Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Is Roon Doomed Like Sooloos?

Thanks to SpinalTap for drawing my attention to AssetUpnp.

I have been keen on dBpoweramp for years but was unaware of Illustrate’s latest offerings. I do not have Roon because its cost is high for marginal gain if you have Sooloos (which I do). Besides, Sooloos for me was always as much about neat hardware as well as the software. However, with the rapid changes in the streaming marketplace for hardware I can completely understand Meridian’s withdrawal from proprietary hardware to well priced, high quality more generic hardware even if it doesn’t have the design brilliance that in my view made M’s name as much as the great sound quality.

But, Roon is just software and expensive at that (their hardware seems rather late to market and not that distinctive). AssetUpnp seems to offer Roon like capability (and a Sooloos substitute) at much lower cost and with Illustrate’s long track record of continual development to add comfort when viewed as a buyer, together with wide hardware flexibility.

I haven’t used AssetUpnp yet, but against this kind of competition how long has Roon got?

Don’t forget Squeezebox, LMS Squeezelite, Volumio, etc, there’s a whole free world out there!

Roon is working hard on not being doomed, looking more like the other way...

Roon is expensive? The last time I looked it was $499 for a lifetime membership. Of course that could be expensive if Roon folds in a year but I'm not sure how likely that is (I've genuinely no idea) & I suppose it's also expensive if its competition is free. But if it does what you want it to do & lasts for many years I wouldn't have thought that a few hundred (insert name of local currency) is very much in the overall cost of a decent setup.

+1

Rather depends on how old one is!

Regards, Locus

Those of us who in the UK bought a lifetime subscription to TiVo will naturally be wary of such things. My point is that there seem to be alternatives to Roon at much lower prices or even free and I am unclear what its edge is, never mind price. I have been told it is the additional information and selection criteria it can offer, yet a cursory glance at AssetUpnp suggests it offers similar features.

What am I missing? Does Roon somehow offer better sound quality for example?

This Roon thread discusses RAAT and UPnP with some interesting insights from the Roon team.

Major players in the Hi Fi world are releasing Roon Ready hardware, and so I assume the see the advantages of RAAT and see a future in Roon such as to develop Hardware and the marketing to back it up.

Roon Ready streamers

‘Lifetime Licence’ isn’t necessarily related to the lifetime of the end user but to the lifetime of the Roon organisation.

Doesn’t that go without saying

Not if Roon for some reason was to bite the dust tomorrow.

Then the licence would end as there would be no product. As we all understand, like everything in life there is an element of risk.