Comparison

HEOS 3D vs Roon ARC

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

HEOS 3D

Explore home audio systems in augmented reality. Visualize how speakers and AVRs fit into your space, understand their functionality, and learn about multiroom audio setups before you buy.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality product visualization
  • Interactive HEOS technology exploration
  • Multiroom audio setup simulation
  • Surround sound system configuration
  • Product feature explanations
  • X-ray function for speaker internals
Features
Read full description

Use HEOS 3D’s augmented reality to explore in-depth how HEOS technology can bring new experiences to your home cinema, and fill your home with music. Thanks to its augmented reality technology, HEOS 3D can not only get you under the skin of HEOS products, but also find out how they work together to create not just surround-sound systems, also multiroom audio, allowing you to enjoy music wherever you want – and all without wires. HEOS 3D gives you a highly intuitive way of exploring our products, whether at home or in the shop, with pop-up explanations overlaid on your ‘real world’ view via your device’s camera. Move around the products to find out more, or zoom in on things you want to study more closely. You can also visualise how the products will fit into your home, and indeed see how they mix and match together – all in real-time and before your eyes. Watch as the app sets up a complete surround system in your room, or see how easy it is to add extra wireless speakers and access your own music, streaming services or even Internet radio stations from around the world. The app will show you how easy it is to connect a HEOS product, from your first speaker to the HEOS AVR at the heart of your home cinema system, and then explore features from music streaming to setting up surround sound, and the way everything is controlled using the simple HEOS control app. Explore the display and features of the new HEOS AVR, and even get inside the HEOS 1/3/5/7 speakers with a unique x-ray function, to see how they make music sound so good. At home you can scan the HEOS AVR card, and learn all about our smart surround solutions, or scan the HEOS flyer to explore multiroom streaming, while in-store you can scan codes on the products themselves for instant information before you buy. How does it work? It’s simple: download this free HEOS 3D app, then scan a code on the AVR card, the free flyer or even on the products in-store (see above), and start exploring HEOS using augmented reality. Both the card and the flyer are available from your local Denon retailer, or you can download and print them from the website link below. Then just scan – and let your HEOS adventure begin!

About

Roon ARC

Access your entire Roon music library and streaming services on the go. Enjoy personalized recommendations, offline listening, and advanced audio controls with a familiar interface.

Highlights
  • Access Roon library anywhere
  • Stream TIDAL, Qobuz, KKBOX
  • Offline music downloads
  • Personalized recommendations
  • Advanced audio controls (MUSE)
  • Car integration
Features
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*** Roon ARC requires a valid Roon subscription *** ARC puts the best possible on-the-go music experience in your pocket and lets you enjoy your Roon library and all of Roon's immersive features wherever you are in the world. ARC is a custom-built streaming service powered by your Roon system at home. Explore your complete collection of artists, albums, playlists, and personal music files, plus TIDAL, Qobuz, and KKBOX streams. Discover added content from Roon's music experts and smart features, such as staff-curated playlists, Daily Mixes, New Releases for You, personalized recommendations, and Roon Radio. You can add albums to your collection, build playlists, set favorites, create tags, and more, just as you can in Roon. Offline listening lets you download your personal music files to keep the music playing wherever your adventures take you – even if you're off the grid entirely. ARC offers remote access to Roon's captivating library of in-depth artist bios and album articles, revealing the stories that take us deep into the heart of our favorite music. And there's more… Ready to hit the road? Your Roon library is too! Roon's browsing and discovery features fully integrate into your car's controls for safe and convenient playback. With ARC within easy reach of the wheel, every road you take is a journey in sound. ARC makes the driver's seat feel like your listening chair at home. ARC is designed to look and feel just like Roon. You get the same intuitive, aesthetically rich Roon interface you know and love, fully optimized for your phone. No more switching between streaming apps; ARC compiles all your music in one place for easy access and maximum enjoyment. And now, Roon's audio shaping suite and pristine sound quality have arrived in ARC - with bold styling never before seen in a mobile app! MUSE delivers the precision audio control of Roon when you're on the go or running a streamlined mobile setup with ARC. It places radically unique EQ handling, optimized balance control, precision volume leveling, FLAC, DSD & MQA support, crossfeed, headroom management, and sample rate conversion in the palm of your hand. You can customize sonic qualities to your specific tastes with MUSE, then save or apply them with a few clicks. To top it all off, MUSE even remembers your presets and reapplies them when you reconnect to a known device. The MUSE Signal Path display provides complete audio signal transparency as the music flows through your device - from source media all the way to your speakers. ARC offers artful design, sound quality, and a music listening experience unmatched by any other music app. Best of all, it's included free with your Roon subscription.

Screenshots

HEOS 3D4 screens
Roon ARC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Roon ARC at 36% against HEOS 3D's 0%. Roon ARC also leads on ratings volume (197 vs 7). HEOS 3D's advantage is rating (3.6 vs 3.3) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HEOS 3D holds the better App Store score, 3.6 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Roon ARC has 197 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of HEOS 3D's written reviews are positive against 36% of Roon ARC's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HEOS 3D ships an update every 2 months, Roon ARC monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
HEOS 3D versus Roon ARC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHEOS 3DRoon ARC
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (7 ratings) — better3.3 (197 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews35.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7197 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size174 MB122 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperD&M HoldingsRoon Labs

Customer experience

HEOS 3D

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Roon ARC

All ratings196 ratings
Positive54.6%
Neutral8.7%
Negative36.7%
Written reviews224 reviews
Positive35.7%
Neutral11.2%
Negative53.1%

Bugs and requests

HEOS 3D

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Roon ARC

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Corrupted media files
  • Disappearing playlists
  • Inability to select external storage for downloads
  • Inconsistent connectivity to Roon server

Requested features

5 requests
  • Native iPad app
  • Siri integration for voice control
  • Improved browsing and search capabilities
  • Automatic offline downloads
  • MQA decoding support

In-app purchases

None

HEOS 3D

No in-app purchases

None

Roon ARC

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HEOS 3D free?
HEOS 3D is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Roon ARC free?
Roon ARC is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HEOS 3D or Roon ARC?
HEOS 3D is rated higher. HEOS 3D averages 3.6 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Roon ARC averages 3.3 from 197 ratings.
Do HEOS 3D or Roon ARC have ads?
Neither HEOS 3D nor Roon ARC shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HEOS 3D or Roon ARC?
HEOS 3D ships an update every 2 months, and Roon ARC monthly. Most recently, HEOS 3D was updated on October 20, 2026 and Roon ARC on October 22, 2026.

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