Well, that’s the end of that.
See how long before they destroy it.
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As a Roon lifer, this news makes me a little uneasy.
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exactly. it wont be long before they say oh that lifetime is not the new lifetime… which is subscription only
If you want anything new you pay monthly
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Well, great. There goes that.
Ironically I was looking at streamers today. I won’t be investing in anything associated with Roon now. Samsung is bound to “f” it up.
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Gentle reminder that the LMS ecosystem is free.
Free as in free beer and free as in open source.
Includes the server, and the player firmware, all available for several platforms.
Plugins for Qobuz, Tidal, BBC Sounds, Airplay, uPnP, and a bunch of other things.
Requires a bit of computer “arm waving”.
Doesn’t provide the rich extra data and discovery (I use Wikipedia for that).
Did I say it is free?
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Even though I am not a fan of this buyout, my guess is they are looking to enable their devices for free and probably kill any new lifetime members. How long they honor existing ones, is anyone’s guess.
I am at break even in 24 months or so, so hope it lasts at least that long. The current CEO said he did not like how he left his previous invention to Meridian so lets hope this one goes better.
I am not going to jump ship unless something drastic happens which I dont see in the near future.
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It would be a very poor show to cut out “lifetime” licensees.
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//Insert extremely sour sentiments here//
I hope the sellers made tons of money so at least someone benefited.
-Tom
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I won’t be shocked if lifetime subscribers will need to pay “maintenance” fees for software updates.
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Audrivana did it right? To get new version had to go Subscription based. Keep old one for lifetime.
Kiss Roon goodbye. Harman destroys every brand it acquires.
Thankfully, I have nothing to do with Roon. 
Meanwhile, think I’ll spin some vinyl …
The post by the Roon founder shows why start-ups that are successful often end up being acquired:
We’re excited because this is the right time to open a new chapter for Roon and the enthusiasts it serves. If you’ve been reading our posts over the years, you’ve probably sensed that getting a startup to escape velocity is a struggle. That’s because it is; startups with passionate founding teams fail every day. Succeeding as a young company is a constant quest to balance serving the needs of customers with keeping the lights on and bringing on talented people to augment the team. Achieving that balance – particularly without external funding – takes vision, nerves, and a deep reservoir of reckless optimism. . . . In our new position under the Harman umbrella, we can lean into our vision without the frayed nerves.
And the post also promises that they aren’t going to change:
In broad strokes, Roon will continue exactly as it is.
All monthly, annual, and lifetime subscriptions remain valid and will continue without interruption.
Trials will continue and convert as they usually would.
There will be no changes to our billing processes.
This community site will continue to be the home for discussion about Roon, audio, and music.
Our customer success and support services will continue to operate as they do today.
All supported audio products will continue to work with Roon, and we’re committed to certifying new Roon Ready and Roon Tested products from all brands.
The familiar faces from our team will be right here as always.
I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. But as a long-time observer of M&A, I can also say that on more than a few occasions, the buyer doesn’t want to leave well enough alone when it gets a new toy and ends up replacing or driving out management. Once in a blue moon that leads to a better company, but usually the results are not good. On the other hand, there are companies that actually do retain their management and their independence while getting access to more capital. Time will tell.
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@AllenP1 Well put and I agree.
Years from now, lifetime subscribers may appear as dead weight in a data set but maybe Roon will be different.
I hope it works out for the lifetime subscribers.
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None of this will change the way I feel about my Vinyl collection.
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Oh well.
At least it gives the folks who are so smug about having no use for Roon something to feel even more smug about. Feeding their smugness is all that matters to me.
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2015??
Saw that too. That’s just the effect of the link combining the article headline with the first line if text from the article, which starts “In 2015…”
Have you met Smug?
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can now LMS handle DSD , ideally DSD256? I was in impression it is limited to 24/192 pcm?
Years ago when playing with it a bit I kinda liked it’s sound signature, but was missing DSD…
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