That would suck because I really like the Roon UI and the fact that all my music is organized there.
There is a solution, it is Jplay
Roon changes the music
... at least on Qobuz on my system.
Listening with an audio buddy who has a very critical ear to both Roon and Qobuz Connect. We agreed that quick AB comparisons of the same song with matched levels per the iPhone DBx app and no DSP, volume leveling etc., yielded a difference. As some of the listeners in this thread (https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/does-roon-sound-different?highlight=Does%2Broon%2Bcolor%2Bthe%2Bmusic) found, "ROON has a certain "house sound" that blurs contours and softens treble." and "Roon is a bit softer in the upper midrange and images do not stand out in such relief as jplay". It was not subtle. Need to listen more to see if it’s an improvement or a step back. Too early to tell but there is certainly a difference.
Since I have been struggling with Qobuz connectivity, I am again considering going to Tidal, which is no biggie, but now I am also concerned that I may have to give up Roon. That would suck because I really like the Roon UI and the fact that all my music is organized there.
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It does, until you hear something better. Or, you buy a Taiko- those users claim there is no degradation using Roon. If someone can tell me what that server/streamer does differently than my Antipodes K50 in order to make Roon sound better I would appreciate it.
Yup. been there done that. I respond to someone else’s thread to confirm I hear the same thing, they jump all over you, claim you didn’t level to the 1/100th of a db, I tell them Roon could be 2 db higher and I still say other software sounds better, they say there must be something wrong with my system. I question their unscientific reasoning, they then called me the troll! |
@yyzsantabarbara I prefer Tidal as well. To me, in most cases, it sounds better than Qobuz. |
Since I have a new toy in AI and want to play with it, it gave the following caveat which may also explain different experiences: if Qobuz Connect ultimately proves preferable to you, it doesn't necessarily mean Roon is "doing something wrong." It may simply mean that the Nagra's own streaming implementation is optimized to work most naturally with its native control path. That's a perfectly plausible outcome and one that's specific to your combination of hardware, software, and listening preferences—not necessarily a universal verdict on either platform. |
I had the lower cost version of the top end PlayBack Designs steamer called STREAM-IF. I compared it side-by-side to the Lumin X1 streamer and the older version of the Sonore OpticalRendu. They all sounded great but different which was very interesting to me since you would have thought a streamer would not sound different. I never owned a PBD DAC (changed plans) but the STREAM-IF streamer was brilliant using SPDIF, as good as the fibre optic Lumin X1 and the OpticalRendu. Very impressed by the PBD streamer which I assume is even better with PLINK fibre. BTW- yesterday my friend sent me a photo of the EMM top end DAC sitting in his house. He asked me if I wanted to hear it at my house. I am kind of scared to bring home a $33k DAC to my chaotic household. I have heard the PBD MPD-8 DAC, and this EMM is a direct competitor.
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