2. digital
  3. 179165-151326

Sound quality of Roon

I am considering trying Roon.  I have been using my Bluesound Node but I am going to upgrade as I do enjoy streaming more and more using Tidal.  It is quite an investment to get a NUC or Nucleus and then have a separate tablet to control it all.
 

But apart from the cost I have read some people say Roon does not sound good.  Their streamer by blah blah sounds better.  Is this true?  For all that is required to use Roon, the hardware, the subscription and all, would Roon be popular if it made digital streaming sound bad?


I would love to hear people who have experience comment on this.  There is info on the Roon Labs discussion site but as you can imagine it is saying this is BS Roon sounds great.  I guess Roon as a software also has had updates, so maybe this is a thing that might have been true in the past?  

troidelover1499
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 

Here the answer to your question regarding how Roon sounds on an Innuos product. Roon does not sound as good as Innuos’s own Sense software. Sense sounds much better if your system is resolving and high quality. Not even close on my Zenith MK3 and Tron Atlantic dac combo. I have a lifetime Roon membership, but after comparing to Sense I can no longer listen to Roon. Roon sounds flat, a tad diffused and lacks resolution. I would only use Roon for background music with my particular system. This is true with Innuos streamers/server products. Roon can sound wonderful with other server/streamer brands.

I prefer the user experience of Roon over Sense. Sense is very good, but Roon is the best I have used. I just wish Roon sounded as good with Innuos gear in my system. Some will find Roon sounds just fine with their Innuos and that is fine for them and their systems.

Great digital sounds heavenly today and does not take a back seat to many vinyl front ends.

vonhelmholtz
911 posts
 

Let's accept/assume that Roon streaming sounds inferior to directly streaming Qubuz, Tidal..etc..  Where, at what stage does this degradation take place?  I'm assuming that you have already turned off processing/modification within Roon.

grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,436 posts
 

I don’t directly stream from Qobuz. I use the Innuos Sense software. Using Sense with Innuos servers/streamers sounds best if you have a nicely resolved system. 

vonhelmholtz
911 posts
 

I don’t directly stream from Qobuz. I use the Innuos Sense software. Using Sense with Innuos servers/streamers sounds best if you have a nicely resolved system. 

When using Roon, is the Roon Core server internal to your Innuos, or is it external and if external what hardware are you using?

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,234 posts
 

@past The Streamer upgrade will not improve SQ.

The DAC is the thing to shop. 

No doubt written with good intentions and well-meaning sincerity, but not factual for many. There are legions of experienced streamers who will confirm that upgrading to higher quality streaming hardware unquestionably improves the sound quality. It by no means just about the DAC. It is about both the streamer/server and the DAC.

Charles

More to discover