Music Servers, Do They Matter?

mapman

I generally really appreciate your posts (for years actually) and honestly never make it a habit to disagree with folks on the forums. But you just could not be more wrong here.

Having built custom PC based servers for my system over the last 10 years, I must have gone through more than 100 permutations of hardware and software. In my current build every component change and software change effects the sound quality. There is simply no way anyone can openly and honestly experiment with this and not find the same. For those looking for genuine answers to this question, it is very confusing and misleading to suggest otherwise. If you have tried various server solutions of different quality and have a resolving system and cannot tell the difference then something else is wrong. It’s just unequivocal.

Just one small example that I have repeated literally dozens of times: I love the Roon interface. I have a subscription. I REALLY want Roon to work in my system. But in every recent iteration of my server, Euphony sounds significantly better. The difference is not subtle. And that is a shame because Euphony’s interface is vastly inferior to that of Roon. (I am aware that in many systems this may be the reverse. But this is consistently what happens in MY specific system.) I bring this up only to illustrate just how important each component of the server seems to be for playback quality. This is one example I could give of dozens. I have no dog in this fight. None at all. I just want newcomers to have an accurate picture of the enterprise. Believe me, I really wish it were otherwise. But every component of a server, down to the OS and playback software, will tend to affect the sound.

@abdodson 

My experience aligns with yours; servers matter and Roon is not the best sounding software. 

I have an Innuos Zenith Mk. 3, I tried Squeezlite/Ipeng in place of Roon. The Squeezelite/Ipeng sound was a significant improvement but the Ipeng UI is incredibly poor--especially compared to Roon. 

I'm looking forward to the release of Innuos 2.0, hopefully Roon will be relegated to my Bluesound devices around the house. 

I received my Lucas Audio LDMS Music Server.  Does it make a difference?  I would not have believed it until I heard it.  I have a $30k Lampi Pacific Dac and I thought my sound was great.  That is until I started up the LDMS.  

The sound quality, the detail, the instrumentation separation was more apparent, clarity of sound was enhanced.  My overall experience has taken my system to a totally different level.  I will even say that if I would have known this I might have purchased a less expensive DAC.  

I highly recommend, if you are looking for a music server, check out Lucas Audio.  Lucas D is a computer genius.  

@willgolf,

Thanks for posting your feedback. I say this from my experience, DAC is just as important as your music streamer/server. I am in the process of upgrading my existing digital setup and the jump in SQ on DAC alone was quite a revelation. The realism I’m experiencing, gives you this profound sense of how close we can get to reality.

Some may say that the gap between DAC performances have narrowed and while I somewhat agree with that sentiment, at the end of the day you can easily tell apart products that are engineered with passion for high fidelity vs. products built to satisfy the masses.

Lalitk
When I got my Pacific it was replacing a Lumin X-1 which I loved.  IMO, there was not much of a difference in performance between the X-1 and the Pacific.  That is why I made the comment that I probably didn't need to buy the most expensive Lampi.  I wanted to try an all tube system and so I sold the X-1.  

The bottom line....the DAC is important but I can now say the Music Server is every bit as important and I am super glad I went that route.

What are you doing to upgrade your digital?