Roon vs OS and Native Players - Impact on SQ?

It looks like certain Aurender models are now Roon Ready and can be enabled for use with video and written instructions here. I would be really curious to hear from the Aurender Roon users.

Ready mode is a free upgrade available on all Intel-based “N-Series” and “ACS-Series” models. The “A-Series” (A200, A15, A20, A30) will be added soon. Older AMD-based models including S10, N10, W20, W20SE, X100, X100L, A10, A100, N100H, N100C, N100SC will not be compatible with Roon Ready mode.

Here’s everything you need to know to get started using Roon with your Aurender:

Here’s everything you need to know to get started using Roon with your Aurender:

1. You’ll need a Roon subscription in order to get started. If you don’t already have a Roon subscription, sign up for a free 60-day Roon trial subscription here: Free 60-Day Trial
2. Your Aurender is Roon Ready. That means it will seamlessly discover and connect to a Roon system running on your network. But, a separate Roon Core is required to interface with any Roon Ready devices. The simplest, most powerful Core is a Nucleus. You can also download and install the Roon Core for free on Mac, Windows, Linux, select QNAP and Synology NAS devices, and Intel NUC running ROCK. For more info on how to set up a Roon Core, take a look at this short and informative video.
3. Install the Roon Remote App on your iOS, Android, Mac, or Windows device.
4. Update the Conductor App to the latest version on your iOS or Android device in the App Store or Google Play store.
5. Update the System Software on your Aurender by going to Settings ➡️ Software Update in the Conductor App.
6. Enable the Roon Ready service by going to Settings ➡️ Streaming in the Conductor App (register your Aurender if prompted).
7. Depending on which Aurender model you are using, you may have to choose the desired Audio Output that you want to use with Roon. This allows Aurender and Roon to optimize the settings for maximum performance with each output, without compromise:

When I owned Auralic Aries G1 I compared Roon to Lightning DS. I cancelled Roon subscription. I restarted it later in with Lumin U1 Mini and actually preferred Roon over the native Lumin software in both sonics and UX.

It depends on the design and implementation of the OS. For example Auralic used SSD cache, albeit not huge in capacity but enough to be able to leverage it in their implementation and processing. In addition to whatever else the proprietary firmware was responsible for in making the difference. 

I like roon for all it's curated content, suggestions, artist data, interface, etc. I must say music sounds better using the innous sense app in "standalone" mode in my system. Don't know why this is. I use both, but mainly the sense app for the better sonics.

Different software, different hardware = good chance of different sound.

Someone should do an unbiased shootout between some popular options and let us know the results.

I switched to Roon from Plex about a year ago after doing a shootout between the two. I posted results here if anyone interested. Spoiler: Roon straight out of the can won hands down No doubt

Worth noting that Roon comes with default settings but also includes user configurable DSP, one of its most valuable features for an audiophile. It can pretty much make Roon sound anyway you like it to. But it does have a learning curve and not for old school analog-only purists if any of those still around who believe the only way to tune or tweak one’s sound is to move to better and more expensive hardware. DSP is tone controls on steroids. You can apply it just right or many ways to totally destroy the sound quality as well if done poorly. The devil is always in the details.

@toro3 

B. As a Roon user, how much of a bottleneck are we talking about in terms of diminished SQ when comparing Roon to Aurender, Lumin, and Innuos native players?

How about Antipodes?