The NUC running Windows 10 however will hold tight to Roon Core duties. Next week (or the week after), Roon Ready code is expected to land on the PS Audio DirectStream Junior when it will take the place of the DEQX as the Roon Ready device of choice. When I’m sat at my work desk and iPhone out of reach, the NUC’s own Roon GUI is called upon. When I’m sat on the couch, remote control is handled by an iPhone. Roon is installed on a Windows 10-loaded NUC on my work desk but only its server (Core) sees regular use: it manages the contents of a USB-attached HDD and serves music files to the networked Roon Ready DEQX PreMate+ sat in a Hifi Racks rack across the room. Let’s exemplify: at DAR HQ, Roon’s trio of software components run on three separate devices. The Roon triangle is now fully exposed by its networked hardware layout: 1) Roon Core (server) running on a Mac or PC, 2) a Roon Ready playback device connected to DAC and 3) Roon Remote running on tablet or smartphone that controls the connection between 1) and 2). No longer a newcomer, the Roon user need not fuss over a consumer grade PC or Mac’s audiophile credentials (and noise profile) now that his/her Roon Ready device handles playback. The PC/Mac is now free to be tucked away out of sight in a cupboard or spare bedroom where it sends files over the network to the Roon Ready device now supplying the DAC. Then comes Roon Ready devices like AURALiC’s Aries/LE, Sonore’s microRENDU and Sonicorbiter SE or the IQAudIO RPi DAC (among others) which replace the original Windows PC or Mac as playback device.
Roon Remote can be installed on any (compatible) Android tablet, iPad or iPhone. The first component to secede is usually the control interface. Inside the application sits the following: 1) a file server 2) a music player 3) an interface (or skin) that controls the connection between 1) and 2). Here Roon’s triple-deck software layering might not be readily apparent. The newcomer’s Roon experience often begins on a Mac or Windows PC firing digital audio directly into a DAC over USB. Roon isn’t chained to a single device like a Mac or PC, its network audio connectivity makes it extensible. At US$119/year or US$499 for a lifetime license, Roon isn’t cheap and being glib about money isn’t cool. Instead, we might reframe our view of software’s role in an audio system. Once we get past the wow factor of the Roon interface – it begs to be touched – the first E-word surfaces: expense.