TOPIC:

just adding my 2 cents - simply because I have been through several roon certifications in other projects.

I have to defend the minidsp dev team a bit, they are not complaining at all publically in this forum about roon, but I do know that the roon dev team is VERY picky and dictate the audio brands what needs to be supported (no flexibility).

I understand that customers might say that this makes sense, but lets imagine if the audio brands have to satisfy the service providers like Roon, Spotify, Tidal , Apple etc etc ---
the integration of the functions costs a lot of money.
When done with the implementation everbody underestimates the effort in passing the various certifications which also eats a lot of money (as we can see -- the longer it takes the more money is spent). Since it cannot be easily estimated -- it is hard to define a project budget in advance to come out with a profitable product.

I might be the only one here -- but Roon is putting a lot of focus on creating perfect audio systems, the only problem is:
The investements at the audio brands are extremely high to fulfill all their ideas, very hard to cover except you have very high quantities.
Ecenomically this does not make much sense for me, I personally dont need all the Roon gimmicks, a simple, reliable audio transport (as UPNP) delivers it is simply enough.

Maybe you can look into Audirvana or JRiver or other alternatives.
Lets hope still that Minidsp can get approval by Roon and that they wont be bothered anymore by end customers and/or roon in future.

PS: I am also sure minidsp is not a top priority customer for Roon -- so priorities who gets certified 1st are for sure set accordingly -- hopefully I am wrong ...

How does the current Roon Plugin work via Volumio (until eventual Roon Ready Cert)?

Does it work via RAAT, or is it a standalone workaround? Via the Volumio Plugin, are you able to "group" with other Roon systems? I currently use Roon as a "whole-home" solution (via it's Control4 integration) and I've been curious about its functionality as I'm likely adding an SHD in the near future.

The Roon Bridge plugin for Volumio works fine with Roon. I'm listening to it right now   It uses RAAT so can be grouped with other devices that use RAAT, i.e., Roon Bridge or Roon Ready.

I control the volume with my SHD rather than through Roon so I can't comment on that. At this point, for how I use Roon, I don't care too much if they ever get Roon Ready certification since Roon Bridge works just fine.

I've had my SHD for almost a year and I am 100% satisfied with it. it is awesome for subwoofer integration and Dirac is incredible.

Yes, the plug in is Ok. Before the last system upgrade (in volumio page) las week, It had some noise  (using the plug in end point)  , that I did not hear using the USB input. But after the upgrade the noise was gone. So Yes, the Roon plug in is Ok.

Agreed. Been using the Bridge on my SHD for six plus months. 
It just works.
Hadn't noticed any noise, though

After more than 9 months of ownership the wait continues...

- Rich

Rich

True.
But the SHD works properly as a Roon-y thing with Roon Bridge. Even before it's a proper certified Roon-y thing in its own right.
So I'm happy.

I had issues with the Neo3 hardware so am currently using a outboard RPi3 running Roon bridge.
Roon Ready support is proving difficult, but I prefer this validated solution.

- Rich

What issues do you have with the Neo3 hardware? My SHD is Neo3 and it works perfectly fine with Roon Bridge.  No weird noises or glitches, it just works.

Separate question for anyone else - what advantages does being certified Roon Ready give over just using Roon Bridge?

The noise issue was fixed since last upgrade and I am happy, I don't think I would worry too much about Roon certified or not. I could not see there will be any advantage in my system.
Like Hegel, it has longstanding trouble that roon can't certify it. Minidsp is not alone at all.

It's really amazing that this unit is likely as good ... and probably better than ANYTHING else on the market what is Roon certified.  I'd would suggest it is in fact BETTER than most of the Roon certified products and offers features most of the others don't.  Sound wise... it's as good as it gets... YET... Roon can't certify it.  Not that it will necessarily help anything audio wise, but it's the principle of the matter, and some people have that mindset of not wanting it unless it is Roon certified.  While it disappoints me that Roon won't certify it, I understand they have certain requirements and I suppose it might not be fair to not treat all companies the same.  Perhaps some subjective consideration should be given in the approval process.

@Sonnie my understanding is that Roon is very stringent about what the system needs to do to get certified. Requires hooks deep into their functionality. I think that's why people are having such a hard time.

I was lucky enough to have a unit that was grandfathered in before the certification requirement and it works great. I guess it'll be great-er when it's certified and the real deal comes along!

Love my MiniDSP, love Roon - looking forward to it being official.

I have no problem with stringent qualification for an excellent product like the MiniDSP.
Roon certification is both functionality (Volume control form Roon) and performance based and I have NO problem with that.
This is a technical certification, more licensed products should behave this way, there is more than enough subjective performance standards in this industry.

-  Rich

Does Roon operate the same with Roon Bridge as it would if the SHD was Roon certified? I.e. can Roon control the SHD volume and can this be seen on the SHD display?

 

As best I can tell, yes. It's how I use mine.
Behaves just like other Roon endpoints.