Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

foobar2000 VS Roon (Music Player)

Compare foobar2000 VS Roon (Music Player) and see what are their differences

foobar2000 logo foobar2000

An advanced freeware audio player for the Windows platform.

Roon (Music Player) logo Roon (Music Player)

Roon is a music playing application for audiophiles
  • foobar2000 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-13
  • Roon (Music Player) Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-10

foobar2000 features and specs

  • High Customizability
    Foobar2000 allows for extensive customization through themes, plugins, and advanced settings, enabling users to tailor the interface and functionality to their specific needs.
  • Wide Format Support
    The player supports a broad range of audio formats including MP3, AAC, WMA, FLAC, WAV, and many others, ensuring compatibility with most audio files.
  • Lightweight and Efficient
    Foobar2000 is designed to be lightweight and efficient, consuming minimal system resources, which makes it a good choice for users with less powerful hardware.
  • Advanced Features
    The player includes advanced features such as gapless playback, ReplayGain, and customizable keyboard shortcuts, catering to power users and audiophiles.
  • Active Development and Community
    Foobar2000 has a strong, active development team and community, providing regular updates and a wealth of user-created plugins and themes.

Possible disadvantages of foobar2000

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New users may find the interface and extensive customization options overwhelming, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Basic Default Interface
    The default interface is quite plain and may not be visually appealing to users seeking a more modern or advanced look without additional customization.
  • Limited Native Features
    While highly customizable through plugins, the out-of-the-box functionality may be limited compared to some other media players, requiring users to invest time in finding and installing plugins.
  • Windows-Centric
    Foobar2000 is primarily designed for Windows, with macOS and mobile versions lacking some of the advanced features available on the Windows platform.
  • No Built-in Streaming Services
    Unlike some modern media players, Foobar2000 does not natively support popular streaming services, which might be a drawback for users looking to integrate streaming within their media player.

Roon (Music Player) features and specs

  • Superior User Interface
    Roon's interface is clean, intuitive, and visually appealing, making it easy to navigate through large music libraries.
  • Rich Metadata
    Roon provides extensive metadata, including artist biographies, reviews, lyrics, and concert dates, enriching the listening experience.
  • Multi-Room Support
    Roon enables synchronized playback across multiple devices and rooms, which is ideal for users with extensive home audio setups.
  • High-Quality Sound
    Roon supports high-resolution audio formats and offers built-in DSP (Digital Signal Processing) to enhance sound quality.
  • Integration with Streaming Services
    Roon seamlessly integrates with popular streaming services like Tidal and Qobuz, allowing easy access to a vast range of music.
  • Extensive Device Compatibility
    Roon works well with a wide array of audio devices, including high-end DACs, network streamers, and wireless speakers.
  • Advanced Library Management
    Roon offers robust tools for managing and organizing music libraries, including automatic identification and tagging of tracks.

Possible disadvantages of Roon (Music Player)

  • High Cost
    Roon is relatively expensive, with both annual and lifetime subscription options that may deter casual listeners.
  • Complex Setup
    The initial setup can be complex, requiring a moderate level of technical knowledge, particularly for network configurations.
  • Resource Intensive
    Roon requires a powerful server to run smoothly, which can be a drawback for users with older or less capable hardware.
  • Dependency on Metadata Sources
    Roon’s rich metadata is dependent on external sources, which may sometimes lead to inconsistencies or missing information.
  • Limited Mobile Functionality
    Roon’s mobile app is less feature-rich compared to its desktop counterpart, limiting the user experience on smartphones and tablets.

foobar2000 videos

Z Review - My Foobar2000 Setup Video

More videos:

  • Review - Foobar2000 - The Best Music Player

Roon (Music Player) videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to foobar2000 and Roon (Music Player))
Audio Player
80 80%
20% 20
Music Player
88 88%
12% 12
Media Player
81 81%
19% 19
Audio & Music
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using foobar2000 and Roon (Music Player). For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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  1. User avatar
    Ferdy Kho
    · over 2 years ago
    · Reply

    I think Roon better than Foobar2000, it even better than Audirvana. Ever using all three player. For free player I recommended Foobar2000 and Roon for paid music player. If you are an audiophile just use Roon, definitely no other alternative out there...!!

    I recommend - Roon (Music Player).

