roon sound wasn't as good

I have tried Roon on my main system. I can’t say I noticed a sound quality hit, but I wasn’t listening for one. But, while it has greater functionality than my Conductor app. I know how to use the Conductor app and paying for a service that cost as much as my music service (that will go away some day, Roon not the music service) and added complexity, just made little sense to me.

“My server for roon was my pc”

There has been many debates (mostly from IT pro’s aka naysayers, 1’s and 0’s, IP Protocol and blah blah crowd) that running Roon Core on a separate PC, Laptop or NUC won’t matter. They will be here shortly and tell you have been hallucinating. It’s no more a secret that implementation and design of any component that is tasked to stream music near or far on your network matters. 
 

But the server (core) usually matters far less than the player.

 

Was this over Wifi or Ethernet?  What upsampling, if any was done?

Roon DSP functionality takes a little time to get the hang of but it’s worth it and opens up all kinds of possibilities for tailoring the sound room by room, device by device all in digital domain. I use it all the time and have presets for 4 different rooms and various headphones.

The computer does not matter if you use fibre to get the bits to the DAC. I never connect my computer directly to the USB input of a DAC. Always use fibre to stop all the analog noise from the network getting into the DAC. It is like a moat around the DAC.

The Naim streamer is hard-wired directly to the router (ethernet)

I have not tried DSP but Im not sure how I'd try to tailor it to make the sound less hard, and get the ambiance back.   I only have one room I use it for, my main listening room which is my living room.  

Problem with the trial period is you have 14 days to figure it out and keep it or get rid of it.  I ran out of time, but went back twice to listening tests and both times was not enjoying the result  And as much as I like the way it integrates all my sources and services, the name of the game is maximum listening pleasure.  

If you want to hear ROON with DSP done at a professional level then Mitch Barnett at Accurate Sound is the guy to talk to. For $750 you can get ROON Convolution filters created for your room, speakers, listening position.

I no longer use the ROON Convolution filters but when I did it was a audio system life saver. I will get Mitch to do another set of filters for my new Livingroom system. It already sounds great but I am curious what Mitch can do since I do keep the speakers a little to close to the front wall.

My guess is that you either had DSP activated changing things or your system without roon is a slightly different setup providing a different color. Roon with your streaver vs your streamer alone should sound the same. I assume both use the same wiring--ethernet into the back of your streamer and then your preferred cable to the DAC. Roon core goes elsewhere, often near the router.

Either way, good that you are happy with your system.

Jerry

The NAIM streamer / DAC is quite good. I am running ROON on a different system than my NAIM , so can’t directly comment on a a/b comparison… You might try the NAIM forum for more insights on a more direct comparison. Also…in my opinion, you are getting good advice on both roon core hosting and fiber implementation, small green computer can help w affordable kit.

someone asked about upsampling, Im not certian what I chose I think I took the maximum upsampling, wonder if my Naim Dac might not have liked the upsampled signal   I didn't try it without upsampling if memory serves  This is the 14 day problem again, just not enough time to try everything.

fiber optic...where?   I have wifi in the house.  PC wired to a router    Naim wired to a router  PC communicates to the Naim I assume as a network device which has the roon firmware as endpoint in it  Fiber optic is from the house to the street yes (its verizon fios)

what is the small green computer tomic601  and Im not following about fiber (maybe more in my diet?  :  )   

Roon can sound great it requires superior programming skills and hardware designed to run roon optimally,

 

our 432evo servers run Roon in an entirely different fashion by maximizing how roon is run by the CPU:.

we run Roon on one of the CPUs cores.

we run background processes on another core,

we then run music caching on another core.

all non essential processes are turned  off on the motherboard and we electrically shield the cpu with a custom designed shield, add a custom Sata cable, a shock mounted  suspension for ths Ssd,and a separate electrically isolated usb card and clock.and we use two Sbooster external power supplies one to drive the CPU and one to power the usb and clock cards.

And because we have separate boards and power supplies we also have zero obsolescence as better parts become available the servers can be upgraded easily

Dave and Troy

audio intellect NJ

Us importers 432evo music servers 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CPU

the result is a server which sounds more liken analog source when combined with a great Dac.

 

yes Roon can sound amazing whem implimented correctly

I created my own room correction filters for Roon using Room EQ wizard freeware and a $100 minidsp mike using an online guide. I apply the room correction then add additional eq filters to season to taste. Results can be tuned in perfectly to personal preference this way. You just have to get up the initial learning curve and experiment a bit at first. Perhaps the best tweak ever for less than $1k. We are talking total transformation as needed.
 

One of my rooms required very little adjustment but others quite a bit. Just using the mic and REW to get a handle on what issues your room has alone is a worthwhile learning experience that can help one make wiser decisions moving forward. I suspect there are many out there who would care but have no way of knowing to what extent their room as opposed to the equipment itself is determining what they hear.

But the server (core) usually matters far less than the player.

@fuzztone - I also have found this to be true. My server is in my network room, and streamer in my system room. I like the sound from the Signature Rendu SE optical streamer better than others I have tried but cannot reliably hear differences between servers. I would like to try the Innuos Pulsar streamer. Currently using a DDC after the Sig Rendu to provide more flexibility in digital connections into my DAC. Unfortunately, I don’t know how I would incorporate some of the digital processing options discussed here with my NOS R2R DAC.

 

This is the dirty little secret nobody wants to talk about. 

Innuos Sense vs Roon. Take a comparison listen sometime.

Even with that said I have Roon and will keep it. Reason is simple.

I will trade off some SQ for improved access to new music. 

 

That maybe true , but it does have HQ  player built in ,with that you can Taylor the sound  exact to your system.   Innous has Avery good interface ,sounds better and can use HQ player.

I use Tidal with Audirvāna, exceptional sound quality and easy to understand and play.

@audiotroy 

Roon can sound great it requires superior programming skills and hardware designed to run roon optimally, our 432evo servers run Roon in an entirely different fashion by maximizing how roon is run by the CPU:.

 

I don't know about all the technical jargon.  However they managed to implement it, I can certainly confirm that the sound is amazing from the 432evo Aeon. 

properly implemented using a sufficiently powerful and dedicated server, and using proper connections with proper galvanic isolation to the downstream components, i have found that roon does not degrade sound

some companies like innuos et al essentially do this 'optimization' for the customer, and thus can lead the user to believe the sound is 'better'

Thanks all here's a quick summary

1. Special servers might enhance the outcome  These are likely somewhat expensive and will increase the investment into roon by as  much as 1000% (10 times)

2. Other services might sound better like Innuos at I assume a roon like expense

3. DSP equalizing might help dial it in  I have no idea where I'd start though this is on my list (like roon) of things to experiment with and one person mentions some inexpensive ways to go about it  Downside of course is a time consuming task with a learning curve

To me the low hanging fruit here is try other services and see if the sound stays the same as via the native Naim software,  Not too expesnive and too much of a learning curve

I tried Roon via Ethernet from computer to my Weiss 501 and wasn’t as natural sounding as to computer to Aqua LinQ to Weiss 501.The Roon was louder, crispier and more digital sounding. The LinQ network streamer was more warmer, natural and realistic sounding with the instruments and vocals . I would probably have been fatigued with Roon sooner but the other combination, I never get fatigued IMHO.