12-Aug-2015, 20:40
(11-Aug-2015, 17:47)Hifi_swlon Wrote: Hi Vincent, great to hear the thoughts of someone else on a Roon trial….Had a lightbulb moment - I have a rarely used Apple TV in the rack which I cannibalised and plumbed into the optical port of the D200, so I can now abandon Air and use Apple Airplay temporarily for my Roon transport. Been listening for a couple of hours without issue. This will do the job to make an informed decision surrounding Roon, and it can eventually be replaced with a more audiophile solution once one exists!
I'm also loving it, and so far find it pretty good across the board - excellent for a v1 as you say - and those guys don't seem shy about bug fixes/improvements based on user community feedback, so I have no doubts it will get better.
I hear your pain re: Air. 'Ruins the moment' kind of sums it up. Some will leap to its defence and say its problems are due to OS bug's in both Windows and OSX, but that doesn't wash with me. There are countless lines of code in most applications working their way around OS bugs and weirdnesses - its just par for the course. As a developer you either fix the issues and release a new version in a timely manner, or you withdraw it, or say 'only available on Windows 10' or whatever. Anyway, none of that helps you….
I've also been following the Roon forum. iOS is definitely coming this month, along with some other nice features, as per their August product announcement. https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-la...ugust/2931
RoonSpeakers will follow afterwards, and although no-one knows exactly when and in what order - it seems likely from what they've said that Raspberry Pi will become an endpoint option, and I think I saw Squeezebox there too. If by some miracle Devialet adopt RoonSpeakers, we could all (all Roon users anyway) dump Air and go straight into the Dev that way. I've go a RPi 2 just sitting there waiting for a use after some other failed tests, so I'm holding out for the Pi. They did say they've already teamed up with some manufacturers and will announce a list so I guess the micro rendu is one of them? Does it say that one their website?
So, if v1.1 comes out before the end of your trial maybe that will be enough, otherwise I don't think it will be too long before viable low-cost endpoints start appearing - lots of people are in the same boat and they know they need to crack that aspect pronto.
And yes, I found 'focus on similar' weak compared to the 'Similar To', 'Followed' 'Collaborated with' and 'Associated With' sections of the artist info - which are what I use most in my exploration. I'm sure this will be addressed at some point.
Incidentally, I haven't decided whether to take the plunge and buy Roon, although I'm sure I won't want to go back to iTunes/Air after this, or Audirvana+ so I'll have to find a way to justify it - I don't particularly like subscription models as its just another recurring fee in my life, so I'll have to stump up for the 'lifetime'….
Hopefully 1.1 will land any day now, plus the IOS release to complete the picture.
Like you, not keen on subscription type models. However, a lifetime investment in a fickle and somewhat niche market has its own risks... even for a product that clearly has huge potential. One to ponder over the next week or so.
Devialet 200, MacMini, Roon control via iPad, B&W CM10 S2 Speakers.