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare foobar2000 and Roon (Music Player)

foobar2000 Reviews

10 Best Poweramp Alternatives for Android (FREE) 2023
Apart from that, Foobar2000 supports almost all of the music formats and codecs out there, which makes this app highly compatible.
Source: techonation.com
The best free music players 2021: organize, tag and enjoy your music collection
Rather than flashy skins, foobar2000 features a customizable modular interface that gives you the information you want in a format that's convenient for you. Modules include album art, search box, playlist manager and various visualizations, with optional tabs for easier navigation. Custom layouts can be saved as themes for future use, and you can experiment with different...
10 Best Winamp Alternatives for Windows 10
If you are searching for a lightweight and easy-to-use Winamp replacement for Windows 10, then foobar2000 might be the best pick for you. Guess what? foobar2000 supports a wide range of audio codecs like MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, etc. Apart from that, it was the user-interface that makes the app stand out from the crowd.
Source: techviral.net
Best Windows 10 Music Player Apps for PCs in 2019
While Foobar2000 was pushing forwards with a Windows Store app to complement its existing Win32 offering, that project seems to have stalled thanks to low user count. The "proper" app is still very much alive and kicking and is both powerful and customizable.
The best free music players for Windows PCs
Don’t let the basic interface fool you into thinking this isn’t worth your time. You can customize its look however you want, and play anything from MP3s and WMA to Musepack, Speex, and even rarer formats with the right plug-ins. There are also extensive tagging abilities and full support for keyboard shortcuts, which makes Foobar2000 a great piece of software for managing...

Roon (Music Player) Reviews

The 7 Best Windows Music Players for Hi-Res Audio
While most examples of hi-res music player software focus on sound quality alone, Roon focuses on something else. The developers say that something has been lost in the transition to digital music. To bring back the feeling of engagement you’d get from poring over liner notes, Roon aims to present a searchable “magazine” of your music.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Roon (Music Player) seems to be a lot more popular than foobar2000. While we know about 47 links to Roon (Music Player), we've tracked only 3 mentions of foobar2000. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

foobar2000 mentions (3)

  • For those who've recently switched from Windows to Mac, what's the one app you miss the most?
    Foobar2000. There is no macOS music player that comes close; QuodLibet almost hits the spot, but that's a very large "almost". Source: over 1 year ago
  • Girl with blow up costume really whips the llama's ass
    Putting WinAmp nostalgia aside, have you heard of https://foobar2000.org? Source: about 2 years ago
  • This man thought opening a TXT file is fine, he thought wrong
    I would 100% agree if it weren't for the existence of the music player foobar2000. Both share similar design goals. But foobar takes it a step further by making the entire UI completely user customizable with a simple built in editor. All without sacrificing speed, compactness, or usability. Source: almost 4 years ago

Roon (Music Player) mentions (47)

  • What do you guys use to play music on the go?
    I also use Roon, which is a little complicated to describe here. Basically I have my own home server with music on, and then I can use the Roon ARC app to access it on the go, similar to above (and is similar to PlexAmp mentioned elsewhere here). Source: over 1 year ago
  • Better sound than AppleTV 4K driving KEF LS50Ws?
    You might want to give roon or audirvana a try. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Just bought a house with multi room speakers. Help?
    You may also want to look into Room depending how far down the rabbit hole you want to go https://roonlabs.com/. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Poor schemas, poor cataloguing: why music tagging sucks
    Roon handles metadata and relationships between entities the least bad of anything I’ve tried. It’ll do things like link covers and live performances of the same song together, or let you group multiple issues of the same album and switch between them. It’s not cheap, and it takes some effort to fix some bad source data, but I’ve found it very rewarding and get a ton of enjoyment exploring my library now.... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • iOS 16.3 Code Reveals Apple Continues to Work on Classical Music App
    Take a look at Roon. It's pricing and mobile limitations are disqualifications for me, but it's tagging is simply phenomenal. Source: almost 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing foobar2000 and Roon (Music Player), you can also consider the following products

VLC Media Player - VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework.

Audirvana Plus - Build for sound quality

AIMP - AIMP : Free Audio Player : Официальный сайт программы

MusicBee - While iTunes might be the benchmark music organizer and player app, MusicBee is a strong alternative that many prefer.

Winamp - Winamp is a media player that allows users to play multiple-file formats, arrange media in a varied file-management system, and play unique media with AAC encoding.

Clementine - Clementine is a cross-platform free and open source music player and library organizer based on...