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Does ROON sound different?

I am about to buy a new music streamer/transport (432 EVO Aeon), which recommends using ROON as a network platform. I have never used ROON, because I did not like the sound of the old Solos server, from which ROON derived. I have done a lot of reading about ROON, including a chapter in Robert Harley's latest edition of his "Complete Guide ...". He seems to really like ROON and does not mention any impact of sound. However, many members of various audio fora seem to disagree, claiming that ROON has a certain "house sound" that blurs contours and softens treble. I can understand this, if one uses the ROON hardware as an endpoint. But that's not what I try to do, as my new Aeon is ROON-ready and will be the endpoint, and I would only subscribe to the ROON software environment.

So my question is: has anybody experienced a coloration from using ROON, either as it's own hardware endpoint (Core), or - as in my case - as the digital platform. What does ROON "sound" like, if there is such a thing?

Thank you all!

128x128reimarc
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,550 posts
 

It may sound different out of the can than others. I did a/b compare of Roon with Plex prior to signing up and Roon was clearly better. I did a thread about my results here that you might find in a search if desired.

Also optionally you can use the built in DSP to tweak the sound pretty much any way you want or not. So with Roon you have unlimited sound options and not trapped into any single one.  That’s part of the magic possible only with digital streaming. 

sns
3,494 posts
 

Perhaps Roon has some 'house sound', but who knows what exactly that is. Sound quality of Roon dependent on your entire streaming and audio system. SQ of Roon has never been an issue for me, this compared to playing or ripped cd's and my proprietary Euphony Stylus player. Roon's DSP is pretty lousy, is one requires dsp get the HQPlayer app, far superior to Roon's. IME Roon best sq with minimal processing within the Roon player, this means turning off things like volume leveling, dsp, excessive library analytics.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,550 posts
 

Agree different things will sound different, but in any case, sound quality is a cornerstone of Roon, not an issue.  

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