Roon

[Time2Jet]

Full Disclosure:

 

I am a Roon Dealer:

 

I’m fascinated by the whole platform in general. Not sure there’s any thing as good out there right now for those of us with large digital music collections. It severely enhances the experience metadata-wise. It also is amazing for simple streaming, albeit streaming is currently available only with Tidal and Qobuz. And again, the metadata and audiophile formats that will steam is unparalleled.

 

For me the big sales was the ability to integrate blended audio systems (Sonos). Caveat: there is an issue with grouping zones in the C4 driver right now, but after 18mos, I finally got them to move on it and it’s allegedly getting resolved finally.

 

If you use my link to trial and decide to subscribe (and decide it further integrate), I will sell Nucleus hardware to forum members at a deep discount. That info stats here, please. PM me for details.

 

Here’s a link to the trial. Worth a look, if you are an audiophile or are looking for and amazing metadata-rich interface. Some members are using right now, despite the break that caused issues with zone grouping.

 

https://roonlabs.com/r/RQeEz3CN30ulNwifCuTtNg

 

Thanks guys. I’m passionate about it, as is anyone that has subbed. Give it a go, don’t need the Nucleus until you integrate. It works fine with a laptop as the core.

 

 

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[South Africa C4 user]

@time2jet - so I’ve heard of Roon.  I love the Tidal integration.  What does Roon give me that I don’t get already using Tidal with Control4.

Sorry! Probably a dumb question!

[Gary Leeds UK]

For a sonos user its good -  Very Good - also allows you to connect to other devices 

It does have a issues grouping rooms (FROM A C4 TOUCHSCREEN) which is not a issue for us - But its still very good

been looking at for room  while and just waiting to see how the new Sonos software works in June. 

[Time2Jet]

Full Disclosure:

 

I’m not really trying to make this a sales pitch, but as a reread it, it comes off that way. It is really meant as an offer to help out forum members here that fall in love with it as I did. My company became a Roon dealer (which is good news for all of us because it means anyone looking to integrate via a Nucleus can buy through me (deeply discounted to fellow forum members). As [mention]DLite [/mention] is a power user and loved it, I’m hoping he comments and shares his enthusiasm. He integrated with a Nucleus and was part of why we added the product line. For C4 Sonos users or those of us with blended systems, as well as audiophiles and people who have large catalogs of digital music on NAS, you’ll be blown away. We became a dealer because of the fact that a large focus of our business model is very high end HiFi clients that have been here for 40+ years. It’s an audiophile’s dream, as well as a fantastic solution for Control4 blended WHA systems.

 

CAVEAT: As of about 18 mos ago, the driver broke and will not allow zone grouping in C4. All of the other features work wonderfully. Roon’s techs were getting cases, but frankly WERE more focused on the quality of the sound formats and the whole metadata experience than they were integration... until NOW! I was able to get the lead tech and their driver people on board as well as the CEO’s wife and the NSM to make it a priority fix the zone grouping. We all expect or will be fixed soon. They are really a group of very helpful, brilliant genuinely great people. So, the product has very good support. I don’t know who else here has integrated other than [mention]DLite [/mention] I’m sure he can add to his experience with Roon. I know [mention]Gary Leeds UK [/mention] did a trial and liked it.

 

Here’s a link to a trial. You don’t need to have a Nucleus to use Roon, but it’s aside from having the ultimate metadata support and plays the very highest quality of formats, it also helps with VERY large catalogs of NAS files spread out over several. Note that a Nucleus is required for C4 integration. A normal user would simply need only a laptop to use as the brain.

 

https://roonlabs.com/r/RQeEz3CN30ulNwifCuTtNg

 

It can it hurt to trial it. That’s how I fell in love with it.

 

Again, I’ve made it clear we are a dealer, but I legitimately love the platform and will take good care of you guys price-wise. If you go this direction, we will include remote integration. Most of the remote guys here can also integrate it, the driver is pretty explanatory and I’d be standby to help.

