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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.

tcutter
jbuddha882
27 posts
 

Does anyone run Roon core server on Mac Mini M4 alongside HPPlayer 5 or 6 desktop? I’m having insane connection issues between Roon and HQPlayer and they’re on the same damn hard drive. When up sampling to HQP as an audio zone. I have to pull out a keyboard everytime I go to press play, to mess with closing Roon or closing hqp, and the restarts don’t always fix it. Sometimes it just stays disconnected all day 

kumizi
41 posts
 

I tried Roon using just my desktop computer and my streamer as Roon endpoint.

The sound was too smooth and laid back for my liking.  It took some of the life out of the music.  I would think most people on these forums that like a super smooth, laid back sound would prefer Roon.  

ohlala
1,278 posts
 

I just started Audirvana trial today. It sounds more like Jplay than Roon plus has the benefit of parametric EQ, which helps with my challenging room. Hopefully will get time to try the convolution feature. This seems a promising way to avoid separate ADC/DAC device that will likely add noise and distortion.  

wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
1,485 posts
 

For those of you experiencing better sound when NOT usung Roon, there’s help more than just DSP tweaks for Roon. Just google “best roon settings for sound” and good things can happen. 

newton_john's avatar
newton_john
596 posts
 

@wsrrsw 

I have six months left of my Roon subscription to try out any settings that can improve its sound quality. Please tell more.

 

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