Sound Quality of new roon versions (builds)

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
roon.jpg

Hi fellow roon users

After every new roon build is (rarely) hit and (mostly) miss sound quality wise and roon's own forum is completely agnostic and even hostile when it comes to sound quality o_O, I thought it makes sense to have an according thread here on WBF because WE really care about the sound :D

For quite some time (tbh from the earliest versions of roon, IME) roon with HQP sounded better than roon alone and that held true up to roon version 1.8 where roon alone all of a sudden sounded better than roon with HQP. Go figure :cool:

Unfortunately the joy lasted only for a short period until roon brought versions 1.8 build 903, 904, 911, 913 and 918 in VERY short succession :rolleyes:

Roon 1.8 build 898 was IME the last excellent sounding version.

Any of you made similar experiences?
What is your take on the last few roon builds sonic wise?

Maybe together we can gather experiences in this thread to "warn" other users and prevent them from updating prematurely because there is not really a possibility to roll back roon versions ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

tmallin

WBF Technical Expert
May 19, 2010
968
375
1,625
71
Chicagoland
To what are you comparing Roon sound quality? I have always found Roon to be a little brighter, less three dimensional and generally less revealing than the same program on Qobuz or Tidal played through the Lumin App on my Lumin X1. But the sonic differences are never substantial and Roon's GUI is a huge advantage even though the Lumin App is also very nice GUI-wise.

On internet radio sources, Roon upsamples/resamples in a non-defeatable way from 16 bits to 24 bits. That, by itself, will brighten the sound of anything, in my experience, and that's what I hear comparing radio streams play via Roon vs played through the Lumin App which does not change the bit depth unless you want it to.
 

jfrech

VIP/Donor
Sep 3, 2012
2,152
749
1,160
Austin
I echo your thoughts, although I haven't been as precise on tracking the versions. I also have the ability to use dCS's Mosaic software, and it clearly is more interesting, involving and less boring than Roon. I do find in general I prefer spinning discs to file downloads. I am not sure the root cause of this...
 
  • Like
Reactions: christoph

Tyke

New Member
Mar 9, 2022
8
1
3
56
I find that Roon is consistently inferior to using a UPNP server like Minim or Asset. I always assume that is because it decodes the flac files it serves to my Linn streamer, unlike the others which serve flac files directly.
 

the sound of Tao

Well-Known Member
Jul 18, 2014
3,620
4,839
940
Hi fellow roon users

After every new roon build is (rarely) hit and (mostly) miss sound quality wise and roon's own forum is completely agnostic and even hostile when it comes to sound quality o_O, I thought it makes sense to have an according thread here on WBF because WE really care about the sound :D

For quite some time (tbh from the earliest versions of roon, IME) roon with HQP sounded better than roon alone and that held true up to roon version 1.8 where roon alone all of a sudden sounded better than roon with HQP. Go figure :cool:

Unfortunately the joy lasted only for a short period until roon brought versions 1.8 build 903, 904, 911, 913 and 918 in VERY short succession :rolleyes:

Roon 1.8 build 898 was IME the last excellent sounding version.

Any of you made similar experiences?
What is your take on the last few roon builds sonic wise?

Maybe together we can gather experiences in this thread to "warn" other users and prevent them from updating prematurely because there is not really a possibility to roll back roon versions ;)
Agree very much with you Christoph in your call here. I’ve now swapped to outputting Roon via squeeze in Antipodes since build 913 where things went distinctly mind numbingly analytic. I’m back on track enjoying music again and think that the last straw that was 913 made me explore my options.

Computer audiophilia can lend itself to night and day software update melodramas :eek: but I tend to allow latitude and have always championed Roon because music discovery is the priority for me… but while it has been variable sonically that for the first time the recent iterations of Roon have been distinctly deal breaker epic fails musically for me. For the first time these iterations have actually been analytical and unengaging and that’s a fairly hyperbole free eval on my part.
 
