Forget Spotify HiFi — I made a hi-res streaming service that's just for me

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The wait for Spotify HiFi has been a long and arduous one. It’s been rumored at this point for years, and we’re still yet to see the new tier launch in any capacity.

So I got tired of waiting. I took it upon myself to make my own streaming service. One that’s full of my own music, that I actually want to listen to.

It’s all thanks to some very impressive software called Roon — and I’ve been using it for all my online music listening for the last couple of weeks to get a good picture of what it’s like to have your own streaming service in your pocket.

What even is a Roon anyway?

Roon bridges the gap between a streaming service, a whole home streaming solution, and a kind of 3rd party streaming service aggregator. Allow me to explain.

With your own Roon server, you can stream your own library of FLACs or other hi-res tracks everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Not just to your home streaming devices, but on the go thanks to the Roon Arc app on your phone.

You can use Roon in conjunction with Tidal and Qobuz, letting you search through their libraries together so that you can find music that’s on one rather than the other, without having to move between their two apps.

It gathers your music libraries from both streaming services, and puts them all in one place for easier browsing — if you’re a multi-streamer user, it’s a godsend and reason enough for the extra monthly subscription.

Within what I’ll call the ‘streaming service aggregator’ features there’s some top-notch curation that pulls from both Qobuz and Tidal simultaneously. It’s seamless and shows you new music from both.

Sonos Arc Ultra under a TV — (Image credit: Future)

Built into Roon is a whole home streaming option, using Roon's own high-quality UPnP protocol. That means a cleaner signal path to a range of different devices that are “Roon ready”, with an increasing number joining the fold.

Roon even connects with AirPlay and Chromecast devices so that you can stream to almost any internet-connected audio device around the house. That negates the need for a separate app for each audio device you might have — the Roon benefits are piling up.

Then there’s the EQ, room correction and headphone-specific EQs built into the app. This is a game changer and lets you change how your music sounds on a per-device basis. It’s powerful too, and loads of fun to play around with.

Finally, there’s the feature that made me the most excited when I heard about it — with your own Roon server, you can stream your own library of FLACs or other hi-res tracks everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Not just to your home streaming devices, but on the go thanks to the Roon Arc app on your phone or tablet.

So that’s what Roon is all about — but what’s my experience been like with the service?

Setting up

Getting Roon set up was easy as pie, at least at first. I ran the application on my MacBook, logged into Qobuz and Tidal, and watched as Roon pulled in my music libraries from my separate streaming services and my SSD.

From there I could add the streaming devices around my house as zones in Roon, and play music on any one of them from my MacBook, my iPad, and my phone through the Roon app.

For a full day, I played around, playing music from my laptop to my soundbar, my stereo system, and various different connected audio devices around the house. I was, as I’m sure you can imagine, living the audio-streaming dream.

Until I went to bed. When I came back to my system the next morning and went to listen to some music on my laptop, clicking any of the buttons in Roon didn’t seem to work. No music was playing — anywhere.

Restarting my laptop, I discovered, was the only way to fix the issue — so I sent a quick email to Roon, who investigated the issue and got it sorted in a couple of days with a fix.

It turns out the problem was that my MacBook was going to sleep overnight, and causing problems to what should be a permanently awake server machine. To completely eradicate the issue, I acquired a Roon Nucleus One, a server computer that runs constantly so that Roon never has to worry about going to sleep.

This issue could have been fixed by using a different computer as well, although now that Roon has fixed the problem with an update, it shouldn’t trouble anyone dipping their toes into the service before they drop money on an extra piece of hardware.

Moving my account over to the Nucleus one was a bit more of a pain though. I had to create a backup of my server from the MacBook, and then move it over to the Nucleus One with a separate hard drive. It wasn’t a massive issue, and it’s all fixed now, but it was a road hump in the process.

Now that everything is back up and running, I’ve had few, if any issues with my Roon experience. The Nucleus One has been a reliable, always-on-server machine. It’s physically connected to my home’s WiFi router, so the connection has been rock solid from day one

It’s worth noting that the Nucleus has to be connected over a wire to your internet. There’s no Wi-Fi on board.

My Roon experience

So how have I found Roon? Since getting the Nucleus One, it’s been impeccable. I’ve loved the excellent curation that covers the entirety of my music library, be in Tidal, Qobuz, or even my own Flac connection.

Choosing music from my library to play anywhere in the house without having to go into a single Airplay menu or check a separate app has been an incredible breath of fresh air, and I’ve been able to focus more on the music I’m listening to.

The curation has had a couple of miss-steps. I’ve been listening to some esoteric black metal, only to be recommended I listen to Jay-Z once the album has finished. The more I’ve listened the more its learned, but there have been some funny recommendations.

One small detail I absolutely love is the Recent Listening tab — it shows you a range of different stats of the kind of music that you’ve been listening to, and how long you’ve been listening for. Take that Spotify and your yearly round ups.

The headline feature

The best part has been the Roon Arc experience. That lets me listen to the music on the SSD inside the Nucleus One wherever I am — be that my bedroom, the living room, or even on the bus.

There are artists and albums that just don’t exist on any streaming service. Wendy Carlos, for example, has pulled all of her music from streaming services. The only way to listen to Switched On Bach, a favorite album of mine, is to play either the CD, a vinyl — or a stored version of the album.

I can now listen to the track wherever I like, without having to worry about local device storage. It plays at full bitrate, with no issues at all. Unless you lose internet connection, of course.

Beyond its ability to essentially become a personal streaming service, the Roon Arc experience is a top-notch one. The app is well set out, and easy to use. There are write-ups for each album and artist, pulled from Wikipedia or other sources so you can learn about the music you’re listening to.

There are the same EQ settings, called “Muse precision control”, which lets you dial in the settings for each device you’re listening to. My favorite is called “Crossfeed” — without going into too much technical detail, it makes your headphones sound more spacious, like you’re listening to separate stereo speakers.

I love the small, nerdy details as well. In all the Roon apps, including Arc, you can check the signal path so you can see where there might be a lossy drop in quality. It’s a great addition — it’s not just a fun look at how you listen to music, but also a way to eradicate problematic devices.

Is Roon for you?

Ok, so there is one massive elephant in the room that’s currently staring me down with venom it's usually calm eyes — the price. Roon is a luxury that’s not entirely necessary for almost anyone. It’s also an extra $15 per month.

It’s cheaper when you bill it annually — $12.49 per month in a single $849 yearly payment. Either way, that’s around the same that you’ll be paying for the best music streaming services.

So is it worth it? For most people, who just want to listen to music on Spotify and don’t care about bitrates, streaming quality, or even home streaming, probably not.

But for those with homes full of streaming devices who want to get the most out of their streaming services, it’s a $15 per month no-brainer — and that’s before you consider the extra Roon Arc features.

If you’ve got a massive music collection that you play anyway, then the $15 per month to take it on the go with you makes complete sense to me. Your whole collection on the go, with no need for other streaming services? Curation of that music so you don’t have to worry about picking what plays next? Count me in.

I don’t need Spotify HiFi anymore — I’ve made my own.

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Tammy and her generous collection of headphones have found a new home — Tom's Guide! After a two-and-a-half-year stint as iMore's resident audiophile, Tammy's reviews and buying guide expertise have more focus than ever on Tom's Guide, helping buyers find the audio gear that works best for them. Tammy has worked with some of the most desirable audio brands on the planet in her time writing about headphones, speakers, and more, bringing a consumer focussed approach to critique and buying advice. Away from her desk, you'll probably find her in the countryside writing (extremely bad) poetry, or putting her screenwriting Masters to good use creating screenplays that'll never see the light of day.