What is Roon?

Sometimes you don't go with the flow, you just go with the flow. Roon, the music manager from Roon Labs, a company led by Enno Vandermeer, is a clear example of this. After seeing how many devices I had in my possession that were compatible with this manager, I started to do some more research on this software and its features.

Roon has versions for Mac, Windows, Android, IOS, Linux and NUC. The system I know best is Ubuntu and I wanted to run the application on it until I discovered that it doesn't have a desktop version and that it is based on a version that is "only" 5 years old... I change my mind and reluctantly install Windows 10 Home on an Intel Core i3 PC, third version, 8 GB RAM, 512 SSD. I use the HDMI output to connect it to the TV in my living room and make the necessary changes so that the operating system goes straight to the desktop without asking for a password, PIN or anything else. Subsequently, the Roon software opens by default without having to interact with the PC at all, beyond pressing the Power ON/OFF button. I control everything with a Samsung A6 (2016) tablet and the Roon APP. The USB v.3.0 is connected to the Teac UD-301 DAC.

I have been to the homes of enthusiasts who use their laptop as a music server and I can't stand it, as the constant, albeit very subtle, interruptions get on my nerves. That's why this computer only has to perform this task, nothing else. I uninstalled as much as possible until I was left with a clean system, you could practically say that it's not good for anything other than running Roon, period. I don't need it for anything else. This means I don't have to turn on the TV to manage it, I don't need a keyboard or mouse.

Bruce Springsteen's main page

Roon is...

It's a music manager to which you indicate the folders, local or remote, that you want it to manage; your streaming subscription to Tidal or Qobuz. Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer are not compatible, so I'll let you know. Once it has this information, it starts to create a database with all your local music. With this information, it searches through your online subscriptions for other groups or music that may interest you. To give a quick example, if I have 3 albums by The Beatles, it automatically interprets that this music is of interest to me and searches for all the albums I am missing through streaming and shows them to me transparently. It indicates to me through a small logo whether that album belongs to my personal collection or is in streaming and on which platform (in the unlikely event of having several). Not only that, it indicates the quality of the versions. This allows you to choose, in case of duplication, which of the two you prefer to be played by default.

Here we see his discography. The duplicate albums are because I have a local copy and I also listen to them through Tidal. Look at the small logo, bottom left.

To test its virtues I chose an album by Bruce Springsteen, "The River". In this case, the streaming version was of lower quality than the one I have, so I marked mine as the default. Under each artist/group entry there is a long biography (in English) as well as entries on the right-hand side of the screen, for all the artists or musicians mentioned, in the style of Wikipedia but with a more elegant presentation. This is where you can lose all the hours in the world, following musicians, their influences, their bands, etc. If you choose someone with a certain reputation, the information is really very comprehensive.

Once the album has been selected, we see information about it and the corresponding tracks.

While the song is playing, you can see the lyrics, and if it's by someone you know, it shows them to you karaoke style, line by line as it plays. Within each album there is also a musical review of it, etc.

You can create your own playlists, in which new songs are suggested to you. And there is also a system for rating each song by users that serves as a guide to "try" the best-known songs by any artist you don't know and want to start with the most famous ones.

Its artificial intelligence for suggesting music and compositions is superior to that of Tidal or Spotify, which are the ones I know best. I have not yet found myself wondering why it is offering me this track. It is very careful, and in my case, the level of accuracy is very high with just a few dozen hours of work.

The software interface is modern and light at the same time, not weighing down either the view or the presence of the really important information. It is very robust and I have not experienced any application crashes so far, either on the server or on the tablet.

Detail of the two versions available.

But really, Roon is much more

If we have Roon-compatible DACs, or active speakers such as the Bowers & Wilkins Formation Duo, to give just one example, we can manage multiple musical environments with the same server and APP, sending each linked element its own musical streaming; transferring it from one place to another when we move with astonishing ease, etc. In other words, the more complex your music system is, the more you'll get out of this program. Currently, there are more than 800 music devices compatible with Roon, and the list keeps growing.

More details of the artists and collaborators on the recording.

And what about Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music?

Simple, it doesn't work. Why? Because Spotify doesn't want it to. We are talking about the umpteenth software war for hegemony in the manager environment. Spotify wants its content manager to be the benchmark and that is why it has enabled a port, Spotify Connect, to connect to devices such as DACs, servers, etc., but it does not want its music content to be managed from another application. Tidal is much more flexible in this respect and allows other music managers to send it orders via APIs to transmit the flow of musical information in the background and the user only sees Roon, in this case. Deezer has a contract with Sonos and only provides its service to this brand. Amazon Music says they want to work on being compatible with Roon, but... they've been saying that for a year now. We'll see.

The lyrics of the song are available.

Online radio stations

Another of Roon's sections is its catalog of online radios. It is really extensive and you can browse through it by musical styles or by geographical areas. But the most fun feature I've found is being able to test the same radio station at different quality levels. Some, not all, broadcast at 64 kbits, 128 kbits and 320 kbits. This reminds us of where we came from and where we are today. I doubt very much that anyone can't tell the difference between 64 and 128 kbits, but if they can't tell the difference between 128 and 320 kbits, it means that their system has a long way to go in terms of improvement.

Different transmission qualities of radio stations.

Price of Roon

At the time of writing this article, we are talking about $9.99 per month in a single payment for one year ($119.88) or $12.99 per month for as long as you want. Whether it is expensive or acceptable depends on several things, first of all, on your personal finances. It acquires its maximum versatility and use if one has a large private collection of recordings in digital storage, a paid streaming subscription and a multi-room equipment configuration. It loses almost all its meaning if one only has one device at home and Tidal, for example, with almost no music of one's own. In this case, Tidal's own application would already have to be enough. Therefore, each person has to assess where they are on the scale and decide what they want to do. And since there's no harm in giving it a try, you can do it for 14 days at no cost.

And another issue that I don't want to ignore. During the trial period, they send you a message every day to your email giving you little tips on how to use the software, but at the end of each day, they remind you that if you don't cancel, they will proceed to charge your credit card for the monthly amount. Giving notice and not trying to charge the first installment without prior notice is something that honors them and speaks highly of their business ethics.