[mresseguie]

I have a bunch music files on a couple of hard drives. I know about these three: Audirvana; Roon; JRiver. There are likely others as well.

I want to play my music files. I want to stream music from Tidal and other sites. [I already have TIDAL.] I've placed an order for an Eversolo T8 - ought to be delivered in about 2 weeks.

Which program do you use to play your music files?

Thank you for your input.

Michael

[Craig Young]

I have only around a couple of hundred cd's ripped to lossless flac files and I also bought a few albums from Qobuz and it all gets combined in Roon. I really like the display of Roon in that some songs will auto display the lyrics during playback. I have not experienced any other streaming platforms

[Rocket]

Hello,

Same here as I use Roon and then stream Tidal to my Bryson PI. It adds up though when you purchase Tidal and Roon together though.

Regards Rod

[mresseguie]

I have only around a couple of hundred cd's ripped to lossless flac files and I also bought a few albums from Qobuz and it all gets combined in Roon. I really like the display of Roon in that some songs will auto display the lyrics during playback. I have not experienced any other streaming platforms

Hello,

Same here as I use Roon and then stream Tidal to my Bryson PI. It adds up though when you purchase Tidal and Roon together though.

Regards Rod

Thanks, guys. Do either of you also use Roon Nucleus One or Nucleus Titan also?

[Craig Young]

I did not get the Roon Nucleus. I am using Mac Mini M4 for Roon, Qobuz, ripped cd's. I like the Mac because of the BAACH4Mac by Theoretica.

[mresseguie]

I did not get the Roon Nucleus. I am using Mac Mini M4 for Roon, Qobuz, ripped cd's. I like the Mac because of the BAACH4Mac by Theoretica.

Ooh, yeah! I forgot to mention I'm a Mac user. Does it matter which level of Mac Mini M4 is used (base model, M4-pro, 16GB vs 32GB RAM, etc.)?

[Craig Young]

I have the entry level at 16GB and it has proven to be more than enough power and my current OS is 26.2 . I am happy with how my setup sounds and performs.

[zoom25]

I use both Roon (w/Tidal and local files) and Tidal's native app for myself. I also have Spotify Lossless for the family which I'll occasionally use.

Roon and Roon Arc is the best for integration of local and streaming, along with DSP (Audeze headphones) or multizone playback. Tidal app is great for music videos, playlists, and autoplay recommendations. Quick and snappy.

I stopped using Audirvana altogether close to around 10 years ago when I first got Roon. JRiver never really got into it. Don't have a reason or desire to touch either honestly.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I use Audirvana Studio, it sounds way better than JR, and it sounds better than Roon.

[newzooreview]

It is much better to get an Intel NUC and use Roon's free Roon Server software to create a dedicated Roon Optimized Core Kit server than to install Roon on top of a general-purpose operating system, whether Mac, Windows, or Linux. A general-purpose operating system has hundreds of background processes running that interfere with streaming audio. You don't hear the degradation until it's not there, and you switch back.

https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/roon-optimized-core-kit#So_what_is_Roon_Optimized_Core_Kit_ROCK_then

I use Macs and own a Windows computer as well. Neither of them is as good as a computer running the dedicated Linux version that Roon created. The purpose-built, heavily pared-down Roon server Linux version augments one of the primary benefits of Roon: the Roon Advanced Audio Transport protocol.

https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/raat#What_is_RAAT

[Tyson]

Agreed with nzr.  Dedicated Roon server is cheap and sounds better than a stock pc or Mac.

[billc]

Totally agree, through experience, with above two posts recommending Roon w Nucleus.  I used to use a Mac Mini, then moved to a Nucleus and never looked back. The reduction in noise, which I was not fully aware of with the MacMini, was significant.  I now use the Nucleus Titan, which has a bit more processing power than the Nucleus One. The Roon software w Roon hardware is extraordinarily well matched, and it shows in the sound quality. As noted above, personal computers are not optimized for audio, and have many sources of noise and processing degradation.