I bit the bullet and bought lifetime Roon membership. It is my favorite platform for using Tidal and Qobuz. I also have JRMC (MK 24) that I tend to prefer over Roon for listening to my files. FWIW.
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With the Auralic at least there are several places like AA where you can try one of the streamers for 30 days and see if the software works for you. With the Innuous it is just an updated variation of LMS that has been continually updated for many years. So if you ever had experience with one of the Logitech devices then you have a basic understanding of the Zenith software. Not aware of any dealers that have Innuous trial periods unless you have a local dealer that would loan you one for a couple of days while they are closed.
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Do you mean Audio Advisor? Guess I didnāt think about a trial purchase. I suppose I could call and see how familiar they are with the software features I care most about. Thanks!
Yes, Audio Advisor. Last I looked they only carry the Aries G1 streamer in stock but the software is the same across the whole line so you could try any of them. Iāve had an Aries G1 for about 18 months and it does everything I need but my requirements are not like yours as I donāt fool with playlists. I may buy a 2.1 for the other house but that will be well after the first of the year where it will replace a 4+ year old original Aries.
+1 on dawkinsjās comments - Lightning is fine for me, but I primarily play albums. Which is also why I didnāt respond. It is just how Iāve always listened to music, and that hasnāt changed fundamentally over decades and formats and so on. Though I totally get being into other ways of selecting, ordering and playing stuff.
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Poked around the Roon site again today. Iāll give it another go this weekend or soon. At $10/month I can experiment again for a few months. Itās been a couple years since I last installed it. I remember being able to run jriver and Roon simultaneously. So I can switch back during a listening session if it gets frustrating. Roon may be the closest I get to perfect. Iām ready to sign up for qobuz. Thanks yāall.
So I loaded Roon today. Gonna take some time:
- Control of Genres is messy. Itās my data, let me display it my way. I have 20 genres total, donāt want even one more.
- Remote app crashed within 10 seconds of me opening it on my iPhone 10. Software!
- I can sort albums by import date exactly as I like
- Can add songs to a playlist from the remote app. This is big. An instant delete if I canāt.
- Canāt have JRiver and Roon play to the DSD one after the other. One at a time and a reboot of the DSD is required after using Roon. Not much of an issue if I end up loving Roon.
Some misses, could be me yet. Iām gonna mess around more. It takes forever to analyze all the files so thatās not done yet. Iām using JRiver tonight like always.
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You will need to dig not the settings in Roon. You can let Roon use default settings or you can tell Roon to use your metadata. I find my metadata to be more to my liking.
I did that right away but still have 67 genres. I have meticulously tagged all 2500 individual albums to have only 20 genres. Iām still letting the analysis go forward. It takes a long time. Iāll try again after thatās accomplished. Thanks for your input.
Looking forward to hearing your listening impressionsā¦
Cheers.
Looks like Iāll never even listen. No matter what I try, I have over 60 Genres āselected by roon.ā I can go through and edit them out but just donāt feel like it. I can guarantee my data doesnāt include an āafro-cuban-latin performers with a mustacheā genre. I only jest in a modest fashion.
Iāll search the roon forum a few more times for anything I might be doing wrong but that probability is becoming really low.
More to the story. Turns out thereās a metadata field called styles. This is filled on some rips by dbpowerampās data provider. Roon imports the Genre and Styles fields both as Genreās. Thereās no clean way, that Iāve found yet, to eliminate styles as an imported field. I can change it in roonās data base or modify my files (this will change the file date of-course). PSA has their hands full. Simple is the goal but complexity provides options.
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I am very meticulous about my tags. I donāt leave them the way dbPoweramp sets them. I cannot recall ever encountering styles. Now you have me worried. But I never pay attention to genre with Roon.
I just looked, I use Musicbrainz to work with my tags and oh my oh my do I ever have style meta data. The first track I checked at random has six style entries. Hmmmmmm.
As much as I enjoyed and respect what Roon has accomplished, some of us are still hoping someone comes along who has heard both the Innuos and the Auralicā¦ 
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Not many have owned them both I guess. How is that PS Audio Octave Player coming along,havenĀ“t heard about it lately at all ? IĀ“m thinking getting new streamer to replace my Zen mk3 to something more reference level product. Weighing my options what to choose.Been waiting for Octave,but I think itĀ“s far and away.
Pretty much everyone seems to like their streamers,no matter the manufacturer or model. 
For streaming only
http://www.luminmusic.com/lumin-u1.html
For server
https://www.iodata.jp/fidata/en/product/hfas1-x.htm
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@Somppsa What are the limitations of the Zen Mk3 you have now? Are you hoping to upgrade to get better sound or different features? Is the Innuos Statement too expensive to consider?
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I am all out for better SQ and am not in a hurry with this. I like how Innuos functions with built in ripper and hard drive. Surely Statement is one of the top choices and should sound much better but iĀ“ve never heard it. Some say Zenith mk3 and Phoenix would be the way to go. Climbing up the ladder might give good results,but also trying some other streamers would be nice,but sadly not easy to get home trial.
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You probably need one of these.
Itās a beautiful looking thing and a dealer near me stocks it, heās done a full write-up here:
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Wow, in many ways, Wow. Hifi Lounge is only about 15 miles from me but Iāve never actually been there