I understand the open v closed debate PSA is involved with. I’ll say, as a longtime JRiver lover, it would be much easier to consider a transition to Octave if the new server was more open. Could live with Octave for a while and if lacking, go back to JRiver…protecting my $6K plus investment.
Software is so personal. The same can be said for Roon users and investors. Seems like PSA is in a difficult position as somewhat latecomers to the game (eLyric is a major exception to this statement). There’s also the issue of PSA killing Octave if it’s not successful (my guess is software costs can eat a company alive if allowed to). A more open platform is better in so many ways.
I’m at the point where a server side upgrade is going to happen (Bridge II has been great). PSA or Sonore?
I trust that the combination Octave Music studio with the Octave service and the Octave hardware is a model that can work.
Like you I much prefer to rip and download music as I very much like the music provided by Blue Coast Records, very well recorded (DSD) by Blue Coast Music, utilizing a similar system to what Gus Skinnas has, if I remember Paul’s videos correctly.
As you say Octave Is late, it will have to compete against AURALiC with it’s very well appreciated Lightning DS software, which should offer same synergy level as PS Audio. But while a Stellar Octave (not even decided by PS Audio to go that efficient in price) with the Stellar Gain Cell DAC is limited to DSD 128 and the combo might cost EUR 4000 or beyond, the AURALiC Altair G1 that alles for internal SSD storage and has no lilimations in file format, and offers comprehensive Network Radio via Lightning DS for EUR 2200. You can upscale in quality very high if you want.
Octave Music server is still moving forward day by day. We’ve got two teams on it, a hardware group and software. Should have solid information and photos available by September 1.
We’re certainly not anti Roon. While I am not a personal fan of how Roon sounds, I love everything else about its interface. We don’t like much their business model of charging a subscription fee for using software, but as a product it’s excellent. Bt far, the best out there.
In your opinion and experience. What software sounds better than Roon? My subscription is due for renewal and I’m not really happy about paying for another year. I think the interface is the best in the business but I’m always willing to try something else.
Clearly when it comes to sound everyone has what they like and don’t like. There is nothing wrong with that.
I do find it interesting about not liking Roon’s business model given they are a company like PSA who has to make money to stay in business. They give you two options. Pay annually or buying the SW outright (lifetime subscription). When I purchased my PSA products I paid for it outright. I get SW updates/fixes as you release them. How is this different from Roon?
Now before everyone looses their mind, I’m not talking about Roon sound, features, etc. I’m asking about their business model as Paul mentioned.
This is the point; when you by a PSA product you never need to pay a secondary required expense to use the product.
Yes, in a way, this is the same as Roon in that we eventually pay for everything we get - but if looked at in this way every business model is the same; we eventually pay for everything in one way or another, including free over the air broadcast television.
I think the reason for a subscription model (as a successor for the one time license + maintenance model and usual for SW meanwhile) is, that continuous SW development can’t be financed otherwise. I guess Paul may have to go this way, too, later or will have to cross-subsidiate the costs otherwise, which could mean customers might pay for the SW effort at a place where the cost doesn’t belong actually.
Roon is a software product. There is no Roon hardware component. So are they just meant to give it away for free? Virtually all other software products are charged for on a subscription basis, so you can start and stop when you like. I can hardly think of any software with a purchase-only policy.
There is no audio hardware that will not work without Roon, but in excess of 100,000 subscribers are prepared to pay $100 per annum because there is no music distribution system like it, with the possible exception of Sonos, which is closed on its own hardware.
If you sell hardware rather than license it, you have to do fewer upgrades and pack more into them, because people will pay regular update purchases for little extra functionality. Licensing allows you to do do upgrades as large or small as you like whenever you like.
Their business model is no different from most software companies. For audio their product is out on its own.
Roon has been a godsend to many audio companies. Devialet has had all sorts of software issues because their products are so software-heavy. They have their own firmware, proprietary operating system, SAM, RAM, DSP and a proprietary wireless protocol. It all works, but they never managed to design a decent control app. You either used an external streamer or uPnP. Making the system Roon Ready sorted out everything in one go and probably saved them a fortune in development time. They are not unique in that regard.
No one has to use Roon, but if your streamer of choice doesn’t have your music service software on board, you are then looking at some indifferent uPnP apps, for those of us who refuse to put a computer in their audio system to run Audirvana or jRiver, which I tried and hated, and then you have to deal with usb.