+1 @audphile1 If I were you I’d strongly consider upgrading to an Innuos Zen Mk3. Not only is it a much better streamer than the Node, you can load any CDs you have directly into it and have all your music in one place. To your question, by all accounts Innuos Sense sounds better than Roon. I don’t know Roon nor will I likely ever because I prioritize sound quality over convenience. Last, I highly recommend you do a free trial of Qobuz if you haven’t already — good interface, tons of hi-res music, and none of all the unfolding crap and editorializing of MQA, which is a total sham IMHO. FWIW and best of luck.
Sound quality of Roon
I am considering trying Roon. I have been using my Bluesound Node but I am going to upgrade as I do enjoy streaming more and more using Tidal. It is quite an investment to get a NUC or Nucleus and then have a separate tablet to control it all.
But apart from the cost I have read some people say Roon does not sound good. Their streamer by blah blah sounds better. Is this true? For all that is required to use Roon, the hardware, the subscription and all, would Roon be popular if it made digital streaming sound bad?
I would love to hear people who have experience comment on this. There is info on the Roon Labs discussion site but as you can imagine it is saying this is BS Roon sounds great. I guess Roon as a software also has had updates, so maybe this is a thing that might have been true in the past?
Showing 6 responses by soix
If you get the Zen Mini it’s pretty much mandatory you get their upgraded LPS as it significantly increases performance. The DAC in the Mini is nothing special so plan to upgrade that asap. The thing is, once you add the LPS to the Mini you’re knocking on the door at the price of the Zen Mk3, so that’s definitely something to consider. |
@cleeds Thanks, you’re probably right and if so is a ridiculous limitation no audiophile should accept given all the other viable alternatives with no such handicap. I think I confused Air Play with the lightning connection. |
@zgas-music I think you’re leaving a lot of performance potential on the table using a computer and Air Play. I just bought a relatively affordable iFi Zen Stream for only $399 (along with their iPowerX power supply to further suppress noise) and my streaming sound quality now surpasses the performance of spinning CDs. Also, I think Air Play may limit resolution to 24/96, which seems like an unnecessary limitation to have these days. Last, if you haven’t already by all means do a free trial of Qobuz as it has by many accounts/reviews the best streaming sound quality and the most hi-res content available. My $0.02 FWIW. |
@zgas-music No, Amazon’s not doing you any favors either. Steve Stone did a comparison of the major streaming services in TAS not all that long ago, and let’s just say Amazon did not fare well. Qobuz is your friend for sound quality. |
@theaudiomaniac Fair point. |