Roon Endpoint Streamers - Direct Comparisons between Current Offerings?

Mitch in trying to address your original post. Leaving perceived value out and just honing on sound quality, my Optical Rendu being served by the SGC Sonic Transporter i7 is my 3rd best sounding rig. My Innuos Zenith M3 with outboard Pheonix reclocker is a clear step up even with Roon. (Like you I have a lifetime subscription) Now if instead I use the Innuos Sense instead of Roon, now it gets way better still. Flipping  between Roon and Sense does take a configuration change and services to restart. (Perhaps a minute total)

I also just purchased an Antipodes K50 which was purchased used within your price range. It does the Roon dance right with lots of user installable HD space, speedy interface and a high quality streamer in one box.

Purely based on the 3 streamers you presented, the Auralic would be my least favourite (on the cold side to my ears) then the Sonore Optical Sig, however the Innuos to my ears is a significant upgrade. Good luck with wherever you land!

Thank you @ianderson for your post that directly compares some of the options I am considering. 

I have a SGC i9 G3 on its way here so will start there on the server side along with my current Signature Rendu SE optical as the endpoint, which I believe would be considered a step up from the opticalRendu depending on the PS you used.  I like having an endpoint with a USB output, which I can connect into my Singxer DDC, from which I can run a variety of output connections to a couple of different DACs I am using.

After getting the i9 set up, I believe my next step may be to compare endpoints between the Sig Rendu SE o and the Innuos Pulsar about which I keep hearing good things.  The other configuration I considered was to purchase an Innuos Zenith M3, to use as a server only, to feed the Pulsar as the endpoint.  Either way, having the Pulsar as an endpoint would allow me to try the Sense app, which is possibly a reason to choose the Pulsar over the Sig Rendu SE o.  My plan is to get the i9 set up and then directly compare the Pulsar against the Sig Rendu SE o in my system.

You don’t need to start with expensive high end streamer options to get top notch sound with Roon. I do it with many Roon endpoints ranging in cost to $0 on existing computers, tablets, smartphones to a newer $500 streamer to another that cost way more. THEY ALL SOUND REALLY REALLY GOOD, no obvious flaws!!! Toss in smart use of Roon DSP and you can have it all on most any reputable Roon endpoint.

I run Roon on at least 6 or 7 different devices in my house as needed and RoonArc remotely. WHich Roon is best? I have no clue. It’s the rest of teh system Roon is running on at the moment that really matters. Maybe some day I will attempt some kind of unbiased direct a/b comparison but frankly I really don’t care. IT’s not rocket science! Start with a computer tablet or smart phone for not much. Add to that from there as needed. I’m sure the reliable high end Roon devices sound great as well. They better considering the systems they are most likely running on.

The fact that Roon runs on all these different endpoints from commercial computer up to high end streamers is one of its most valuable features....no hardware lock-in!!!  The others are sound quality, User experience and extremely powerful and flexible DSP.  Roon is perhaps the single best investment a 21th century audiophile and music lover can make IMHO.

So I am a big Roon fan, eh?

Cheers!

There are many options in Roon that determine how it sounds. Not all are categorized under DSP (which is optional to use).

My point is, if one really must, before comparing Roons, one better have a good handle on all the ways how you configure Roon that can affect the sound, in order to be able to truly compare apples/apples.

Roon is very powerful and flexible in regards to how the user can impact the resulting sound depending on settings. It can be a little overwhelming frankly at first. So lots of ways to use or abuse Roon merely based on what settings are in play. Start with default settings and tweak from there as desired.

Personally I would not worry about what other Roons sound like until I have used teh one I have to full potential for best results.

Learning and understanding what all those optional settings actually do and which might help versus hurt may seem like a somewhat daunting task, but one that is most worthwhile mastering.

It can also be fun and educational just changing settings one at a time and comparing. You can always reverse each step along the way as desired.

Doing room correction correctly with DSP alone is a total game changer in many cases, but doing it right takes some learning, time and effort.

I’d recommend best practice of first adjust for the room (often good sound public enemy #1) , then you can layer other filters on top of that to tweak the sound as desired to personal preferences. Roon users have documented how to do this using Room EQ Wizard freeware. Just google search Roon room correction

My experiences for optimizing Roon Sound:

-I am a lifetime Roon subscriber for some time and love the features.

-avoid all DSP as much as possible as to me it adds noise.  You don't hear noise     per say, but it destroys the soundstage and ambiance.

-for critical listening only run one Roon endpoint at a time.  This is easily heard if you turn other endpoints on and off while critically listening.

-for the above reason, I have moved away from having 4 Roon endpoints in my home.  Now my bedroom and master bathroom (hardly critical areas) are now the new Sonos ERA 300 speakers which are really good.  They are extremely stable and sound just fine in my bathroom and bedroom. It is easy to add playlists from Qobuz onto your Sonos system.  The Sonos ARC is also excellent, better than my Marantz AVR with a passive soundbar.

-I am not saying Roon sounds better than Innuos Sense or Aurender Conductor.  But the features, ease of use and music discovery of Roon are better and it still can sound amazing.

-I would not buy a high end streamer that is not Roon Certified as an endpoint. (come on Aurender!!!).

-the main place I NEEDED DSP was the master bathroom.  the Sonos ERA 300 easily adjusts its frequency response to the glass and tile environment.