10-Aug-2015, 19:10
(This post was last modified: 10-Aug-2015, 19:24 by Hifi_swlon.)
(10-Aug-2015, 17:45)f1eng Wrote: I am keeping an eye on Roon via their excellent forum. At present nothing I have tried is adequate with classical music and the absence of Qobus, to which I am a new subscriber, is a deal breaker.
I really like their forum too - the developers seem to really want to interact with their user base, so I'd definitely let them know about your classical needs/desires if you haven't already….
Initially Roon weren't considering Qobuz due to its bankruptcy protection, but now they are - apparently it is Qobuz themselves who are making things difficult. As a Qobuz user, you're able to vote for feature requests in the Help pages. The one for Roon integration (which I started incidentally) only needs a few more votes to take it to first place. I've no idea whether or not they're out of bankruptcy protection? They're still going so something must have happened...
Roon are planning to integrate an embedded HQplayer, which I gave up on very quickly due to its horrendous interface and lack of ALAC support, but many say its upsampling is second to none and appears to be the new flavour of the month. Fronted with a GUI like Roon's this could really add a new level. Looking forward to trying that.
The asking of Devialet to integrate Roon seems to have a few prongs. Roon are releasing a 'RoonSpeakers' which is essentially their own network protocol and would be a viable alternative to Air, so they're trying to get manufacturers to adopt it. They have also said on their forum that they offered Devialet assistance in fixing their Air issues - I do believe with their background the Roon guys would have the expertise for this and it wouldn't hurt if someone helped them out. Well, IMO obviously!
The past couple of years I've got a bit bored of my own music collection (recently digitised, I've 800 or so albums), and although subscribing to Qobuz helped, I wasn't finding as much new music as I hoped. Roon, in a matter of days, has changed that for me. The linking to similar artists - from my collection to Tidal - has been fantastic. I'm hoping its not just a new toy I'll get bored of, so far it's the star feature and I've never listened to so much music. But i don't really do classical.
There are a few things Roon won't do which would mean I'd need iTunes in parallel for now, but it replaces Audrvana for me in the short term - gives me a nicer interface, a nicely integrated streaming service (although I'd prefer it weren't Tidal), and options for remote control. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks a lovely iOS remote will appear too, and then I'll be really happy.
>>> 1st Place Award: Devialet, last decades most disappointing technology purchase. <<<