Roon vs Qobuz Connect

@audphile1 yes, good point; thanks. I have actually run that experiment using Minimserver to send local files to Mind, but didn't bring it up here as it was specific to Moon/Mind. I did it now again. I still hear a difference which suggests something intrinsic to Roon overhead rather than having a local server in between. 

The difference to me seems to be stronger when comparing Roon and QC directly. But here my hearing could be failing me... I give up! Look: there's no day and night stuff going on. So It's back to good old Roon, I guess.

@rivinyl for what it's worth...

@dwette haha it’s no big deal, it was this from @rivinyl :

It does also raise the question as to whether the server (in my case the SGC ) is degrading the sound rather than Roon being the culprit. It would make sense to my analogue brain, that removing one component ie the server, might enhance the signal and decrease the noise my dac gets.

I see. I’m not so sure that relates to what I was testing. I compared the same tracks from Roon, where one is stored on the Roon server’s filesystem (as a CD I ripped or a 24-bit file I purchased and downloaded) vs streaming the same thing from Qobuz, but still using Roon. In both cases my Roon server is a dedicated appliance (i.e. Intel NUC running ROCK).

When I had my previous streamer I compared QC vs using Qobuz via Roon. I thought the QC stream was somewhat (but not significantly) better, but not better enough to suffer the inferior user experience using Qobuz’ own UI. I think I’ve noted that above already. I can’t use QC now anyway,

It stands to reason that QC might sound better, since the stream goes from Qobuz servers directly to the QC endpoint, bypassing any other servers (like Roon).

@debrajray all things being equal, including the exact same network/Ethernet setup (cables, filters ,etc) feeding streamer and roon core, I’m pretty sure there will still be a difference but it is what it is - will boil down to what sounds best to you. 
Roon’s definitely got us by the ⚽️⚽️ with that awesome UI. 

Qobuz Connect can (should) sound better. When using it the stream goes directly to the QC enabled streamer, instead of coming in from Qobuz and making another hop first from the Roon server to the Roon-enabled streamer.

Think about how many hops the bits take before they even get to your house!