Anyone been able to compare the SQ of Roon Nucleus vs. MacBook Air?
I think the point everyone is trying to make is... Do NOT plug a DAC directly into a Computer, including a Nuc... Find a Streamer to go between your Computer and your DAC for better SQ... Re-Read rule #1 Suggested by Roon Labs... Linked here for your convenience... https://kb.roonlabs.com/Sound_Quality |
I went @tuberist route. I just migrated off a 5 year old Mac Mini to an ST i5 and Roon Core. Nice piece of hardware and super easy setup and config. The endpoint is a Bryston BDP Pi with Manic Moose & MPD. The jury still out on Roon SQ. I listen to a lot of RadioParadise (RedBook FLAC resolution). At this point Roon SQ literally pales in comparison to MPD in MM, when playing RP. I am still researching configuration options to hopefully get it dialed in. I need to do some testing streaming my Qobuz content to see if Roon hold up against MM & MPD. If it doesn’t there is going to be an ST i5 for sale on here next year. I’m not going to give up my SQ for an immersive interface. I will just fudge that with multiple browser tabs open looking at (Wiki’s , Discogs, AllMusic etc). |
Jbuhl, I look forward to learning about your results. As well as anyone’s experience specific to the original question — how SQ compares between Mac running Roon vs a Roon Nucleus. You would hope for an improvement with the dedicated Nucleus, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone report one apart from usability, not that that’s unimportant. |
@drubin On 11/15/19 in the "Options besides a computer for streaming" thread, I reported: "I replaced my 2011ish MacBook Pro and iTunes/BitPerfect with with a Roon Nucleus and Roon. Had my data (music) on an external Samsung T5 SSD. Super easy conversion. Wasn't expecting much improvement in sound quality, just in usability due to moving to Roon. No question, Roon is a vastly superior musical interface, but the surprise was the sound quality. Everything sounded "identical" till I realized in the first few seconds/minutes that the sound/noise floor had dropped noticeably. This might seem trivial, but is not. A lower noise floor lets you hear details, like how notes end, spatial placement, hall effects, etc., that make the music that much more realistic. I am 100% happy with my purchase (I bought the less expensive Nucleus, since I don't do DSP into my Yggy), but I am considering an LPS to see if I can drop the noise floor further." Currently waiting for the new 300W HDPlex LPS to be released. -docknow |
