bump in sound quality from only changing roon core?
Yep I think so. I was comparing Roon side by side with my Bryston BDP Pi running MPD/Manic Moose and streaming Qobuz. The Bryston bested the iMAC/Roon hands down enough so I was considering not anteing up for ROON. Switching the to SGC brought it close enough that I opted for the ROON subscription. Switched the Bryston to ROON ready, done. I think having the core running on a dedicated device is critical for squeezing the most out of ROON. Note: Radio Paradise still sounds a tad better when streamed (16/48) directly off the Bryston.