Help me understand Audirvana vs Roon please

[DomT]

Hello everyone 

I have ended my Tidal subscription to concentrate on listening to my library of ripped CDs that I have just done once I get them actually into the Auralic Altair G1.

But reading the Audirvana and Roon websites has left me confused as to what they do and if it will work in my context and if it’s worthwhile. 

I have c400 ripped CDs but this will grow over time. I will also start to record some LPs that are not available digitally; maybe 30 to 100 ripped LPs or more. These music files will be on a 1TB SSD hard drive within the Altair.

Is either Audirvana or Roon worthwhile for this size of library in an Altair? Audirvana only talk about music on a computer so maybe this is not for me in any event. 

Thanks

Dom

 

[Southeastern]

I spent the dollar for ROON, because it just 'works', the interfacing is wonderful, and Roon Radio has helped me find some great new music. Plus the multi-room functionality is exceptional. I have different speaker boxes in various rooms (Naim MUSO's, Audio Pro C5/C10) and it lets me choose which speaker, or all or a combo to play music to through the central interface. Its constant NAS monitoring, metadata retrieval, streaming service integration, its just REALLY good. For the £350 I paid, it was well worth it, but now with its ridiculous price increase, I probably would never have bought it nor got involved with it.

I did however find the Audirvana SQ better, but its instability and speed was a let down for me and no real multi-room stuff.

There are free trials of each, I would recommend giving both of them a whirl and see which works best for you. 

 

[DomT]

I spent the dollar for ROON, because it just 'works', the interfacing is wonderful, and Roon Radio has helped me find some great new music. Plus the multi-room functionality is exceptional. I have different speaker boxes in various rooms (Naim MUSO's, Audio Pro C5/C10) and it lets me choose which speaker, or all or a combo to play music to through the central interface. Its constant NAS monitoring, metadata retrieval, streaming service integration, its just REALLY good. For the £350 I paid, it was well worth it, but now with its ridiculous price increase, I probably would never have bought it nor got involved with it.

I did however find the Audirvana SQ better, but its instability and speed was a let down for me and no real multi-room stuff.

There are free trials of each, I would recommend giving both of them a whirl and see which works best for you. 

Thanks for the reply. My music is in my Auralic and not a computer. Will that be a problem for Roon?

 

[manicatel]

Hi Dom,

I have my music on a Mac mini HD ( maybe about 1000 cd’s) & I use Tidal.

I used Audirvana to manage & access music for a good few years. It’s a very good program & pretty cheap. There’s also a reasonable data base/user forum on the computeraudiophile site. 
Audirvana allows you to search & select Music, has “plug-ins” for EQ, decent graphics & the program is usually pretty stable.

I say “pretty stable” only because there was a fairly big update a year or so ago & for reasons I never understood, it completely screwed up my library, splitting it into duplicate albums with only 3 or 4 tracks on each album.

After trying to resolve this, reverting to an earlier version etc without success, I trialled Roon.
My Mac mini acts as a Roon endpoint so it was very easy to set up & my library was correctly restored. In my opinion, Roon is like a much better, more polished & slick version of Audirvana. It really is an excellent, well thought out offering with superb EQ facilities, the Roon live radio, it sounds excellent & is rock solid stable. It allows for multi-room, multi-system control which I dont really need, so it is a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

Roon is very pricey compared to Audirvana, but for me it works so well there was no going back.

 

[Beyond you]

Thanks for the reply. My music is in my Auralic and not a computer. Will that be a problem for Roon?

 For roon to operate it needs a core (computer / server) roon have their own called the Nucleus. Your Auralic would become an end point I believe?

https://kb.roonlabs.com/Why_Core%3F

 

[DomT]

 For roon to operate it needs a core (computer / server) roon have their own called the Nucleus. Your Auralic would become an end point I believe?

https://kb.roonlabs.com/Why_Core%3F

That’s the bit that I can’t seem to understand. Is it that I just need to put their software on a computer but then use an app on my phone to access the music on my Auralic hard drive OR that my music needs to be on the same computer as Room software?