 

 

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[DLite]

Happy to echo @time2jet's enthusiasm.  I have a Nucleus+, along with a full Sonos system (12 zones).  The iPad and PC/Mac Roon app interface is like nothing else I've experienced -- imagine flipping (virtually) through the pamphlets in each of your CDs, if those pamphlets were fully linked to music reviews, musician bios, and Wikipedia entries.  You can get pleasantly lost in all of Roon's interesting reviews, bios, and other content -- it really helps bring the music to life.  Roon also has very useful tagging and bookmarking features to help you organize your collection however you like.  It also integrates your local library with albums you favorite from Tidal and Qobuz -- it's easy to switch among different album versions, and to tweak the meta data right from the app, if you are as OCD about that stuff as I am.   

In addition, Roon's recommendation engine is really excellent.  It does a great job suggesting new Tidal and Qobuz releases that you might be interested in, as well as other albums related to the one you are listening to at any given time.

Roon also plays nicely with a variety of non-Sonos types of gear.  For instance, I do have one non-Sonos zone, which is a ProJect DAC high-resolution streamer.  It's cool to stream Tidal Masters and Qobuz high-resolution files to that unit.  As a related matter, if you like playing with detailed Digital Signal Processing (DSP) features, Roon makes this process pretty intuitive and powerful.

The zone grouping issue mentioned above is a bummer, but @time2jet has made some progress on this with the powers-that-be.  Maybe we'll finally see a fix to that.  For me, this is really the only negative.  

My dealer gave me a Nucleus unit to test out, and I was hooked within 24 hours.  If any of this intrigues you, give it a shot.  You can download the Roon software and install on a PC, Mac, or iOS, to try it out.  If you like it, the Nucleus hardware significantly upgrades the experience by giving you always-on functionality and Control4 integration.  (If you are running multiple grouped zones from Roon, you'll probably need a Nucleus unit to handle all the processing, but I'll defer to the experts on this technical issue.)

 

[PorterTX]

@time2jet can you post any screenshots as to how Roon and C4 integrate?  I have been following Roon for a little while and it is definitely interesting and something I might like to potentially incorporate into my system in the future. 

[elee532]

Roon user here with a Nucleus and the Roon C4 driver. Roon really is an awesome app for managing your music library, integrating it with Tidal or Qobuz, exploring album and artist info, and more. The employees and Roon community are great too!

I was the guinea pig for my dealer with a Nucleus/C4 setup. Wish l had known about your discount @time2jet.

My only disappointment is that the Roon C4 driver doesn't integrate with the C4 on screen display, and thus I can't use it for those times when I just want to navigate with my SR-260 remote. 

[Time2Jet]

My only disappointment is that the Roon C4 driver doesn't integrate with the C4 on screen display, and thus I can't use it for those times when I just want to navigate with my SR-260 remote. 


I’m not sure what you’re saying. I have perfect OSD control with Roon in C4.


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[msgreenf]

Sr260 is the list navigator not osd.

[Time2Jet]

Sr260 is the list navigator not osd.

What is the issue though Mitch? I have access to Room via every interface, SR260 included. I might not get cover art on the SR, but it’s LED. I’m just confused as to what the OP is missing that he’d like to see.


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[msgreenf]

What is the issue though Mitch? I have access to Room via every interface, SR260 included. I might not get cover art on the SR, but it’s LED. I’m just confused as to what the OP is missing that he’d like to see.


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Idk. Never used roon. Just pointing out that remote uses list nav

[elee532]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant my TV screen, not the screen on the SR260. I want Roon to display on my TV so that I can navigate the Roon C4 interface using the SR260. Am i making sense?

[msgreenf]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant my TV screen, not the screen on the SR260. I want Roon to display on my TV so that I can navigate the Roon C4 interface using the SR260. Am i making sense?

