2. digital
  3. 187218-178163

how does the app affect Sound Quality once streamer connects to the provider endpoint?

I am confused...I see many users comment on how an app [ roon, qobuz, spotify, jplay, lms, vendor app, etc] sounds better/worse than the other apps.  My understanding (excluding case like the software unfolding MQA) is that the app is just a user interface to access a site and present menus from which you can select music to stream.  Of course, if using a mac/pc as the streamer with USB to your DAC, then the app is responsible for the connection and sending the stream of 10101 to the DAC, but with a hardware system (streamer/network player) that control app on your phone or tablet just helps you make the connection (helps the player authenticate to a provider).  You use the app to change the selection, but again, the stream from the Internet goes directly into the streamer.  That app has no relevance to the 11011's coming from the provider.

Concluding: it's the streamer that is the source and the [local] beginning of the sound processing chain, not an app on the phone or tablet.  

dukebdevil

Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,862 posts
 

Depends. You are correct that the user interface UI does not impact sound quality anymore than my TV's remote control affects movie quality, but Roon is a different matter.

Roon is a 3 layer (read: over-engineered) system with a UI, a core which handles all library and DSP functions and end points. In the case of Roon, the core touches all audio streams, there’s no way to avoid it. It does offer some neat features like a wide range of sample rate conversion (PCM to DSD, up/downsampling, MQA unfolding, etc.) as well as per device EQ.

As a result, the Roon UI has no sound but the Roon playback system might.

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