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Sound quality of Roon vs. Lighting

I’d like some feedback from the more experienced users here.  I have an Auralic Aries G2 streamer.  I also have Roon Core running on a Mac Mini.  This allows me to compare the sound quality of Roon vs. Auralic’s Lightning app.  Complicating things are that the Auralic has filter options and I can send data to my DAC via USB or S/PDIF etc.  A couple of quick details
1) I’ve found that I prefer USB to S/PDIF going into my DAC.
2) I’m using the filter Auralic says is most preferred by listeners (smooth w/ little pre-ringing).
3) When running Roon - I’m not doing any processing - no up conversion, equalization, etc.


Am I imagining that Lighting sounds slightly better than Roon?

Of course, Roon is a much better interface than Lighting but Lightning is usable - and doesn’t cost me anything.

So the question is - have others experienced this?  Or, do I need to tweak Roon to get the best out of it?  I know Audiotroy would suggest I do some up-conversion w/in Roon but over USB I can only do up to 192k - correct?

Can some of you suggest to me what settings I should try in Roon to get the best out of it?  Or, should I try different filter settings on the Auralic?  Too many variables....

Best, 
mgrif104
erik_squires
16,056 posts
 
Between S/PDIF and USB 2.0, USB has the higher bandwidth. You can up convert at least up to 384kHz in Roon with USB.  I just tried it. :)  No problem.

However, with modern DAC’s I honestly don’t hear a difference like I used to with older DACs, and it’s not my hearing, I’ve tested this out at the same time.


highpeakrider
43 posts
 
I’m doing something similar as a service I don’t think Roon actually delivers value for money.
However I’m using a LUMIN D2 fed by local library and Qobuz.
I actually think using the LUMIN directly sound more musical than using Roon and it’s free.

Roon although it says a single interface for discovering it still splits your local music and streaming service and for me does not deliver new content unless I use the radio feature.

Im currently using Apple Music to discover new music and mobile usage then using Soundiz to transfer playlist from Apple Music to Qobuz.

Not a single interface but for me it delivers the music a want in a better sound without the complexity and cost of Roon, I have a one year membership and won’t be renewing unless something fundamentally changes.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Sometimes it's not easy getting the volumes matched going by controls in the app but if it sounds better to you not using roon then you can save a little cash. I tried the same but with volumio and roon and roon was clearly better  not only in sound but ease of use , in my case going through the same streamer and dac. 
mgrif104 OP
344 posts
 
Jond: thanks for the link to the Auralic community.  Reading through that thread suggests that I wasn’t imagining the difference.  Most users seemed to feel that Lightning DS sounds better than Roon, though many of the same still use Roon for the UI. The suggested difference is that LDS employs the large buffer in the Aries G2 whereas Roon does not.

What i can relay is that, in my experience, Lightning DS sounds more open in comparison to Roon, whether streaming Qobuz or playing local files.  It may be that I could tweak Roon to get there, but I’m not feeling much motivation to try.

Thanks all,
mgrif
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,920 posts
 
@mgrif104 
I run Auralic Aries G1 into Chord Qutest DAC. My experience with Roon vs. LDS is the same as yours. The LDS sounds noticeably better. Roon sounds flat and not engaging in comparison. I also use Mac Mini as Roon core, but that’s not the culprit (others running Roon on other dedicated servers report the same findings).
FWIW, I run the Auralic, Roon and the DAC in default settings. No resample or filter features are enabled. I played with the settings in Roon, nothing I’ve tried gets It there. The user interface and experience offered by roon is in a different league though. However, I personally care more about the sound. 
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