Sound Quality of new roon versions (builds)
- Thread starter christoph
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Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
I own it for life so until I die..or they do. Very doubtful I will go back, to me it would be going back to Window's MEI heard the Innuos Statement using their in house software at Munich a month ago, and can see why you like the sound. Sound quality is so dependant on a precise details of the marriage of hardware and playback software, that you are right to say YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).
Some mileage here. I have been developing hardware for a long time now, including designing and developing new components where I think they are needed. I'm using a selection of playback software packages which include Roon. Recent experience with Roon is that the latest Roon Server builds are tracking in an extremely good direction with standout SQ headroom to develop with. If course this is with the caveat that to get this it needs to be on the right platform.
I would hang onto to that Roon licence you have for sure, even if your not using it for now
Funny I replied to your statement in post where you said:
"Yes but they are way behind in development and implementation."
Now you say you will move on. Yes please do.
Republicoftexas69
Well-Known Member
One of my friend made the comparison when there are so called good sounding version published but he's disappointed everytime.
Actually, it's also a pretty normal logic that more fancy functions lead to sound degradation.
Disabling DSPs, removing filters, import files using metadata from files instead of roon, all these tweaks bring positive improvements.
No offence at all. Also, HQPlayer (HQP) IMO is the best sounding player available, however the UI is pitiful. Coupled with ROON's front end, it's an excellent combo. Enjoy!
Roon sound quality took a giant leap forward at my house after the following sequence of events.
Pound the table data driven meeting with Comcast leading to major fix of their unsatisfactory performance as my isp.
Cat6 Ethernet cable installed to switch at system location.
Got rid of Roon Core running on M1 chip MacBook Air. Replaced by Nucleus.
Auditioned Innuos Statement and Phoenixnet … could hear very modest improvements not commensurate with the $20k upgrade price.
Roon is the coolest interface I’ve ever used. Bypassing Roon and running Qobuz or Amazon Prime directly via Mosaic or BluOS or HEOS does not lead to a higher level of Nirvana, and they’re not in the same league as Roon when it comes to their usefulness.
Pound the table data driven meeting with Comcast leading to major fix of their unsatisfactory performance as my isp.
Cat6 Ethernet cable installed to switch at system location.
Got rid of Roon Core running on M1 chip MacBook Air. Replaced by Nucleus.
Auditioned Innuos Statement and Phoenixnet … could hear very modest improvements not commensurate with the $20k upgrade price.
Roon is the coolest interface I’ve ever used. Bypassing Roon and running Qobuz or Amazon Prime directly via Mosaic or BluOS or HEOS does not lead to a higher level of Nirvana, and they’re not in the same league as Roon when it comes to their usefulness.
I've not heard of this before. Is it at the point of importing, or can you go into edit and prefer file metadata?
After massive sound quality drop, it
After massive sound quality drop, it got a bit better in this build.... but still bad and no where close to early CarPlay build, let alone Roon 1.8 version.
Actually, even Roon 1.8 was just acceptable substitute compared to Audirvana / JPLAY / JRiver / HQPlayer / etc. I feel bad for people who paid lifetime license for company that screwed up sound quality later and treat this issue as bits are bits.
After massive sound quality drop, it got a bit better in this build.... but still bad and no where close to early CarPlay build, let alone Roon 1.8 version.
Actually, even Roon 1.8 was just acceptable substitute compared to Audirvana / JPLAY / JRiver / HQPlayer / etc. I feel bad for people who paid lifetime license for company that screwed up sound quality later and treat this issue as bits are bits.
It's the reason why I keep using version 1.7. In my opinion, I have found that earlier versions of Roon have the most natural sound compared to other players such as HQP, JRiver, JPlay, and Foobar. I cannot find any other substitute with the ability to remotely control and with an even close sound quality.
To be honest I never find Roon ever sound better than other options, But I can see how some people will prefer Roon over others in some cases like using default software configuration and doesn't have highend CD transport as reference.
Roon 1.7-1.8 doesn't sound bad but that was a thing in the past and developer doesn't even want to allow us to keep using older version. And it's customer's fault for not liking sound from latest version.
To be honest I never find Roon ever sound better than other options, But I can see how some people will prefer Roon over others in some cases like using default software configuration and doesn't have highend CD transport as reference.
Roon 1.7-1.8 doesn't sound bad but that was a thing in the past and developer doesn't even want to allow us to keep using older version. And it's customer's fault for not liking sound from latest version.
Actually, it's the opposite, honestly. With a highly optimized Windows kernel and services, Roon could be better than other music streaming applications. The version of Roon I'm using has been reassembled by someone and stripped of many unnecessary functions/codes. It has also been integrated into Windows as a system service and has the highest priority.
I have Esoteric K1X as a reference to compare. Roon falls behind optimized JRiver and Audirvana significantly from my experience.
It was reassembled by a Chinese CAS enthusiast a few years ago to integrate with his optimized Windows 8.1 OS. However, the author has already stopped updating it due to the dramatic degradation of sound quality in newer versions, and he has lost interest in it.
There has been some discussion about it on the following Chinese forum:
https://www-headphoneclub-com.trans...uto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=zh-TW&_x_tr_pto=wapp"
My Roon server lost power for a few minutes the other day. When I brought it back online I got awful digital hash using the "DSP Volume" setting. I know I shouldn't because it's crap, but I do sometimes when I'm just listening in the background because my preamp doesn't have remote volume capabilities. It was fine before that as far as functionality goes. I have not upgraded it a few weeks so I know it's not that. Boy, this software is a PITA. Any suggestions?
Thanks very much.
Thanks very much.
Interesting stuff, but whatever optimizer called JAOS, there's no link or path to download it to optimize ROON.
I suggest to move on from Roon and try other solutions. There's a few alternatives that sound better although user experience from Roon is better than most of them. I'm using JPLAY app in my iPad streaming to my server now.
This happens to me occasionally with my DAC setup even when not using the DSP volume. All I do is play something with a different bit resolution and sampling rate( eg. 16/44 >>> 24/88.) and it seems to fix it. Might work in your situation as well.
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