Roon / Atom / USB drive

Posted by: dave-mac on 07 January 2018

After many years of faultless streaming, a recent internet outage means I've decided to build a local library of flac / hi-res files. I'll still use Spotify because it's playlists and discovery features are excellent, and I can't live without connect. I'm receiving my new atom next week, so I have a few questions.

1) Roon. This is basically a nice way of accessing your local library, from what I can tell. If I'm not planning on using Tidal, does it still offer any kind of discovery features for albums I don't own locally? Does roon function similar to airplay, or is it more akin to spotify connect - do I have to keep my laptop open to stream, or will it play direct from the atom with basic functionality (pause, next etc) via the remote? Can I start a track playing via my laptop, close that and then take over control with my iphone?

2) Storage of my music. Will I be fine connecting a usb drive to the atom containing a folder of albums in flac / hi-res format? I don't plan on ripping CDs, so the core seems like overkill, would you agree? Yes it would be nice for uniformity, but would there be any actual sound or usage differences between the core and a usb drive?

3) Hi-res and flac purchasing. Are there any hidden gems on the internet to purchase these formats at reasonable prices? They're damn expensive!

Thanks

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by ChrisSU

Roon only integrates with Tidal, not Spotify, so if you want this sort of library integration, you will need to jump ship. If you’re prepared to pay double the price, you’ll also get better sound quality, but other than that, I think Spotify is nicer to use. 

The Atom can be a Roon Endpoint, which is to say that it can receive a stream from a Roon Core, but that needs to run on a computer or NAS. So your computer would need to be running all the time, but you can control the Atom from the Naim or Roon apps on your iPhone. 

I haven’t spent much time trying USB storage on the Atom, but it should work. 

I buy most of my music as CD, mainly used, which I rip and store as FLAC. This is way cheaper than buying downloads, but not if you blow £2k on a Core!

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by Innocent Bystander

1) suggesting additional music is one of Roon’s Strong points. Incidentally it also seamlessly blends Tidal with your own stored music, which is great if you happily use both, but  as someone who does not use and has no interest in using Tidal I found it odd. Overall Roon wasn’t for me for various reasons that I reported on here after my trial with it, but others really love it. It is available for free trial, so you can try for yourself.

3) I don’t know about hidden, and doubtlessly others will throw in more, but Qobuz, HDTracks and Primephonic an major ones -and it is worth shopping around as I have seen the same album at wildly different prices in different places. Also worth looking up and following the music on special offer thread which has come up with some gems. There is a resource that lists other sources, but the name escapes me at the moment.

 

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by dave-mac
ChrisSU posted:

The Atom can be a Roon Endpoint, which is to say that it can receive a stream from a Roon Core, but that needs to run on a computer or NAS. So your computer would need to be running all the time, but you can control the Atom from the Naim or Roon apps on your iPhone. 

 

Thanks. So if I were to close my laptop, the music would stop playing if I were using roon? Is that the case even if I also had a uniti core as well as the atom? That sounds as annoying as streaming via airplay. I was hoping the laptop / mobile were only needed for a more in-depth browsing feature.

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by dave-mac
Innocent Bystander posted:

Overall Roon wasn’t for me for various reasons that I reported on here after my trial with it, but others really love it. It is available for free trial, so you can try for yourself.

Thank you, I'll search for the thread, but can you briefly say what you didn't like about roon? 

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by Innocent Bystander
dave-mac posted:
Innocent Bystander posted:

Overall Roon wasn’t for me for various reasons that I reported on here after my trial with it, but others really love it. It is available for free trial, so you can try for yourself.

Thank you, I'll search for the thread, but can you briefly say what you didn't like about roon? 

First reply on 2nd page of https://forums.naimaudio.com/topic/roon-with-nds?reply=70272142658356624#70272142658356624

 

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by dave-mac

[@mention:41551091830475636] Thanks, interesting read. I may be getting lazy as I get older, but roon looks like it'll add a layer of stress, ocd, and complications that I can do without, especially for the airplay like reasons I mention above. Now I just need to decide whether to purchase an external ssd, or go with the core...

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by Gazza

I think most of the Core comments have been addressed if you are not a classical fan and and want to edit. It’s really easy peasy if you do not like computers..........but a NAS is cheaper. I am sure Naim will continue to improve the Core.

Posted on: 07 January 2018 by ChrisSU
dave-mac posted:
ChrisSU posted:

The Atom can be a Roon Endpoint, which is to say that it can receive a stream from a Roon Core, but that needs to run on a computer or NAS. So your computer would need to be running all the time, but you can control the Atom from the Naim or Roon apps on your iPhone. 

 

Thanks. So if I were to close my laptop, the music would stop playing if I were using roon? Is that the case even if I also had a uniti core as well as the atom? That sounds as annoying as streaming via airplay. I was hoping the laptop / mobile were only needed for a more in-depth browsing feature.

Yes, close your laptop and the misic stops if you are playing it through Roon. Playing the same music from Tidal or local storage without opening Roon, of course, it will play with the laptop closed. 

A Uniti Core would not change this, although Roon will still see and play the music on it. If you decide to go for Roon, I would consider running the Roon Core on a NAS, which will need to be reasonably powerful to do this. The same NAS can then store all your music downloads and/or CD rips, and can be located anywhere as long as it gas a network connection. This avoids the issue of turning your laptop on and off. 

Personally, I find Roon a bit OTT, and I’m quite happy controlling my music sources from the Naim app. Do the free trial and decide for yourself.