Replacing Roon - What Should I get?

I can appreciate the challenges the OP faces having to reboot the system frequently.  It's reassuring to know, though, that there are configurations where Roon works well.

I was also one of those with an early lifetime membership.  Computers are a hobby of mine, and I enjoy administering all kinds of systems in my home IT closet.  Roon core runs happily on my 14-year-old Linux server.  I stream it to various locations with Intel NUC's running Rock, but mostly to my main 2-channel system with a PS Audio Airlens as the streaming endpoint.  It's all controlled from either a Mac laptop or iPad.

My setup works great, but of course it requires a lot of computer experience.  I think for a much simpler system, someone could use either a Mac Mini or a small inexpensive computer running Windows as their Roon core.  I can definitely recommend the Airlens as a good endpoint; I stream DSD256 and 24/352 data with no issues.

Roon isn't perfect.  I wish the search mechanism were a little more consistent in its results, for instance.  But it does some things brilliantly, and is available in so many different platforms. 

I'm not familiar with the Roon nucleus, so I really can't speak to that.  There are ways, though, of making it work with basic computer hardware, and you can choose a platform that you're most comfortable with.  It might be worth investing a little time to explore this option.

Michael

rsf507, learn more here: https://jplay.app/faq

I think jplay is only on iOS. If my assumption is correct then you won’t find it in any other app store. 

The only software I’ve read about where people ended up ditching Roon was with the Innuos Sense app, and while it may not be quite as good as Roon it may get close enough for you without the hassles and is constantly being upgraded for both sonics and usability so likely to get even better in the future.  FWIW, and best of luck. 

@soix Aurender integrated roon with the latest generation of their streamers. The native conductor app sounded better than roon to me when I had the N200. Don’t get me wrong Roon sounds fine. But the recessed and dull sound signature persists. It’s a shame because Roon UI has the richest feature set of all streaming options. Funny thing is sonically it was almost there until the last few updates that I guess had added some additional processing that now resulted in even more compromises in sound quality.