Sound quality of Roon

interesting post and ensuing discussion, i took the leap into roon in january after some 18 months of resisting... i must say i am quite pleased, don’t feel the sound is compromised but maybe i have more to learn still on this front

1) fascinating that some streamer makers feel they have i-p to protect from roon, so they don’t buy in 100%, and while they may allow roon to work on their gear (due to roon’s popularity), they may also subtly compromise its performance relative to using their own, proprietary interfaces - reminds me of a discussion on spotify’s strategy of thinking of streaming controllers we use as precious real estate to compete over...

2) i recall really figuring out roon took a good while, there are numerous ways to deploy it, at the processor/nuc level, how the music stream is taken to an ’endpoint’ then to a downstream dac, whether built in features that can affect the sound are or are not used (dsp, volume control etc) -- roon itself on its site does not make all these permutations crystal clear, and that, plus the fact that alot of audiophiles are actually older folks, usually not the most tech savvy, it makes it pretty hard for noobs

3) the roon trial thing is a red herring in my mind, cuz to try it right you have to set it up right, have the right hardware, make the right choices, and some those things are expensive and typically are not bought on a trial basis, and even if they are, one hardly fully gets their arms around all the choices and capabilities and proper setup within a typical 15-30-45 day trial period

4) i think the most confusing thing is that one needs a computer to run roon’s core program, and yet it is best not to take the music stream out of that same computer’s usb port, even though it is right there waiting to be used!! ... there is yet more hardware to buy to get a sufficiently cleaned stream delivered to your outboard dac (switches, filters, bridges, fmc and so on)... i can see some folks starting by pulling the music stream out of the core machine then saying hey why does it sound so bad...

5) then there are some units like the innuos ones, i e zen or zen mini... they can be used as an endpoint or a core or both, but using their hardware to be the core machine may compromise the speed and the sound of what is delivered

so it is alot to comprehend, much of it ample, fertile ground for eyes glazing over and getting frustrated, then on top of that some folks say it sounds bad -- holy moly!!

op, i do hope you are getting some clarity from all this nice discussion you have started with your initial post, and i wish you good luck!

Roon doesn’t have a sound. It just plays files. 
 

I love Roon. I built a ROCK kit. 

jjss49

Excellent summary.  After reading your post and looking at your equipment, your opinion carries the force of experience.

+1, @grannyring

I use both Roon and Sense.  I have a PS Audio Direct Stream DAC w/ Bridge II and Innous Zenith MKII streamer.  I bought the Zenith about 5 years ago and a life time Roon subscription.  

On the Zenith, I did A/B testing between Roon and Logitech Media Server.  I found LMS sounded better, but Roon’s interface is so much better so I stuck with Roon as my primary music management system. (I ran LMS from a NAS for years and years, long before I purchased the Zenith.)

Once I tried Sense in my music room system, there was no looking back.  I still use Roon for whole house stereo to Riva Wand wireless speakers on my first floor, second floor, and backyard.

In my music room, I did A/B testing using Sense via the Zenith into a Matrix DDC using i2s to the my DAC, and Roon into Bridge II in my DAC.  Sense sounds much better.  Using Roon and Bridge II, I’ve found that Qobuz HIRes generally sounds better than Tidal MQA, but not by much. 

For critical listening, I use Qobuz.  I listen to Tidal a lot because that’s where I started and have about 20 lengthy playlists that I’m too lazy to recreate in Qobuz.  And Tidal has more music to my liking (old school Soul/R&B, contemporary Jazz, and soft Rock) - and I think Qobuz playlists suck.  By that I mean, Qobuz mixes way too many music types into their playlists and their definition of Soul/R&B is mostly hip hop music which I can’t stomach.  Tidal’s focused playlist are so much better than Qobuz’s mixed bag playlists, and Tidal’s “My Mixes” playlists are awesome (IMHO) because they are automatically generated by Tidal based on the types of music that I play.

How does Roon Sound?

I copuld add my opinion here. I have one. I also have a nose, and a cup of coffee, none of the three are useful to you.

Roon sounds liek the systems its implemented with.  As noted, the DAC is #1.  A streamer ought to make little difference, but does for a few reasons.  First, the software (lik Roon) must run on hardware.  Isolating the hardware ground noise from the DAC is one source of improvement.  While the USB inputs are often isolated, i have a 3-stage approach to ridding me of noise:  1) my own power supply for Roon; 2) a bridge between Roon and my DAC, and 3) dedicated USB power in my bridge.  Note i built my own.

A second "sound thing" is the various processing performed. You can up-sample, or not. You cna choose the type of upsampling. You can choose an MQA first unfold or not.  You can set buffer windows. Most of these will in the end be opportunities for improvement,

My experience is that between Tidal and a great DAC, along with just plain solid engineering in the middle (no fancy cables or routers) you deal with 99% of the sound.

In any event, if set up right, it can sound truly great.  And the various features, remote capability, multi-room, synch-ing are terrific.

I run Roon on ROCK on a NUC with an LPS that i built. Warning - the NUC is an absolute power hog on turn on, my LPS is HUGE (8A regulated out).  Holy carbon footprint batman.

G