Looking at what @MRHifiReviews shared… let me also confirm this. With my laptop as my core I can access Roon from my iPad or iPhone as a controller. Search/Change songs/volume/etc…everything without touching my laptop. Only actually physically use the laptop for non Roon music i.e. Spotify. So you don’t necessarily have to get a Mac product. Roon remote is really well integrated. Even works perfect on my Fiio dap
I run ROON core on a late 2014 mini i5 with 8 GB RAM and the standard hard drive. @elliot Response is adequate. I’m thinking about upgrading because it’s not snappy, but this mini has lots of convenient USB ports. I have several iOS devices as endpoints, it does have it’s own monitor. It also uses SONOS as endpoints.
Note if you connect a BF2 (and I assume most other DACs) to the mini and turn them off for a while, when you turn them on you have to (usually) re-insert the USB or the mini won’t realize it’s back.
Would appreciate thoughts on upgrade for ROON Core and general purpose mobile computing.
As stated above, I’ve got ROON running on a 2014 Mac Mini. With recent disruptions in my life, I’ve tired of taking my 2012 Sager (Clevo) 15 inch laptop, which is as heavy as a brick of depleted uranium with me on the road. I also miss having ROON when I’m traveling. Finally, I have need of a PC to run my work VPN when I’m out. I don’t want our corporate management tools to have a foothold in my home personal, private Mac ecosystem.
Home network has a couple of Windows boxes, a Linux box, Mac Mini, multiple iOS devices and an Android device or two. I’m ecumenical.
I’m thinking of a MacBook Air with M1 chip, 16 meg Ram, 2TB SSD to run my ROON core, and Parallels with Win 11 for ARM to satisfy the VPN needs. I’m trying to verify with work that Win 11 for ARM works for them. Or possibly a similarly equipped MacBook Pro 14 inch with an M1 Pro chip - it has better ports.
I figure this would let me take Roon around with me, should give better performance, and give me basic Windows that can be used as needed. My brick of a laptop can stay doing busy work at home - It’s too old to upgrade to Win 11.
Thoughts? 2TB is biggest SSD or for that matter HD of any sort on the Macbook Air. It’s a significant cost jump the the MacBook Pro and another one to 4 or 6 TB storage on the laptop.
Is everybody’s mind as blank as mine on this question? Did I not ask it right? Am I, as usual, too wordy? It’s not just here. I asked work if they would have a compliance problem running work VPN software as a virtual machine using Windows for ARM 10 or 11 with Parallels for Mac.
If you need a mobile solution I believe you have to go for a MacBook, as you wrote.
Not a fan of Air series, as battery life and duration is a real issue to me.
I’m more into Pro.
Higher cost, wider possibility of storage (official and third party), better (to me) machine and good battery life.
If you need a system for home I can’t recommend enough Innuos.
From 1TB to 8TB, Roon Core, a proprietary user interface that works as fine as Roon (no EQ though, I don’t EQ so not an issue to me).
What are you actually planning on running under Windows 11 for ARM?
You say VPN, but VPN for what?
What’s the actual Windows software you’re going to be running? And is it available as a native ARM version, or are you going to have to rely on x64 emulation?
Also, you know that Windows 11 for ARM is not GA software, right? Microsoft don’t directly sell or license it to end users. You can get it via the Insider program, though there’s no guarantee it’ll remain available.
Thanks, @Torq. The VPN is “F5” and is supplied by my work. It runs on Edge and Chrome. Yes, I’m aware that you use the insider program to get the ARM version of Windows. I plan to continue to use my old, heavy i7 laptop for some time. On Windows, I use far less than I used to. I subscribe to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, and have a non-subscription Acrobat Pro thats a few years old. I use MS Office and various browsers, Brave, Opera, and Chrome. I run the ROON endpoint software, but don’t have to. Not much of a gamer, but I have STEAM, and flight simulator for radio control airplanes.
The F5 VPN is specifically to connect to my work computer.
Yes, I want to ROON to be on MacOS. Not sure if I should opt for more than 16Gb of Ram. Not sure if 2TB would be adequate storage, but my current use is relatively modest. I tend to stream most and download few.
The VPN is only remote access, not going to be running many Windows apps locally. I expect to use it mostly as a Mac/ROON core that I can take with me, with some capability for Windows.
Eventually, when I replace my Sager/Clevo laptop, I’ll probably get a tower, or some PC that is stationary, not mobile.
Presently, I have the MacMini feeding a BiFrost2, which in turn goes to either a Lyr3 or my STAX amp. I would keep the same setup for at home, mostly.
On the road, I generally use a DFC (Dragonfly Cobalt) or my iFi xDSD with future possibilities in the well, future.
Thing is, I’ve got 2 houses, both with Sonos, one with a decent non-Sonos Hi-Fi, and I do like to use ROON with many headphone combinations. So I’m thinking about gaining portability.