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Roon for high end audio?

I have been listening almost exclusively to CDs but want to start to get into music streaming.  Sound quality is very high on my list, and I am interested in streaming for 2 reasons; broad selection and hopefully better sound.  I am using a dbx Venue 360 with a Jeff Roland Concerto Preamp and Roland Power amp.  I have a Savant system that allows music playback in multiple rooms, controls video etc.  My Savant integrator suggested Roon. Since I am not currently into streaming, I can’t figure out if Roon is the right thing to do.  It seems like a great music server service with the ability to manage very high quality digital files, but the downstream handling of the files and conversion to analog (DAC) seems lacking.  It seems most people are using it for playback in less than audiophile situations, and compatible equipment is very limited.  Quality wise, am I better off with something like Bluenote and a high quality DAC like say, Denafrips?
kingofgix

Showing 2 responses by grannyring

grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,592 posts
 
432Evo is very good. Audiotroy, I would no longer say it sounds better than Innuos’s top servers.  Why?  Innuos just came out with their own software called Sense 2.04 version.  The sound improvement over Roon on my Zenith 3 is absolutely staggering.  Amazing how the software improved the sound at least 35%, if not more! No kidding. 
So much more natural, at ease and real sounding. I go back to Roon and it sounds so harsh and unrefined ….. in a relative way. 
If playing ripped CDs on the Zenith, put Sense in offline mode and be treated to even better sound. Nothing I have done to my digital front end has wrought out this much SQ improvement.  Overnight my Innuos server has become far, far better sounding. You must check it out.  Yes, I have SOTA high end switches, LPS’s, ethernet filters, cabling  and on and on….
I am a lifetime Roon member and big fan. The Roon interface is still better to use, but I just can’t listen to it vs Innuos Sense.  A complete game changer! 
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,592 posts
 
Chorus,

You just need to update your Zen to the 2.04 current version. You will have a choice between Roon and Innuos Sense. Select Sense and be prepared to smile. It sounds much better than Roon on the Innuos players. Also download the remote Innuos app. Roon is still a better interface in terms of features, but it sounds harsh and noisy compared to Innuos Sense.

Your dealer can help you.
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