Harman Buys Roon, Lenbrook Media Group Formed?!?

[gene]

Harman has announced that it has acquired Roon, the music management software company with a passionate audiophile following. Roon will retain its team and operate as an independent business within Harman — for now anyway. Does Harman plan to use Roon’s user interface expertise for the automotive industry?

Read: Harman Buys Roon

Meanwhile, The Lenbrook Group of Companies has formed Lenbrook Media Group to commercialize BluOS, MQA, and SCL6 across the digital audio supply chain. This new entity will be led by Mike Jbara, former MQA CEO and Warner Music executive. How will Lenbrook capitalize on its acquisition of MQA’s assets?

Read: 'Lenbrook Media Group' Formed

Is this a new trend where audio companies are buying out streaming services and music management software to form their own eco systems?

 

[gene]

Everything You Want to Know about the Roon Music Player

You asked for it. Audioholics delivers. Join us on Saturday February 4th at 1pm EST where we’ll talk about all things @roonlabs with Roon’s founder and CEO,...

www.youtube.com

 

[Bobby Bass]

Thanks for the article. I don’t have Roon but based on all the articles and posts it’s very well reviewed. I Like the idea of a system you can use in your home and car. Does it work for boats that have a Bluetooth receiver?

 

[adk highlander]

Thanks for the article. I don’t have Roon but based on all the articles and posts it’s very well reviewed. I Like the idea of a system you can use in your home and car. Does it work for boats that have a Bluetooth receiver?

It can. When away from home you use their software called ARC which allows you to play your library remotely. Then just Bluetooth to your boat. I've been using Roon for years. Nothing better out there.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

MQA just refuses to die. Ugh

.

 

[Eppie]

Roon is still my favorite interface but I wish they would release a native client for the NVidia Shield. Chromecast has its limitations. I currently can stream to my X4800H via Airplay support but you get limited on screen information. It will be interesting to see what Roon Ready support does to the TV interface on Denon AVRs. I also hope that economies of scale lead to lower annual subscription rates. It's still bloody expensive.

 

[adk highlander]

Roon is still my favorite interface but I wish they would release a native client for the NVidia Shield. Chromecast has its limitations. I currently can stream to my X4800H via Airplay support but you get limited on screen information. It will be interesting to see what Roon Ready support does to the TV interface on Denon AVRs. I also hope that economies of scale lead to lower annual subscription rates. It's still bloody expensive.

Is there no SqeezeBox/Logitech support? The WiiM amp supports SqueezeLite so I am using that in place of Chromecast and Airplay until Roon Ready status comes available. I should have bought the lifetime when it was under $500 bucks.

 

[Eppie]

Is there no SqeezeBox/Logitech support? The WiiM amp supports SqueezeLite so I am using that in place of Chromecast and Airplay until Roon Ready status comes available. I should have bought the lifetime when it was under $500 bucks.

Yeah, I hear ya. I also could have bought lifetime for $500 and upon reflection should have. I haven't looked for a SqueezeBox app for the Shield. Chromecast does give me album art and karaoke lyrics but some of the static elements make me worry about burn in on the OLED. The Chromecast display needs to move elements around on the screen to prevent that.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Roon is still my favorite interface but I wish they would release a native client for the NVidia Shield. Chromecast has its limitations. I currently can stream to my X4800H via Airplay support but you get limited on screen information. It will be interesting to see what Roon Ready support does to the TV interface on Denon AVRs. I also hope that economies of scale lead to lower annual subscription rates. It's still bloody expensive.

I have Shield TV, but not Roon. There is a Roon remote for Android. I wonder if it would work on the shield.

Roon - Apps on Google Play

The Roon App controls your Roon Server to play music on devices around your home

play.google.com

 

[Big-Q]

I love ROON in my home. Put an Intel NUC together in 2020, bought the lifetime subscription for $700, and have never looked back. The total cost was $1,863. The NUC was way overbuilt with memory and storage, plus a fanless heatsink case. A lifetime subscription for $830 is still worth it.

 

[adk highlander]

I have Shield TV, but not Roon. There is a Roon remote for Android. I wonder if it would work on the shield.

Roon - Apps on Google Play

The Roon App controls your Roon Server to play music on devices around your home

play.google.com

Can you load apps directly from the Play Store? I know with my Fire Tablet that I had to install the play store first and then could get the Roon App.

 

[Eppie]

I have Shield TV, but not Roon. There is a Roon remote for Android. I wonder if it would work on the shield.

Roon - Apps on Google Play

The Roon App controls your Roon Server to play music on devices around your home

play.google.com

I think I've seen this discussed on the Roon forums. That app is designed to fit a mobile screen and use a touch interface. It doesn't work properly on the Shield. They really need an app designed for TV screens and the Shield remote. The PC interface is designed for a mouse so an Android app would need work on the interface. It's been suggested for years but I guess there just isn't a big enough user base to warrant the development time, considering that Chromecast is already supported.

Other issue is that Android audio does not support multi-channel, so Chromecast is 2-channel. Multi-channel can be done, as Kodi on the Shield supports it, but it requires new audio drivers. Ideally I would like to see a native Shield app that uses the remote, uses the RAAT protocol and supports multi-channel audio. I think they're focused mostly on their own hardware though, like the Roon Nucleus.

 

[PhilCohen]

For Lenbrook to purchase MQA is like diving underwater in scuba gear to jump on the Titanic.