1. Home
  2. digital
  3. 198910-90040

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
wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
1,489 posts
 

Naturally other factor(s) like equipment and room can’t be ignored. Could it be your equipment, cables, speaker tuning,  Ethernet, confirmation bias, you name it? Youbetcha. 

Occasionally when tinkering under the hood I have others listen in especially younger folks. Seldom there’s definite results. Clear as mud. Sure we trust our ears but do they hear truly or hear what they want to hear? Beats me. 

As for Roon, what it’s run on and how it’s run can matter. Back when I used an old MacBook and Blue Ethernet cable…………………..

newton_john's avatar
newton_john
604 posts
 

@wsrrsw 

Could it be your equipment, cables, speaker tuning,  Ethernet, confirmation bias, you name it? 

I could just as easily have accused you of "confirmation bias", but I wouldn’t do so because it would have been divisive and rude, a cheap shot. I am grateful for your suggestions, but that is uncalled for. 

wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
1,489 posts
 

@newton_john 

I’m not calling anybody's baby ugly. Me thinks you missed my point that there are so many other things going into the stew of our systems. And yes sometimes I think we think we "hear" subtle differences we don't hear due to our own biases in thinking we hear a subtle difference. After playing the final drum roll in "Blue Rondo a la Turk" over and over did I really make any improvements?

Speaker placement tuning has had the most impact for me. I have messed with Roon tuning settings and hearing an audible difference has been subtle or poor using the DSP (parametric) stuff. YMMV

More to discover