ROON and DRC Software

[amirm]

I am setting up a music system at a new home. Straight two channel for now. Ideally:

Roon on screaming i7 desktop in a nearby office.
Dirac or Fab Filter Pro providing digital equalization. (Willing to try Acourate (again), despite the rough user interface issues)
All control via an iPad
MSB stack as my DAC, maybe feeding VTL preamp feeding active speakers
(Not yet sure if I will do volume control in the preamp, or at either the desktop or speakers)
Feed the MSB stack locally with a microRendu or similar Ethernet to USB converter

I know that Fab Filter is 96k limited. I suspect Dirac has a sampling rate at which it works best too. I will "sacrifice" bit and sample rate conversion "sonic losses" for the sonic gains from PEQ.

If I am going to have to resample everything to 96k (or 192k) for Dirac or for Fab Filter Pro, then I suspect I should add HQ Player to the chain? (I currently use J River's built in resampling functionality.)

So, if you were going to use Dirac or Fab Filter remote from the DAC, and wanted to use Roon, with local control via an iPad, what would you recommend as the best playback chain(s) to consider?

Appreciate the help!

Hi Bruce. Good to see you again.

On resampling, Roon has its own and works very well. I am having it resample all DSD to it and it has a choice of three different algorithms from what I recall.

Dirac Live supports 192 Khz anyway so no resampling is needed for that. Only DSD and higher sample rates need to be converted which Roon handles internally.

As far as the main system, why not build a quiet PC like I have and use it next to your audio gear? I just documented mine: http://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/amirs-music-server-build-thread.415/

Better yet, we wanted to build one for a customer and we handed it to our local computer shop. They came back with an estimate of $1,642 with identical components fully built! All we had to do is give them the above link and we were good to go.

Once you have that, then everything you want to do is there.

 

[amirm]

Dallas, thanks.

Amir, what would you do if you wanted to use Dirac rather than Acourate?

There is really not much to do. Buy Dirac software, run through the calibration routine. Once done, you just select your current USB DAC device and Dirac inserts itself between that, and Roon. In Roon you tell it to use Dirac as your output. What is neat is that inside Roon you can also still talk to your USB DAC driver. So with just a click, you can put Dirac in the loop or not!

It is really pretty easy.

 

[Brucemck2]

Another Dirac question ...

I've got Dirac on an Emotiva processor. I can change the target curves, but, there's no parameter that lets me limit the amount of correction applied to each channel or even overall (Trinnov has a max gain and max cut parameter that works really well.)

I'd like to limit the degree of correction, and, to increase the overall gain available to the LCR within the system post correction. (Currently, I get almost 10db lower volume out of the LCR post-correction than I get pre-correction, using pink noise as the volume reference.) A few questions ....

What limits "overall gain" .... If I set the target curve to track above most of the actual/measured, with only (say) a few humps (all under 3db) over the target curve, will that provide more gain in the end result than if I set the target curve below most of the actual/measured with only a (say) a few dips (all under 3db) below the target curve?

If one set of speakers is much louder than another (the case with my surrounds), will I get more gain out of my fronts if they start higher than my surrounds in uncorrected level or lower? I can change the gain of the fronts and surrounds at the amps prior to running Dirac. The same question with my subs: will I get more gain out of my LCR post-correction if I start with my subs hot or if I start with my subs lower than my mains?

Finally, can I "mimic" Trinnov's boost/cut parameter by simply creating target curves that more closely track the actuals?

Thanks.

 

[microstrip]

An audiophile question concerning Roon - how do you see/select digital formats (DSD/DFF or DXD, for example) when browsing in your library?

 

[asiufy]

Use the "Focus" button. That'll invoke a panel showing you statistics about your collection. Scroll all the way to the right, and you'll see another button for "Format". That will show another panel, with all the formats available in your library, and how many items are in that format. Then you'll be able to use the checkboxes in that panel to effectively filter only the formats you want to see.

 

[JamesJo34]

I am not myself even tempted by Roon at this point for several reasons, although it seems to be a big hit and it might well revolutionize PC audio. I could become tempted to change my mind someday.

Right now, I use JRiver feeding Dirac on the PC as my only "front end". My full "HTPC concept" setup incorporates my libraries, my player, my TV cable box replacement AND it also acts as my preamp/processor. That eliminates several items, sometimes costly and rapidly obsolescent, like the pre/pro, from my system. There are three main roadblocks to me using Roon in place of JRiver, at least as far as I know:

(1.) it does not do multichannel audio, my irreplaceable favorite of a lifetime.

(2.) it does not have "preamp/Mch controller" functionality, most notably bass management to a subwoofer, which Dirac also does not have. JRiver does a good job with that for me. But, does Roon do volume control integrated with my Exasound DAC? Can it handle my DSD library with conversion on the fly to hi Rez PCM for Dirac processing?

(3.) it does not handle video formats, like my BD-A and BD-V libraries, as well as live TV video feeds and recording capabilities from my HD Homerun Prime/Cable Card replacement for my cable box.

So, if I am wrong about understanding Roon's capabilities vs. these requirements of mine, I would surely like to know.

Incidentally, for some of these issues, I can see the possibility of using Roon - JRiver via its WDM driver - Dirac - DAC driver, etc. all within the PC as "virtual sound cards". That could solve some of these Roon limitations for me, albeit with more software interconnections. But, the rest are killers for me with Roon at the current time. It is just a library system, and a very nice one within its limitations. I need a more comprehensive, full HTPC/Music system for what I need to do.

Interesting topic! I think Roon paired with DRC can really improve clarity if set up properly, but it does take some tweaking. If the correction is too aggressive, the music can end up sounding a bit unnatural. Would love to hear real-world experiences from others who’ve tried it.