Roon is offered in a variety of software packages to accommodate your setup. Whether you are running Roon on a single computer or need to stream audio to multiple rooms across several devices, you can use this overview to find the right version of Roon for your configuration.
It's a good idea to check How Roon Works before continuing here, as it will explain the core concepts below.
After reading the overview, visit our Downloads page to get started with your installation.
✓ Control ✓ Core ✓ Output
An all-in-one solution that includes Control, Core, and Output functionality. Choose this package if you only have one computer (Mac or Windows PC) that will manage your music library, provide the user interface, and connect directly to your audio outputs.
Note: This package requires OpenGL 3.0 to run the custom graphics engine that powers the Roon interface. If your machine is headless or does not support OpenGL 3.0, you should install Roon Server instead and control it using Roon Remote on another device.
✓ Core ✓ Output
Roon Server is the silent "brain" of your audio system. It manages your music library, handles background audio analysis, and streams to your audio outputs, but it operates without a graphical user interface. Because it has no interface of its own, it requires another device (running Roon or Roon Remote) for control.
Roon Server is ideal for headless computers, dedicated media servers, Mac/Windows machines running quietly in the background, or Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. For NAS and Linux platforms, Roon Server is officially deployed using our Docker image.
You can read more about Roon Server here.
✓ Control ✓ Output
Installing Roon Remote on a supported iOS/Android phone or tablet allows you to control your Roon Core using Roon's rich, immersive browsing experience. Roon Remote acts solely as a control point and an audio endpoint; it does not include Core functionality and must connect to a running Roon or Roon Server on your network.
You can also run Roon Remote on another Mac or PC. Simply install the standard Roon app and choose to use it as a remote during the initial setup.
You can read more about using Roon remotely here.
✓ Output
Roon Bridge is a lightweight software package designed to do exactly one thing: add audio outputs to your Roon setup over the network. When installed on a PC, Mac, or a mini-computer like a Raspberry Pi, it quietly passes audio from your Roon Core to the DAC or speakers connected to that device. It is perfect for expanding your system into a multi-room configuration.
You can read more about Roon Bridge here.