I used to follow the Roon forums and an impending increase was rumoured and then lo and behold it happened. It’s happened twice since I’ve been a user. I turned 70 and I still have children in college. So time marches on for me too.
i will do compare the GCD vs other AKM DAC later ( like my old Pioneer N70 DAC, or the TEAC NT-505) and see how long i’m going along with GCD 
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I also bought a lifetime subscription when Roon made clear they wanted to end it, and put up the price. I paid for one year when my system was upgraded to Roon Ready and it took a while to appreciate its benefits.
I don’t know why @Paul suggested Octave was going to compete with Roon. Octave is closed server/player software to operate PS Audio products. It should provide a good user experience for PS Audio owners. Other brands do fine with closed systems, some better than others, some with more multi-room capability than others.
Roon is a software product. The founders have been designing management and streaming software for almost 20 years. It is difficult to imagine another software company managing to get up to 100 other brands to embed a software platform into their systems. It would be a bit self-defeating to launch a new software platform and make the system Roon Ready. That said, there are some really good closed systems like Auralic Lightning that are also Roon Ready.
So I don’t think it’s an easy position to be in these days, but the plan must be to leverage Octave into as many devices as possible.
Actually, no, Steven. Not at all.
Roon, as you correctly point out, is a software program that depends on integration into as many products as possible. Once they do that it becomes the defacto choice. It’s a good plan though not one we would copy.
As you point out, why compete with that?
No, I think their hole is several fold. For one, sound quality. Because they cannot control the end to end experience they cannot control sound quality. For another, their system requires a server and an end point and a DAC.
In our model we control the end-to-end experience of software and hardware, ensuring sound quality is never compromised. That’s important to us. Software that serves hardware. In our approach the software is free and you buy only the hardware.
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Thanks and appreciate the vote of confidence. The new device will serve as a Roon end point so no worries. You’ll be able to go between Roon or Octave (not quite a flip of a switch, but….).
Let’s see what you think. One thing I can guarantee is the sound quality of Octave.
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Is there a timeframe on a release date yet for Octave?
I understand where you’re coming from and the logic but you cannot control the end-to-end experience, us as consumers are the only ones who control that. I love PS Audio equipment and yet I don’t own PS Audio speakers, cabling, turntable, etc.
Having said that I’m looking forward to the Octave and do believe it will be an outstanding product!
PS. Roon doesn’t require a server and an endpoint, many Roon users don’t employ a separate endpoint and have a one box solution into their DAC.
That s some great news. Congrats for ince again listening to the community.
FYI, Nucleus+ which cost me $2,500 is a fan-less PC running a modified version of Linux. If you like the sound then all is good.
Have to disagree with you.
Octave is free as is any operating system. Otherwise it would just be a pile of junk. Roon provides an additional layer of functionality that lots of people like me are happy to pay for, just as people choose to pay for Adobe products over using the free image editing software on their computers.
Roon does not require a server. It needs a host for Roon Core, which can be, and often is, a laptop connected to the network.
I am one of the vast majority that do not consider Roon compromises sound quality in any way. If you run it on a laptop or Mac Mini it may not sound so great because the hardware is compromised, but invest $1,000 in a Sonicorbiter or $1,500 in a Roon Nucleus things will be a lot better. I went a little further to $2,600 mainly for a better power supply and galvanic isolation.
If you think it is only about sound quality, you are missing the point. On sound quality I think you are out-voted, given the number of users and that brands from MSB, Esoteric and dCS down to Bluesound make all their products Roon Ready. It is about being able to play music or radio to just about any device in your home, with one digital library (if you have one) and one streaming subscription.
Moreover, it does not exclude using the native software or other available streaming services.
Roon does not require a DAC any more than Airplay or Spotify require a DAC. It’s popularity is probably as much due to its flexibility. Here were use it into devices made by 4 brands using 4 protocols (Roon Ready, Roon Tested usb, Airplay and AptX HD Bluetooth).
It is good to see that the Octave streamer will be a Roon endpoint - using which protocols?
There is a completely new multi-room system coming out soon by a new company, but with a lot of audio design experience. I was hoping to get to beta-test it, and may still do so. There will always be something new, the question is whether it adds to the user experience and people are willing to pay for it. In a consumer world, nothing much else really matters.
When I bought a server the options were Nucleus (£1,500), Innuos Zen Mk3 (£2,000) and Nucleus+ (£2,500).
Innuos also runs off a Linux base with an Intel N4200 processor, which consumes less power than the Intel i3 in the Nucleus. Like the Nucleus, it will not run 8 endpoints with DSP active. Besides a few added features in the Zen Mk3, one big reason for buying it was that it is not tied to Roon and can be run via uPnP. I was new to Roon and had not decided whether to use it long-term.
Set up the same way, I doubt anyone would be able to tell a Nucleus or Zen apart.
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Add:
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There will always be something newer and better, eventually.
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Usain Bolt won all the time, so far as I recall, and if he made audio software, I’d buy it.
I’m in Roon Lifetime as I expect to use it at least 5 years, so it pays.
Enough teasing already, Roon, I want my 1.8 
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I’ve got a stack of vinyl to play yet. Bought half a dozen of the Tone Poem Blue Notes the other day and having a very chilled afternoon.
I hope we will be able to sort by sampling frequency, as it will help to pull out the good jazz remasters from the mountains of rubbish reissues and collections. Other players were able to do this years ago.
Isn’t this like going to buy a car and the salesperson says the engine is free, you are paying for everything else? Your company has money invested in creating the software to run your product. There is a cost for this and you should be paid for developing it. I’m sure the price of the server includes hardware and software.
I had a look at the Roon Community and there was a long thread about sound quality. There seems to be general acceptance that without applying DSP it is bit-perfect, what comes in goes out, and if you think otherwise it’s either psycho-acoustics or, as someone suggested, ghosts in the machine. Otherwise, sound quality is hardware-dependent.
The Roon Marketing Department took a bit of a hit because apparently they have suggested 1.8 will sound better, because its better than saying it will sound the same. Maybe the DSP will be improved. Doesn’t bother me, I don’t use it.
An awkward analogy, at best.
But to try and use your analogy, you buy a car which naturally comes replete with an uninteresting low-powered base engine; i.e., you expect an engine, you get one, but its performance is mediocre. Most manufacturers stop here.
Instead, when you buy Octave, you get a very powerful sophisticated engine at no additional cost. You do not need to go out separately and buy a nice Roon engine to put in your new car, you already get a really cool engine already installed.
Of course, one can argue you do not get the neat engine “free” as nothing is “free,” but this side-steps the realty that with Octave you get the fun engine included in the package.
Again, an awkward analogy. I do not expect you to be satisfied with my stretching further. Keep in mind all analogies fail; this is why they are called analogies. 
I might be awkward but it is true.
Sort of.
More importantly, did my further explanation help you?
No explanation needed. What I am saying is when one buys Octave player, you are paying for the hardware and software. And there is nothing wrong with this. There is a cost for both. I’m sure PSA has to pay someone to develop the software as well as pay someone to keep it up to date.