Audirvana vs Roon

I know nothing about Audirvana, but am now three-fourths the way through a month-long trial of Roon. I previously used LMS (the Squeezebox management software) to manage my music -- I'd used that for about 15 years.

I'll start by saying that Roon sounds just fine, but I find it no different than what I heard via LMS. I know that's not the correct "audiophile" answer, but I don't care. To me, the choice between Roon and other music management programs is about the user interface and the ease of finding the music you want.

I have mixed emotions about Roon and still haven't decided if it is a keeper. The thing I like the most is the way, once you have specifically selected some music to play, it will continue to play other tracks in the same vein one your initial selections are finished. That's great when you want continuous background music, such as now when I'm working from home.

It is also nice the way it shows you artist bios and info about other musicians and people on an album, sometimes along with an extra photo or two, but that's not worth a paid subscription to me.

The negatives are that for a long time I have primarily selected my music via folder browsing -- I'd see an artist's name and say, "Yup, that's the person I want to hear right now." Roon doesn't show folders. It'll come up with lots of suggestions and its search function is great, but it is just not the same. If I don't keep Roon, it'll be because I'm too set in my ways.

I have about a week left on the Roon trial. Still not sure what I'll do.

I used Roon for about a year.  It worked well but after a while I began to wonder why I needed it.  I decide to try Audirvana, which is considerably less expensive.  Based strictly on sound quality I saw no reason to continue with Roon.  I dumped it and have never regretted the decision.

Thank you all. 

Just started a trial with Audirvana.  So far, I like the looks and the sound.  Not really impressed with usability like making playlists and "working" with the music.  I'm not ready to pay Roon prices yet.  Wish we had more options.  Foobar still works but no way to control with my phone. 

I find Audirvana to be a better choice when run directly from my imac to a connected USB DAC. When operating over the ethernet/wifi using A+ to separate systems I suffer performance issues. In those cases Roon works better for me. The Roon interface is far better, but for a backup program I really like Audirvana. I’ve basically abandoned JRiver MC at this point.