 

[Beyond you]

That’s the bit that I can’t seem to understand. Is it that I just need to put their software on a computer but then use an app on my phone to access the music on my Auralic hard drive OR that my music needs to be on the same computer as Room software?

I'm sure this Guy might help you?

 

[greybeard]

As far as I understand it, the music can be stored anywhere on your network, Roon will find it. I am not sure what the benefits will be over your Altair G1's native software, although I know a lot of people love Roon, I have yet to try it.

 

[StingRay]

I spent the dollar for ROON, because it just 'works', the interfacing is wonderful, and Roon Radio has helped me find some great new music. Plus the multi-room functionality is exceptional. I have different speaker boxes in various rooms (Naim MUSO's, Audio Pro C5/C10) and it lets me choose which speaker, or all or a combo to play music to through the central interface. Its constant NAS monitoring, metadata retrieval, streaming service integration, its just REALLY good. For the £350 I paid, it was well worth it, but now with its ridiculous price increase, I probably would never have bought it nor got involved with it.

I did however find the Audirvana SQ better, but its instability and speed was a let down for me and no real multi-room stuff.

There are free trials of each, I would recommend giving both of them a whirl and see which works best for you. 

Unfortunately Roon increased their prices by about 40% last year, is is now $700 which is about £570. Audirvana is now a much cheaper option but don't you need a computer to use it?  

 

[simon g]

If all you want to do is concentrate on your ripped CDs, Roon, or whatever, is somewhat overkill, IMO, especially as you don't seem to want to listen to internet streamed services, i.e. you'll be using the Auralic purely as a network player.

Why not just use the Auralic app? You then do away with having to have a computer on and/or faffing about with software packages. 

As an additional thought; don't think that Roon or whatever will improve SQ playback if all you're doing is using the Auralic as a network player. Used that way your stored files will interface directly with your hardware; the files aren't 'streamed' anywhere! The Auralic app will purely be controlling your hardware.

 

[manicatel]

I agree that Roon is probably overkill for Dom’s needs, unless he falls in love with it after a trial.

Does Audirvana work with Dom’s existing gear? I only used in with a Mac mini & something in my dim brain tells me it’s an Apple-centric product? Happy to be corrected on this.

 

[simon g]

I agree that Roon is probably overkill for Dom’s needs, unless he falls in love with it after a trial.

Does Audirvana work with Dom’s existing gear? I only used in with a Mac mini & something in my dim brain tells me it’s an Apple-centric product? Happy to be corrected on this.

Indeed. I really can't see the point if network streaming services don't figure in the requirements. Multi room for a variety of different products? Maybe, if that's a prime driver.

 

[DomT]

If all you want to do is concentrate on your ripped CDs, Roon, or whatever, is somewhat overkill, IMO, especially as you don't seem to want to listen to internet streamed services, i.e. you'll be using the Auralic purely as a network player.

Why not just use the Auralic app? You then do away with having to have a computer on and/or faffing about with software packages. 

As an additional thought; don't think that Roon or whatever will improve SQ playback if all you're doing is using the Auralic as a network player. Used that way your stored files will interface directly with your hardware; the files aren't 'streamed' anywhere! The Auralic app will purely be controlling your hardware.

Sorry if I didn’t tell the full story in this thread. The Auralic was purchased specifically for streaming and to store ripped CDs. I want to do both. At the moment I wish to concentrate just on the ripped side of things as I am between contracts deciding what contract to go for.

just to add don’t need multiroom  

Does Roon still make sense in my situation or not (especially as no intention of a NAS or computer in my set up? Am happy to take advice and if the advice is a resounding no then I will not waste time on a monthly trial. 

Thanks

Dom

 

[reg]

Sorry if I didn’t tell the full story in this thread. The Auralic was purchased specifically for streaming and to store ripped CDs. I want to do both. At the moment I wish to concentrate just on the ripped side of things as I am between contracts deciding what contract to go for.

just to add don’t need multiroom  

Does Roon still make sense in my situation or not (especially as no intention of a NAS or computer in my set up? Am happy to take advice and if the advice is a resounding no then I will not waste time on a monthly trial. 

