[AllanS]

I’m contemplating ROON and wondering if it works over the top of multiple streamers.
I’m currently fairly well invested in and like the Blue Sound ecosystem. However, I’d like to use a different streamer in another system(s) but not if it means two systems that can’t talk to each other and requires multiple apps.
Does ROON work over the top of multiple streaming platforms to control them all with a single ROON app and allow them to share stuff? 
In particular my CD collection is on a Vault 2i that I’d like to access on the non Blue Sound system.  I’ll also have DSD content on a desktop that would likely play into the other system.
Thanks

[newzooreview]

I use Roon, but I'm not sure I understand the question.

Roon has four parts: 0) a hard drive holding the music files; 1) a computer running the Roon core software; 2) any number of computers (PC, phone, tablet) that tell the core what to play and where to play it; and 3) places where the core can send audio, so called "endpoints" Endpoints can be a streamer connected to ethernet or wifi, for example, that sends coax or usb digital to a DAC (or even a DAC that has the streaming capacity built in).

So if the Blue Sound Node is using music on a network attached storage device (NAS) then Roon could also pull music from that NAS. If the hard drive with the music is just plugged into the back of the Blue Sound Node then Roon may not see it as a source of music that is available on the network.

Perhaps if you could describe the links in the current playback chain (e.g., where is the music, what is connected to the Blue Sound Node) and what the links in the playback chain will be for the new Roon system then it would be easier to help.

The Bluesound Node can work as a Roon endpoint, so Roon can take music files and send them to the Node and out to the DAC connected to the Node (or have the Node be the DAC if that's how you use it). In that case, you could use Roon to control playback through the Node. I don't know if the Node would accessible via the BluOS app if it is setup as a Roon endpoint.

Roon controls music to each engpoint separately. So, you could open the Roon app and have Mozart play to the Node and the Beatles play to another endpoint. You can also group endpoints and stream the same thing to all of them.

[AllanS]

I use Roon, but I'm not sure I understand the question.

Thanks much for your detailed explanation.  I think your comment about the Node being accessible via the BluOS app if setup as a ROON endpoint gets to the meat of my question.  ROON runs the show instead of the native streamer apps.

Current set up:
Blue Sound Vault2i=>wireless router and coax out to main system DAC
WIFI BluOS dongle=>NAD T758
Blue Sound Pulse Flex2i
Added system:
NuPrime WR2 (for example) => desktop DAC

Since the NuPrime or any other non Blue Sound streamer would introduce a different app I just wanted to be sure I could use ROON to control them all and have them share across platforms ie Vault2i => WR2

Since the Vault2i is acting like a NAS I assume stuff on the hard drive would be visible to ROON but that’s a Blue Sound question.

Thanks again.  I appreciate your help.

[newzooreview]

It does not look like the NuPrime WR-2 works as a Roon endpoint. The WR-2 appears to be controlled by its "Omnia" app and that's it. A closed system.

I'm also not sure if the WIFI BluOS dongle is going to be controllable by Roon. It appears to only look for BluOS apps on the local network, so Roon is not going to control it (if I am reading the product information correctly).

Roon can talk to the Vault 2i, so it can presumably direct the Vault 2i to stream files to the DAC connected by coax. Otherwise it does not seem as if Roon will work to control the other devices in the setup you describe.

I would not introduce the Nuprime into the mix either way. It is it's own closed system, and an obscure one at that.

[artur9]

At one time, I had Roon controlling a Linn streamer, a Muso, and Sono system.
Currently, I have it sending to an Airplay device and a Sonos.

If you want to group devices, they all have to be using the same streaming mechanism (protocol).  So I can't group the Sonos I have (old one, doesn't do Airplay) with the Airplay device.   I could group 3 Sonos devices together because they all used whatever Roon uses to talk to a Sono device.

In any case, Roon may be able to send music to the Nuprime thing.  I would think it's unlikely you'd be able to group it with anything else.

Oh, and all this only works because I have a Roon Core that holds all the music.  I don't
know that Roon would read the music from the Vault unless it can act like a disk drive or NAS.

[AllanS]

Thanks much guys.  There may be lots of good reasons for running ROON but my initial attraction was the prospect of mixing and matching.  If I get any further down this path I’ll be sure to check specific device limitations.

[newzooreview]

You can always check the Roon site for a list of companies and devices that work with Roon: https://roon.app/en/partners

Ropiee also lets you turn a lot of Raspberry Pi devices into Roon endpoints to feed a DAC: https://ropieee.org/audio_hardware/

There is a wide array of options.

One thing to note is that Roon will stop working without an internet connection: it will not even stream your files stored locally on your home network. Roon will not specify how long it will work if the internet connection goes down, but they imply it could shut itself off if the connection is down for an hour or two. This change was made in the Roon updates last fall with no notice to users and no path to keep Roon up to date and running without internet.

[AllanS]

Thanks for noticing the Dongle may not be recognized.  I had looked at the ROON compatibility page but didn’t notice the dongle wasn’t listed.
The internet connection requirement is puzzling.  I assumed BluOS will work without internet. I never would have given it a thought but am now wondering.  I’m also thinking that going all in on digital, at least to the extent of being completely reliant on anything but power may not be a great move.

