Roon changes the music

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.  

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.  

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. 

@wsrrsw 

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

@wsrrsw posted the following two years ago which was very helpful in my experience (ironically I’ve been trying to find this post for weeks):

Here's this..Can't remember where I found this for best sound.

 

This guide assumes you have already downloaded and installed Roon Core/Server 2.0 on your source and Roon Endpoint version 2.0 on a Mac or PC.
Access the settings menu by clicking on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) on the top left of the Roon app. Configure the following:

Disable the default music folder (not the folder where your music is stored. Roon sometimes automatically adds the default system music folder and this is the one we want to disable)

Settings > Storage > kebab menu (three vertical dots) > Disable Set Background audio analysis to Off

Settings > Library > Background audio analysis > drop down menu > OFF Note: changing this setting is vitally important for SQ, but also a PITA. You'll need to turn this back on after adding new media to your library then turn it off again.

Set On-Demand audio analysis to Off
Settings > Library > On-Demand audio analysis > drop down menu > OFF Note: changing this setting is vitally important for SQ, but also a PITA. You'll need to turn this back on after adding new media to your library then turn it off again.

Disable all audio zones and devices except for the upstream device (DAC/ Network Player) you will use to connect to your Roon Core.

Settings > Audio > Connected to Core > DAC/Network Player > Enable Note: ASIO drivers for Windows and ASLA for Linux tend to yield the best audio performance. Though I have heard instances of WASAPI performing just as well in Windows with the right software.

Audio Device Settings
Settings > Audio > Connected to Core > DAC/Network Player > cogwheel menu

DSD playback strategy > Native or DSD over PCM (DoP) MQA capabilities > off
Volume Control > Fixed
Resync Delay > 0ms

Note: if you click play and the first second or so of a track is cut off, increase in 50ms increments until it plays. Some DACs need a few milliseconds to sync with the source before initializing playback.

Show Advanced > Drop down menu >
Set your DAC's max sample rate for PCM
Set your DAC's native bits per sample for PCM (bit depth) Set your DAC's max sample rate for DSD
Enable MQA decoder > No
Use maximum Buffer size > No
Power of 2 Hardware Buffer Size > No or 0

Disable DSP and remove filters (don't worry, you can always add these back). Home (main music playback bar at the bottom) > Speaker Icon (lower right) > Click the Sine Wave/hairpin looking thingy (this should open the DSP menu)

From the DSP menu:
Headroom Management > Disabled
Sample rate Conversion > Disabled
Parametric EQ > Remove Filter (top right)
Convolution > Remove Filter
Crossfeed > Remove Filter
Audeze Presets > Remove Filter
Note: it is important to remove these filters, not just disable them.

The rest of the optimizations will be done at the hardware, BIOS and operating system level. That will be covered in the "Building a Custom Digital Source" thread.

You can also use these optimizations as a litmus test of sorts. If you change these settings and can't hear a difference in your rig. Leave this thread and don't give "optimizing" Roon another thought.