Thanks

Dom

based on looking at this website i would say no

https://us.auralic.com/products/altair-g1?variant=30892259803269

Tha Auralic app will be able to control the ripped files stored on the internal harddrive and integrate all of the online streaming services like Tidal.

I have no idea if the Auralic app is user friendly. One thing people like about Roon is that it is very intuitive.

The other plus is that it pulls all your music sources together in one place and allows you to play music in a variety of locations. But as you say you don't need this.

 

[DomT]

2 hours ago, Beyond you said:

I'm sure this Guy might help you?

Thanks for the video. Darko says that he uses a server that stores his music and also refers to a Roon specific branded server. My Auralic is not a server. I just check the Auralic Altair G1 again and it is compatible with Roon but requires a Roon Core.

It makes no sense to me to store music on my laptop just to use Roon when the laptop is normally switched off and the same music is also stored on my Altair.  I only have digital music on the Altair and in no other locations.

Seems that Roon is a non-starter which is a shame as I was interested in the musical connections and recommendations that it makes. Audirvana is also a non-starter as it needs a computer. 

Thanks guys. 

 

[manicatel]

 The Auralic was purchased specifically for streaming and to store ripped CDs. I want to do both. At the moment I wish to concentrate just on the ripped side of things as I am between contracts deciding what contract to go for.

just to add don’t need multiroom  

Does Roon still make sense in my situation or not (especially as no intention of a NAS or computer in my set up? Am happy to take advice and if the advice is a resounding no then I will not waste time on a monthly trial. 

Thanks

Dom

I would definitely not say it is a resounding NO.

I use Roon to control my ripped cd collection + my tidal in one room. I have Sonos in other rooms which Roon can control but truthfully, as the Sonos is mainly for the Mrs & tv duties, it rarely gets used for that.

However I do agree that it is borderline overkill for this type of use, especially since the recent price hike.

Audirvana will do the job well , assuming it is compatible with your hardware, it’s just that in my opinion, Roon does it even better, but at a heavy price.
As with a lot of other things in Hifi, whether it is worth the cost varies person by person, which is where the free trial period helps.

 

[DomT]

I would definitely not say it is a resounding NO.

I use Roon to control my ripped cd collection + my tidal in one room. I have Sonos in other rooms which Roon can control but truthfully, as the Sonos is mainly for the Mrs & tv duties, it rarely gets used for that.

However I do agree that it is borderline overkill for this type of use, especially since the recent price hike.

Audirvana will do the job well , assuming it is compatible with your hardware, it’s just that in my opinion, Roon does it even better, but at a heavy price.
As with a lot of other things in Hifi, whether it is worth the cost varies person by person, which is where the free trial period helps.

But with Audirvana and Roon I need a ‘computer’ to store the music on or are you saying that I have misunderstood something? 

In Roon’s Case a Roon Core is needed. The Auralic is not a Roon Core. 

 

[reg]

But with Audirvana and Roon I need a ‘computer’ to store the music on or are you saying that I have misunderstood something? 

In Roon’s Case a Roon Core is needed. The Auralic is not a Roon Core. 

Yes i believe you are correct. There will need to be a computer somewhere in the network. It doesn't need to be a Roon Nucleus or anything funky though.

A most basic PC/Laptop can perform the role i believe. A lot of people use a NUC with no monitor for example

All it does is sit in the middle and link to all your sources of music to all your players of music.

For example it could probably see that you have FLACs on the Auralic and if you had a second device it would let you play the ripped CDs on that. Similarly if you had some files stored elsewhere it will allow the Auralic to see these.

You can control the whole thing from an iPhone so you don't need to be actively sitting at the PC to make things work. It just quietly pushes data around the network.

Given you have one source and one player it's all a bit pointless. 

https://roonlabs.com/howroonworks

 

[StingRay]

But with Audirvana and Roon I need a ‘computer’ to store the music on or are you saying that I have misunderstood something? 

In Roon’s Case a Roon Core is needed. The Auralic is not a Roon Core. 

How are you controlling the Auralic now?