[newzooreview]

There is a huge difference, in my experience, between digital files played back locally through a good setup and music streamed from the Internet. I have Qobuz, and without exception the exact same release of an album at the same bitrate will sound better played from my locally stored version. The differences are more stark with lossy services like Spotify or services that use file manipulation gimmicks like Apple Music or Amazon Music "spatial audio" or the fraudulently marketed MQA hoax.

If going all in on digital means ripping CDs to AIFF format (which accommodates metadata more readily than WAV) and setting up a good playback chain within the house, then it is well worth it in my experience. Ripping to FLAC used to be popular because the cost/MB for storage was much higher than it is now. FLAC, however, must be decompressed during playback and the extra computing burden, no matter how minimal with modern processors, degrades the sound. FLAC remains popular with online services because it's cheaper to transmit the smaller, compressed files and leave the decompression to the playback system. With files stored locally, however, there is no benefit to burdening the playback system with the extra CPU work of on-the-fly decompression.

I'm sure folks that have setup everything locally with compressed FLAC files will disagree with my experience on the degradation in sound quality. I'm only one data point and people have widely varying circumstances under which they draw such conclusions.

[nlitworld]

I'm sure folks that have setup everything locally with compressed FLAC files will disagree with my experience on the degradation in sound quality. I'm only one data point and people have widely varying circumstances under which they draw such conclusions.

No disagreement from me on that. I have a copy of Pink Floyd Meddle in flac and in waves and hands down the wav file surpasses the flac in sound quality. I have another of a CCR album and the same applies. While wav files use approx 2x the file size, when I have 20GB of hard drive space it doesn't even matter. Bring on the .wav files!

[newzooreview]

20 Tb? (vs. Gb?)

Are you able to embed metadata into the WAV files? I've seen that the WAV format should support metadata, but I've never been able to view or edit metadata in a WAV file. Maybe there's something I haven't figured out.

[nlitworld]

The waves files I do have include metadata so F2K has all the info like anything else. So far I've had good luck whenever I can find wav files. Life is too short to listen to bad music. 

And yes, 20TB of space on my media server pc (1-12TB for movies and 1-8TB for music)l. I have about 2TB filled of music right now and always downloading more.

[AllanS]

I have read that the differences between streamed and local source can be significant. 
I ripped everything to FLAC on the vault because I didn’t know any better and still have a lot to learn.  I just knew it to better than MP3.
The Vault has a 2TB drive and everything I have ripped to FLAC takes up less than 70G?  I'm tempted to rip a few favorites into other formats to see if I can hear any differences and then compare this to streamed.  I’m not sure my ears or system are up to the task.

[jpm]

The easiest way to see what works and what doesn’t for the OP would be to trial Roon.

[newzooreview]

FLAC can be uncompressed to WAV or AIFF, so there is no need to re-rip any CDs.

The original ripping likely extracted the audio from the CDs as a WAV file then compressed the files to FLAC.

FLAC is a lossless compression format, so all your FLAC files can be losslessly converted to WAV or AIFF files and you will end up with exactly what you would have had if you had ripped the CDs to WAV or AIFF in the first place.

The WAV and AIFF formats are not compressed, so they will take up more disk space but they will not incur the burden of decompressing the on-the-fly during playback.

If you had ripped the CDs to MP3 then you would have lost information in the conversion to MP3, but that is not the case according to your description.

[AllanS]

FLAC can be uncompressed to WAV or AIFF, so there is no need to re-rip any CDs.

Good news.  Thank you.

[AllanS]

The easiest way to see what works and what doesn’t for the OP would be to trial Roon.

Ordinarily I would but I was trying to learn if ROON would allow me to share content across streaming platforms before buying a device from a different platform.

[Rusty Jefferson]

I just saw this thread and haven't carefully read it yet. There is a bridge available that will allow use of Upnp or DLNA streamers (non Roon Ready) from various companies and older ones that were available before Roon, that can be used and will allow your streamer to appear in Roon via the Squeezebox application. It works well. I use one. Small Green Computer has been selling them but may not have any right now. Worth a call to Andrew to see what's what. Someone else may sell them too but I'm not aware of anyone else.
https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/collections/accessories/products/upnpbridge?variant=6964135395362

[artur9]

BubbleUPNP server has a feature where it can make various devices look like a different streaming device.

I haven't used BubbleUPNP since I got Roon but sounds like a software version of the Small Green Computer device.

https://bubblesoftapps.com/bubbleupnpserver2/docs/config_media_renderers.html

If you have someplace to run that server, then you could make all your devices the same protocol, OpenHome or DLNA.

[Rusty Jefferson]

That appears to make them visible to BubbleUpnp. The point of the SGC bridge is it makes them visible in Roon. So if you have 2 Roon ready streamers/dacs in 2 locations and a third device that isn't Roon ready (older), Roon will see it and you can control it as if it was a Roon ready device.