AVForums Podcast: Episode 259 - 1st April 2019

@Ed_Selley How would Roon stack up against Plex, which seems to offer a similar solution (including TIDAL support) and is considerably cheaper (£95 lifetime) and can do other media too?


Long time Plex user & Recent Roon user here : Plex/Emby/Kodi/Infuse (for iOS)/MrMc are all fantastic solutions for Video consumption, i primarily use Plex server on my desktop (free version) home, and stream through both Nvidia shield & ATV4k & previously through Xplay on my LG tv (it's an lg app that does marvels at direct stream).
That being said, they all don't come even close to what Roon does with music :
1- it's a bitperfect streaming software
2- Nothing (and i mean NOTHING) comes close to roon's organization of your own Library & Metadata, it's the most complete software that re-teaches you what albums, artists, relations, appearances... you have on your computer/NAS..
3- As mentioned on the other comment above, the integration with Tidal & Qobuz is phenomenal, your liked albums and playlists become part of your roon library.
4- MQA (if you are into it) is beautifully handeled by Roon, supposing you have a compatible DAC you can do the full unfold, if not, roon does the first unfold regardless of the DAC (96 KHZ)
5- Multi-room DSP ...

YES the price is steep, i (like many others) used the trial period but couldn't go back ...
If your Stereo is up and running, and you are seeking a streaming solution, you should give it a try; if you still need to improve the Stereo then better invest the money on gear first.

Some competitors are definitely onpar on some sides, Audirvana, HQplayer, Blueos, but they cannot compete against the UI/UX of roon, and (again) the metadata.

Somewhat later than billed, here is the March Playlist of tracks from the albums that have been doing it for me in March. It's in Spotify but you can use Soundiiz to put it into other services.

Hey Ed, thanks for the playlist.
You used the expression "Glorified iTunes" to describe Roon, and (if i may) i think it's a lot more than that, i'm very keen on reading your review, awaiting that !
 

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