Our reason for being is to provide the most exciting way to enjoy music.
On one level, Roon achieves that by working with your music (both files and streams) to present not just the content itself, but the context that surrounds it and relates it… things like when and where it was made and the people responsible for composing, performing, and producing it.
The other piece of the puzzle is how Roon supports the user in their hardware decisions, by easily and reliably playing music without complications, on a wide range of devices, from a variety of manufacturers.
This is where our hardware partner programs come in.
Roon Ready network players
Roon Ready is the highest level of Roon integration available to partners, and means that Roon technology is actually customized for, and embedded within, their devices.
It's a designation given to audio player hardware products that have both implemented
RAAT, and have been certified by Roon Labs for proper implementation. For more details on what RAAT can provide, how it differs from other network streaming protocols, and the design philosophy behind it, please check out the
RAAT page.)
But the Roon Ready program's biggest strength is that it goes beyond technology. It guarantees a great product, in both sound quality and user experience.
We've seen too many great audio products hindered by poor user experience (UPnP), and too many good experiences compromise on sound quality (AirPlay), so we designed the Roon Ready program to ensure this wouldn’t happen. Roon Ready Partners and Roon are each in control of what they are best at... audio is in the hands of the hardware manufacturer, and the control of the user experience in our hands.
And the products will be certified by both the manufacturer and by Roon, which means you can trust that you will receive the best experience and support from Roon Ready devices, regardless of the manufacturer.
Roon Tested DACs
We want Roon to work with all the hardware out there, but most importantly, we want our users to have confidence that the products they have (or are considering buying) will work well with Roon. To achieve that, we came up with a second hardware partner program called "Roon Tested". We need to have a working relationship with the manufacturer to make this happen.
The idea is that we test various manufacturers' audio endpoints with Roon, using a much more rigorous test than any normal user would. The manufacturer also tests Roon with their product, providing an extra layer of compatibility checking. Because the manufacturer has provided us with their hardware, we can test our software against every device when we make new releases.
A few USB and networked audio products out there do some special in-app stuff when you hook them up to Roon. They're identified in
Signal Path and the zone selector, and Roon can identify the product, support extra features, provide links to the manufacturer website and the product's manual, and so on...
If your favorite product is not showing up as Roon Tested, contact your manufacturer and tell them to get it tested. We only can test what we have in our possession. Feel free to link them to this post.
Roon Servers
If you're just trying Roon for the first time, chances are you downloaded and installed it on your Mac or Windows PC. That's a great place to start, but many people would prefer not to depend on a PC being on at all times. Roon Server devices from our partners have Roon Server pre-installed (or offer it as a downloadable option) so all you need to bring to the party is your tablet or phone!
Roon Server devices can be controlled from Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android devices by downloading Roon or Roon Remote for those platforms.
Partners and Devices
The official list of Roon Ready & Roon Tested partners and devices can be found on our
partners page.