You want roon to use the msp osd

[PorterTX]

I am still trying to work through in my mind the setup and how Roon flows through the system.  I have an Oppo 203 which I believe is considered a Roon endpoint correct? If that is the case and if I had a Roon Nucleus would I select the Oppo as my source (which is connected to my Control4 Audio Matrix) and then I would play my streaming service or stored music to any room through the Oppo like I would a normal CD?

[Time2Jet]

In simple terms, Roon endpoints are “speakers”. Sonos is a type of endpoint, as would be airplay devices and other RAAT type devices, etc. The Oppo would be a source. The Nucleus takes the source “files” or streams and via the network manages the formats and metadata and passes that out in the fashion an endpoint can understand. The interface basically is a beautiful visual of the metadata.

Right now Roon has issues with zone grouping in C4, but that’s being worked on by the Roon engineers.

It’s actually a quite amazing platform that was originally targeted to audiophiles, but the rich metadata and its ability to integrate with control systems makes it that much more attractive to regular users. At the end of the day, most users only require the Nucleus versus Nucleus plus, but either way the cost is very reflective of its overall benefit and value.


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[elee532]

6 hours ago, msgreenf said:

7 hours ago, elee532 said:

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I meant my TV screen, not the screen on the SR260. I want Roon to display on my TV so that I can navigate the Roon C4 interface using the SR260. Am i making sense?

You want roon to use the msp osd

Hi @msgreenf. What is "msp?"

[msgreenf]

Media services proxy

[elee532]

2 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

Media services proxy

I'm not sure what that means/does. But, I'm sure you're correct. LOL!

[elee532]

Here's a bit more on my setup... my C4 controller (EA1) and Roon Nucleus are both connected to my Denon AVR. If I connect the EA1 directly to my TV (actually an Epson projector) and keep the Nucleus connected to the Denon, then I do get the experience that I am seeking.

So that leads me to two questions...

1. Is there any downside to having the EA1 connected to my TV instead of my AVR?
2. How big of a project is it to reprogram my system if I change the EA1 connection like this?

Thanks!

[Amr]

12 hours ago, elee532 said:

Here's a bit more on my setup... my C4 controller (EA1) and Roon Nucleus are both connected to my Denon AVR. If I connect the EA1 directly to my TV (actually and Epson projector) and keep the Nucleus connected to the Denon, then I do get the experience that I am seeking.

So that leads me to two questions...

1. Is there any downside to having the EA1 connected to my TV instead of my AVR?
2. How big of a project is it to reprogram my system if I change the EA1 connection like this?

Thanks!

You need a dealer for these tasks.

[Amr]

I’m following Roon since the very early beginning, even before they come up with their own hardware, I still can’t swallow 2 grands for browsing music! Maybe if I got a large bonus will consider one, maybe ...

[elee532]

1 hour ago, Amr said:

You need a dealer for these tasks.

I understand that. I was just hoping to get some insight on feasibility and scope of the project to decide whether I want to engage a dealer.

[elee532]

1 hour ago, Amr said:

I’m following Roon since the very early beginning, even before they come up with their own hardware, I still can’t swallow 2 grands for browsing music! Maybe if I got a large bonus will consider one, maybe ...

I upgraded from hosting my own Roon core on a Windows 10 PC to the Nucleus. The stability of a dedicated Core device has been nice... Though agreed $1,300 for that stability (and a beautiful piece of gear) was definitely a luxury spend.  

[Amr]

27 minutes ago, elee532 said:

I upgraded from hosting my own Roon core on a Windows 10 PC to the Nucleus. The stability of a dedicated Core device has been nice... Though agreed $1,300 for that stability (and a beautiful piece of gear) was definitely a luxury spend.  

Enjoy it, it’s is a beautiful piece, so are u on a lifetime subscription as well?

[Time2Jet]

As I mentioned, strangely there isn’t that much markup, but I am offering the Nucleus & Nucleus+ at a discount to forum members. I can definitely see why a dealer might shy away from carrying them as they sell direct via Amazon and only allow the dealer a very small markup. But they have good support and a very nice system. Please PM me if interested. Thanks guys.


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