How are you getting on with jPlay?
I think there may be a way to get it to work satisfactorily with my Linn DSM using Bubble UPnP Server as an intermediary between them.
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.
- ...
- 69 posts total
I use an Auralic Vega g2.2 and find it sounds best without any Roon or Qubuz Connect software connected to it. Pity the company no longer exists but I still hope there is some person somewhere who thinks it is worth buying the companies leftovers and further develop these wonderful DACs/network streamers/streaming bridges. |
@newton_john the streamer card in my DAC is upnp compatible. I didn’t have to do anything special. If you use anything in between jplay and linn I’m not sure how that may impact sound quality. |
People will spend years tweaking and optimizing their analog setup but expect digital to work optimally right at the outset. Digital needs some work just as analog does! There are many things that frustrate me about Roon: flakiness and instability/slow downs, that the team leverages the user base as QC, the awful forum moderation and groupthink, and more than a little stubbornness when it comes to what users versus their product people want to see done. Sound quality hasn’t been one of them. One thing people generally don’t disclose in their discussion of Roon sound quality is what they have feeding their DAC. Roon recommends a reasonably powerful server feeding PCM via LAN to a very quiet low powered endpoint. So many people have these overbuilt audio servers feeding their DACs. It costs a lot to insulate these powerful machines...and it’s unnecessary if you take Roon’s advice. Not saying that accounts for everyone’s difference of opinion. Just that to have a conversation about sound quality, we need to know the configuration. I use 6 and 8 core Roon servers with plenty of RAM and a very quiet Linux fanless N100 with a 20W laptop PSU as a streamer, and that works very well. The streamer endpoint is where the difference is made: no moving parts, very little energy, enough processing power. |
- 69 posts total