Last edited:

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
I find that Roon is consistently inferior to using a UPNP server like Minim or Asset. I always assume that is because it decodes the flac files it serves to my Linn streamer, unlike the others which serve flac files directly.
You know that you can tell roon to send flac and leave the decoding the DAC?
 

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
To what are you comparing Roon sound quality? I have always found Roon to be a little brighter, less three dimensional and generally less revealing than the same program on Qobuz or Tidal played through the Lumin App on my Lumin X1. But the sonic differences are never substantial and Roon's GUI is a huge advantage even though the Lumin App is also very nice GUI-wise.

On internet radio sources, Roon upsamples/resamples in a non-defeatable way from 16 bits to 24 bits. That, by itself, will brighten the sound of anything, in my experience, and that's what I hear comparing radio streams play via Roon vs played through the Lumin App which does not change the bit depth unless you want it to.
I compare roon to it's previous build and to HQP as a reference.

After the last dull and boring sounding roon builds (903 and up), Lucas Domanski of www.lucasaudiolab.com enabled my server to stream squeezelite and that sounds really good IME.
 
  • Like
Reactions: the sound of Tao

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
I echo your thoughts, although I haven't been as precise on tracking the versions. I also have the ability to use dCS's Mosaic software, and it clearly is more interesting, involving and less boring than Roon. I do find in general I prefer spinning discs to file downloads. I am not sure the root cause of this...
Spinning discs is not an option for me since Qobuz.
 

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Agree very much with you Christoph in your call here. I’ve now swapped to outputting Roon via squeeze in Antipodes since build 913 where things went distinctly mind numbingly analytic. I’m back on track enjoying music again and think that the last straw that was 913 made me explore my options.

Computer audiophilia can lend itself to night and day software update melodramas :eek: but I tend to allow latitude and have always championed Roon because music discovery is the priority for me… but while it has been variable sonically that for the first time the recent iterations of Roon have been distinctly deal breaker epic fails musically for me. For the first time these iterations have actually been analytical and unengaging and that’s a fairly hyperbole free eval on my part.
I'm glad you found out about the sonic superiority of squeezelite over roon RAAT.
I wanted to tell you because I knew that your server can also output squeezelite but didn't find the time to do so :confused:
 
  • Like
Reactions: the sound of Tao

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
How is the latest roon build 918 sonically compared to 903, 904, 911 and 913?

I'm happy listening via squeezelite now and can't be arsed to revert to RAAT to try and compare at the moment :rolleyes:
 

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
I hope every roon user here has deleted all the filters in the dsp section :D
Not only disabled but completely deleted.
If not, please do and comment afterwards ;)
 

microstrip

VIP/Donor
May 30, 2010
20,806
4,698
2,790
Portugal
I would like to point that unless all the details about the digital system being used are clearly referred in the post or in the signature of the poster, the opinions about the software used for file playback are of little real value. The platform running Roon is a critical point, even the drivers being used with Roon can influence the sound performance.
 

nonesup

VIP/Donor
Feb 15, 2017
1,044
623
355
Spain
I hope every roon user here has deleted all the filters in the dsp section :D
Not only disabled but completely deleted.
If not, please do and comment afterwards ;)
Where is the section in Roon to remove these filters?
 

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Where is the section in Roon to remove these filters?
Click on the speaker symbol far right down in the corner, then click on dsp and then on the left side under filters, click on each filter and delete each filter individually.
 

nonesup

VIP/Donor
Feb 15, 2017
1,044
623
355
Spain
Under the word Filters, they appear to me: Crossfeed, Parametric Equalizer and Audeze Presers. Are these the ones to remove? And if so, how are they removed? 81807889-5CBA-4AEE-8131-D7FE85182F28.png
 

nonesup

VIP/Donor
Feb 15, 2017
1,044
623
355
Spain
Excuse me Cristhoph, I already saw where to delete it
 
  • Like
Reactions: christoph

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Excuse me Cristhoph, I already saw where to delete it
And?
Did you notice a change in the sound after deleting all of the filters?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alrainbow

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing