Roon: Yearly or a Lifetime Membership?

[NipperDog]

I've been using Roon for just over a month now and I really like it. I stream Tidal and they integrate so well together that I frequently find myself doing a search for one artist and ending up listening to an artist that I wasn't even aware of before.

 

I'm wondering if maybe one of these days another service that's currently waiting in the wings will be introduced that is even better than Roon. On the other hand, will Roon's prices be raised, lowered or could the company cease to exist completely.

 

I'm now trying to decide if I should actually spring for the lifetime membership which is (to me) a pretty steep $499 vs. the also expensive yearly price of $119. Either way, it's not cheap. 

 

I know I'm not the first to be weighing these options and I was hoping to hear from some of you who have already had to deal with this dilemma and were able to come to a decision.

 

 

 

[ShawnC]

I bought the lifetime membership hoping that Roon team is in it for the long haul, continually update their software, and stay in business long enough to satisfy my investment.  So far so good.  They usually have 1-2 major updates a year and have several minor updates that deal with bugs and minor fixes.  They have a long way to go to check off all the Roon communities requests, which are based on a popularity.  I hope a new GUI on the playing now screen is one of them.  Lots of empty and useless space.  Other requests I'd like to see include star ratings per song (currently only a like or heart icon), scrolling lyrics (currently just static), bigger album covers on the now playing screen, more cover art options (instead of searching the web and inserting yourself), better internet radio integration.

 

None of this though takes away from the feature rich discovery of your catalog which Roon excels at.  If you could take Jrivers theater view and Roon's metadata discovery search engine I'd be completely satisfied.  Roon is also working on streaming away from your house through your phone/tablet, which Jriver can do and why I still use Jriver.

 

As with everything there's a learning curve and many people don't like the layout and that you can't search through folders.  I didn't like the layout at first but adapted.  It's ultimately about listening to your music not about what it can and can't do.

 

The Roon team listens to their the customers and I believe their checking off all the top priorities the best they can.  They're hiring and specifically looking for people who excel at certain programming that have been requested by the community.  That's great to know that a company will do anything to satisfy the masses.

 

Oh yeah, they could go out of business tomorrow and I'm SOL. Oh well

[ChrisG]

Been a lifetime member since Roon started. No regrets. 

[firedog]

I was a fairly early adopter of the lifetime. As long as Roon stays in business for 4 years you basically break even. I'd be shocked if they aren't around for at least the next few years.

Seems like a small risk to me if you like the software. If something better comes out in 2-3 years, you can give it a year to mature and then switch, and still not lose anything. 
 

If you are more risk averse you can always pay year to year. I think they will count your one year subsciption as part of the price of an upgrade to liftetime if you decide to do the one year and then upgrade. 

[NipperDog]

20 hours ago, firedog said:

...As long as Roon stays in business for 4 years you basically break even. I'd be shocked if they aren't around for at least the next few years. Seems like a small risk to me if you like the software. If something better comes out in 2-3 years, you can give it a year to mature and then switch, and still not lose anything... 
 

Your logic makes perfect sense to me and nudges me that much closer to opting for the lifetime membership.

[asdf1000]

On 8/19/2018 at 6:56 AM, Route 66 said:

I'm wondering if maybe one of these days another service that's currently waiting in the wings will be introduced that is even better than Roon.

 

Others will catchup. And new players will come.

 

But Roon themselves already have some exciting things on their roadmap, so they're not standing still.

 

Roon Mobile is confirmed to be coming - playing your Roon Core, anywhere over an internet connection.

 

A room correction solution is on their roadmap too. Maybe a partnership with an existing company?

 

Better recommendations/discovery based on your Tidal listening is coming too.

 

There's no timelines on this stuff. But they've talked about working on these things on their forum.

 

There's probably more that they have in their plans but those are some big ticket things.