OP "It seems most people are using it for playback in less than audiophile situations,...."
I would venture to guess that very few non-audiophiles are using Roon. As others have stated Roon's sound quality is wonderful but you have to have all the pieces. Like a Roon Nucleus or something similar. I originally used a MacBook Pro then when I switched to a Roon Nucleus the SQ vastly improved. Then adding a LPS to the Nucleus was another huge bump in SQ. Get it right and you will a happy camper.
I would venture to guess that very few non-audiophiles are using Roon. As others have stated Roon's sound quality is wonderful but you have to have all the pieces. Like a Roon Nucleus or something similar. I originally used a MacBook Pro then when I switched to a Roon Nucleus the SQ vastly improved. Then adding a LPS to the Nucleus was another huge bump in SQ. Get it right and you will a happy camper.