Roon changes the music

@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.

@toro3 

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

Many thanks. I'll try out these settings. 

 Another Recommended Roon Settings primer and the Roon Mastery Series (tips and tricks)

Thanks, @wsrrsw​​​​. I am in the fortunate position of being able try all these settings and make a definitive comparison of the sound quality of Roon, jPlay and the Linn App in my own time.

I have also created a couple of batch files to switch the Roon Core off and back on so the comparisons are fair. I’ll be using it and dBpoweramp Asset UPnP on the same headless machine with Windows LTSC and no other programs except the remote access, Anydesk.

It will be interesting to see if the low traffic options are still best with all these adjustments to Roon. My AI friend is sceptical about the adjustments, but we'll give them a fair crack and see.

If ultimately Roon does win out and gets a reprieve, I’ll go back to using ROCK.