Roon Labs has released the 1.1 software update to its Roon subscription service, setting the stage for Roon to transition from an all-in-one single device software experience into a multi-device platform with the introduction of RoonServer for OSX and Windows and RoonRemote for iPad.
“Until this release, all of the elements of Roon have been in one app, on one device, from heavy database computation to user interface to audio output,” said Enno Vandermeer, CEO of Roon Labs. “Now we are giving users new flexibility by offering a system approach [of] breaking the app up into components that can run on separate devices.”
RoonServer works in the background on a Mac or PC and keeps track of a user’s streaming service library and all the places files are stored, and then communicates with the Roon metadata service to identify all music and build a database of information about the collection. It also discovers RoonRemotes and audio outputs on your network, and brokers communication among all components.
“RoonServer is the software hub of a platform that will let you pick and choose, mix and match among computers, tablets, and audio devices from a variety of manufacturers,” said Vandermeer. “Reliability and simplicity do not have to come at the expense of choice and flexibility. A closed ecosystem is not a requirement for quality and performance.”
The 1.1 release also marks the introduction of merging user-created metadata with Roon metadata in the Roon interface.
