Sometimes when something is louder we think it sounds better, it could be running through Roon you're not matching the volume as when you go through Lightning app. If you have a spl meter try to match volumes, make sure you’re not doing some kind of processing in one not being done in the other, check all the settings. The only way to really know is have someone help you so you don’t know which is which after you have done everything to match as close as possible. You don’t want to upsample/oversample one and not the other then you’re not comparing apples to apples.
Sound quality of Roon vs. Lighting
I’d like some feedback from the more experienced users here. I have an Auralic Aries G2 streamer. I also have Roon Core running on a Mac Mini. This allows me to compare the sound quality of Roon vs. Auralic’s Lightning app. Complicating things are that the Auralic has filter options and I can send data to my DAC via USB or S/PDIF etc. A couple of quick details
1) I’ve found that I prefer USB to S/PDIF going into my DAC.
2) I’m using the filter Auralic says is most preferred by listeners (smooth w/ little pre-ringing).
3) When running Roon - I’m not doing any processing - no up conversion, equalization, etc.
Am I imagining that Lighting sounds slightly better than Roon?
Of course, Roon is a much better interface than Lighting but Lightning is usable - and doesn’t cost me anything.
So the question is - have others experienced this? Or, do I need to tweak Roon to get the best out of it? I know Audiotroy would suggest I do some up-conversion w/in Roon but over USB I can only do up to 192k - correct?
Can some of you suggest to me what settings I should try in Roon to get the best out of it? Or, should I try different filter settings on the Auralic? Too many variables....
Best,
1) I’ve found that I prefer USB to S/PDIF going into my DAC.
2) I’m using the filter Auralic says is most preferred by listeners (smooth w/ little pre-ringing).
3) When running Roon - I’m not doing any processing - no up conversion, equalization, etc.
Am I imagining that Lighting sounds slightly better than Roon?
Of course, Roon is a much better interface than Lighting but Lightning is usable - and doesn’t cost me anything.
So the question is - have others experienced this? Or, do I need to tweak Roon to get the best out of it? I know Audiotroy would suggest I do some up-conversion w/in Roon but over USB I can only do up to 192k - correct?
Can some of you suggest to me what settings I should try in Roon to get the best out of it? Or, should I try different filter settings on the Auralic? Too many variables....
Best,