![]() Roon Core runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and even on certain NAS hardware. The hub is called the Roon Core and is where your music is stored. Each spoke represents an endpoint (or zone) where music is played. The setup was surprisingly simple, and the result is digital distribution back-end that makes listening and enjoying music so simple that both I and my wife use it throughout our home.įor those who are not familiar with Roon, they have taken the approach of a hub and spoke model. I built my own Roon ROCK server and my own digital endpoints based on the Raspberry Pi 3. The vast majority of this initial system fell under the do it yourself umbrella. The result was that I was able to set up a purpose built dedicated digital music streaming system with four zones, and a centrally managed dedicated Roon Server for under $1000. What I liked most about Roon was that they provided software and built excellent partner and do it yourself ecosystem around their software. ![]() Using Roon I was able to satisfy all seven requirements from the list above. I could go out and set up a computer for each one of my endpoints (to act as Plex streaming endpoints), but the solution felt a bit more hacked together, and less purpose built then I was looking for. It does not have a partner ecosystem of music streamers or music geared devices. What caused me to evaluate other options though was that while Plex is an excellent media center software, it is not purpose built for music. At the time I was already using Plex to stream my digital music to my main speaker system. I already had a Plex server that managed my movies, TV shows, and over the air TV. Plex was the "easy" path for my current home setup. This lead me to the final two options I looked at: Plex and Roon. Bluesound looked very interesting however their hardware prices and lack of strong partner hardware ecosystem caused me to keep looking. Sonos met every requirement except for high resolution playback, which was a deal breaker for me. With these seven high level requirements in mind, I started to look at options and I ended up narrowing down these down to Sonos, Bluesound, Plex, and Roon. For example, if I need a streamer, there needs to be multiple options on the market, and preferably even an option that I can put together myself. The solution cannot be vertically integrated, what I mean by this is I must be able to buy components for all aspects of this solution from various manufacturers.The solution should preferably integrate with an online music service such as Qobuz or Tidal to provide a lossless streaming library in addition to my digitized CD library.The user interface and visual presentation must be subjectively nice. The control software must work on an iPhone, iPad, or computer.It must be easy to use, while I am an audiophile, my wife is not, and whatever solution I put in place needs to be just as accessible for her as it is for me. ![]() The solution must support bit-perfect playback and high resolution music.The solution must provide a way to control playback in various "zones," and different music must be able to play in each zone at the same time.All physical music should reside in single place. The solution must be centrally managed.To help me determine the right path, I decided to write a set of requirements: However, each of these paths produced its own list of pros and cons. How do I distribute my digital music throughout my home in an easy to use, yet high fidelity manner? While the problem initially seemed like it should be simple, the reality was that there were many different paths I could pursue to get to digital audio bliss. Over the past year I have spent a significant amount of time working on solving what appeared to be a simple problem. From left to right, Intel Nuc Roon Core, Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra, Raspberry Pi 3 B+, Raspberry Pi 3 B+
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