Finally some real competition for the WiiM lineup?? 👀

[Brantome]

another cool thing would be deeper integration with shazam/soundhound so that we can get playlists in the WHA automagically. although since shazam is owned by the rotten fruit company - maybe this is a longshot??

My Shazam on my iPad still automatically adds tracks to Spotify in the My Shazam Tracks playlist, has done for years. Guess you could set that as a preset in the WHA

 

[castalla]

I only saw videos on TOTP back in the day and never watched MTV. Do artists still make videos?

There are usually official videos to accompany new releases

Here's one (you'll either like it or loathe it)

 

[Jls]

I think many who see 'Roon Ready' don't appreciate that's just the start or end! You need a Roon Server device and then there's the subscription. And that's before, you activate your streaming service (eg. Tidal) subscription. The Harmon Kardon device is not a cheap endpoint, but is a cheaper (€450) Roon server.

Until this last month, Sonos had the plug n play market with decent hardware pretty much sewn up. A sort of Spring fever madness over an attempt to enter the high-end headphone market coupled with a bungled app update scenario shows just how easily a market advantage can be lost or endangered by bad management decisions.

I wondering if Sonos is contemplating a subscription model.

 

[castalla]

I wondering if Sonos is contemplating a subscription model.

I don't get the infinite regression model for attracting users;

Take out a subscription to ABC in order to utilise a subscription to XYZ...

 

[Jls]

I don't get the infinite regression model for attracting users;

Take out a subscription to ABC in order to utilise a subscription to XYZ...

Isn’t that how Roon works? Disclaimer: I don’t know how Roon works, but it seems to be an organizer/player that requires a subscription, but has no content of its own.

 

[d6jg]

Isn’t that how Roon works? Disclaimer: I don’t know how Roon works, but it seems to be an organizer/player that requires a subscription, but has no content of its own.

Correct

 

[Jls]

Correct

So Roon, at $850, does what the Sonos app used to do, only it still works.
And presumably it has a tag editor that works, and no practical limits on numbers of entries.

And it works with Sonos and non Sonos devices.

So there’s value, if you have the money.

I realize you can make monthly payments, and that’s good, if you wind up not liking it, but it will quickly add up to the lifetime cost.

 

[Achim1811]

Am a little bit annoyed by Roon, the postponed ETA for the One to 30th June 2024
Some will call it the beginning of the end

 

[d6jg]

So Roon, at $850, does what the Sonos app used to do, only it still works.
And presumably it has a tag editor that works, and no practical limits on numbers of entries.

And it works with Sonos and non Sonos devices.

So there’s value, if you have the money.

I realize you can make monthly payments, and that’s good, if you wind up not liking it, but it will quickly add up to the lifetime cost.

I have no idea about the specifics. Don't use it and probably never will. Almost certain it has no tag editor.

 

[Achim1811]

Roon says:
Roon does not alter your files in any way, and there is no way to edit your file tags in Roon. Roon was never designed to be tagging software -- Roon will use the tags as a starting point, after which it will add it's own rich metadata on top. But you can always choose to display metadata from your file tags in Roon.

 

[slartibartfast]

So Roon, at $850, does what the Sonos app used to do, only it still works.
And presumably it has a tag editor that works, and no practical limits on numbers of entries.

And it works with Sonos and non Sonos devices.

So there’s value, if you have the money.

I realize you can make monthly payments, and that’s good, if you wind up not liking it, but it will quickly add up to the lifetime cost.

Roon isn't the only alternative

 

[BrooklynNick]

Harmon Kardon has made an interesting play by buying Roon Labs. They then cheapened their hardware and are now offering a cheap endpoint which requires a Roon subscription.

Harman International purchased Roon, not Harmon Kardon. Two totally different companies. Roon has always required a subscription (with monthly, annual, and lifetime options).

They are now experimenting in the marketplace (see the 60-day trial on this forum) to see if they can get other manufacturers to grow their subscription service.

Roon has offered free trials since day one. You can get one right from their website without buying any hardware: https://roon.app/en/

 

[castalla]

Isn’t that how Roon works? Disclaimer: I don’t know how Roon works, but it seems to be an organizer/player that requires a subscription, but has no content of its own.

Like I said - I don't get it. Let me give you money, so I can use your system to access another outfit which charges me more money...

 

[castalla]

Harman International purchased Roon, not Harmon Kardon. Two totally different companies. Roon has always required a subscription (with monthly, annual, and lifetime options).



Roon has offered free trials since day one. You can get one right from their website without buying any hardware: https://roon.app/en/

I thought it was Samsung who ultimately bought Roon?

 

[BrooklynNick]

You don't *need* to buy a Nucleus or other server for Roon. If you have a computer that is always on, you can use it as your Roon server. I personally use an Intel NUC as my server running Roon ROCK.

I really like Roon for two main reasons:
- I now have reasonably priced (IMO) audio serving every room in my house plus every phone/tablet.
- I have a large collection of ripped CDs and a large set of favorites on Tidal. I don't need to know or care which is which for playback. They are seamlessly combined into a single collection.

It is not for everyone. They don't support most streaming services. It is not inexpensive. If you don't have ripped CDs, you might be better off just using Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, etc.

 

[slartibartfast]

Harman International purchased Roon, not Harmon Kardon. Two totally different companies. Roon has always required a subscription (with monthly, annual, and lifetime options).



Roon has offered free trials since day one. You can get one right from their website without buying any hardware: https://roon.app/en/

According to this they aren't totally different companies.

Harman International - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[BrooklynNick]

I thought it was Samsung who ultimately bought Roon?

Officially, Roon is now part of Harman International. However, Samsung owns Harman International, so that is not inaccurate.

 

[BrooklynNick]

According to this they aren't totally different companies.

Harman International - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Harman Kardon and Roon are both owned by mega conglomerate Harman International which owns many brands. Harman Kardon has no role in running Roon.

 

[castalla]

You don't *need* to buy a Nucleus or other server for Roon. If you have a computer that is always on, you can use it as your Roon server. I personally use an Intel NUC as my server running Roon ROCK.

I really like Roon for two main reasons:
- I now have reasonably priced (IMO) audio serving every room in my house plus every phone/tablet.
- I have a large collection of ripped CDs and a large set of favorites on Tidal. I don't need to know or care which is which for playback. They are seamlessly combined into a single collection.

It is not for everyone. They don't support most streaming services. It is not inexpensive. If you don't have ripped CDs, you might be better off just using Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, etc.

OR the free Lyrion Music Server on a €35 raspi - does the same streaming & local files integration, plus a lot more.

 

[Jls]

I might get some grief for this, but the Sonos app used to do this. I could build playlists from my home library, plus anything from any service.

Nothing of what I built is gone, and there’s a third part app that still works with my playlists.