Alternative to Roon

Hi, I’m trying to devise a software playback system that will be an alternative to Roon—should it fail, I lose the internet connection etc. Suggestions?

Requirements:

  • I only care about playing local files, streaming services not particularly important.
  • Serve music on my Synology NAS and run it through the Holo Red and DS DAC.
  • Must handle DSD256.
  • Run on a Mac or a Linux NUC (windows is out), or NAS.
  • Lately I’ve been interested in room correction, so if the playback software can integrate with some room correction software like REW, Dirac or whatever it would be useful.
  • Don’t want hardware, ideally software that runs on a computer.
  • A bit of tinkering is okay, but I’d like the software to be easy to set up and work without a lot of hand holding.

Many thanks

Budget?

I haven’t given it a lot of thought to be honest. I’m only taking software system, not hardware, so hopefully not more that day $500 say.

I assume you’ll get the standard answers. Foobar2000, Audirvana, JRiver, JPLAY FEMTO, Hysolid, and Amarra Luxe.

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Room correction to me is the tough one at that budget. Plenty of players. MiniDSP end points have some built in. Digital and digital out. Even incorporate a sub.

Spend some time on the JRiver Media Center website. It might be of interest to you.

It does have a lot of options for “equalizing” and such. The software is a bit wonky but it is more than reasonably priced – and my files (without any signal correction of any kind via the software) are generally preferred when played with JRMC as opposed to Roon.

There are exceptions, depending on the recording. However, I tend to like the files on my network played through JRMC better.

Good luck.

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I see most of the crabbiest folks on the Roon forum talking up Audirvana.

I figure if the internet goes down (which happens so rarely), I’ve got bigger fish to fry. I’ll just do something else. Can always play CD’s or records or take the mutt for a hike or go for a drive out in the country or read a book or listen to a podcast or canoodle with my girlfriend or play guitar or build a canoe.

Ahdunno.

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Audirvana is quite likeable, including its presentation of streamed file resolution.

But, don’t wince, it doesn’t speak to my Bluesound Node, which does not support universal plug and play (requires my utility iMac on network with the Node to stream music from Audirvana on the iMac to the Node via Airplay).

Preferred, of course, would be a DAC with UPnP so that Audirvana program would connect to it.

There is a 30-day trial, about $70/year thereafter (half price of Roon).

Do all support DSD?

BTW the room correction software doesn’t need to be included in the $500. That price was only for the playback software. I probably put that price too high anyway for just playback.

I didn’t notice HQP in the list. Doesn’t HQP have since kind of roon correction? I don’t know much about r c, always looked down on it as one more thing between my and the source

Do any of these other alternatives offer something like roon with its convolution filter? If so then room correction is easy. Eq can help but not as nice.

Yes. These are all the usual suspects, but some of them (I hear) don’t meet my little-tinkering requirement.

My advice is if you are worried about losing your Internet connection, purchase a second/backup connection. How often do you lose your internet connection and when this happens approx how long is the outage?

From my experience I am more likely to lose power than my Internet connection. But i can imagine other areas are less stable.

Tinkering is relative.

My experience with Audirvana and DSD has been it can only catalog a limited number of DSD files before it can complete the catalog process. In my case it never finished. As such it is less than useful for me. I gave it weeks to try to finish and it never did. It uses a lot of processor while doing its never ending cataloging.

Can it play DSD? Technically yes.

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Reviving this topic given that some think that Roon’s days are numbered (in it’s current form at the current lifer price anyway).

For the mildly tech capable who can build a server and install/configure opensource programs, who want to stream from Qobuz and local files (DSF included), any favorite options out there?

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Wait what? I’ve been away for a while. Why are Rooon’s days numbered?

To this I say bah.

The infamous acquisition to oblivion strategy.

Harmon is owned by Samsung, a true fly by night operation if ever.
Who has ever heard of Samsung?
God you guys. What do you do when something really awful happens?

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