To Roon or not
For the past few years I have been using a LuminT2 w/ Qobuz and it's copacetic.
Happy with the sound. Ok with the software. Not happy with having to pull up a browser to search for information about the artists or have similar music/artists be at the ready to explore.
Back when Roon didn’t work with Qobuz. Now it does.
In my testing I think the native Lumin software sounds better (fuller, richer) that when using Roon.
A few questions please. I’m looking for secret sauce settings.
Are there MQA setting(s) that I might be better off using? Currently set to “render only.”
Use the Roon DSP?
Sample Rate Conversion Settings?
I’m using an iPad that sees the Roon core on a computer else where in the house. If I can't tell any sound difference then an old computer can serve as the core. The iPad also runs my Amp/Lumin with split view and that's great. For some reason Roon will not work with split view?
I cancelled Roon over a year ago because the Auralic Aries G1 sounded better w/Lightning DS than with Roon. I now have Lumin U1 Mini and decided to give Roon another shot and I must say this time around it’s a keeper! Sound quality is great, awesome UI (Lumin app is primitive in comparison) and love the Roon radio station feature for music discovery. I don’t have an MQA DAC so I let Roon handle these duties. I don’t use DSP. |
I've been very happy with Roon. After my annual subscription expired, I opted for the lifetime subscription (about 1 1/2 years ago). Roon has made a number of improvements since I've started using it. This spring, I built a new Roon server based on their Roon ROCK software running on a NUC in a fanless case. It's great that they offer this software for no charge (once you have Roon), making it possible to build a high quality music server with linear power supply for under $1K. I have found more great music in the last two years using Roon than I found in the previous 20. The sound quality is excellent, and the built in DSP functionality provides a lot of flexibility. I also really like being able to control multiple zones around my house and be able to sync. While this is certainly possible with Sonos or BlueSound, devices that use Sonos or Bluesound don't have anywhere near the sound quality that is available with Roon devices. |
Kills the sound, aka rapes? |
I really like the interface of Tidal. The library works well with my BlueSound Node 2i. I also think I hear a better sound stage when playing MQA. Not sure I understand MQA. I think the resolution may go up, but not sure. When I added a ProJect S2 DAC, it sounded thin. As soon as I removed the ProJect DAC the bass sounded fuller and the sound stage improved. I wonder whether you can hear a difference by using other higher end streamers? If so, what do you hear that is significantly better than my Node 2i. |
I have: Roon Lumin Nas Synology love it and it works great. Use the app on my iPhone mostly to operate or an iPad. Best investment for the $ I have made in terms of immediate impact on my system. I agree with some other comments that there is no audible difference on Tidal whether it goes through Roon or just Lumin. |
Roon is the biggest bang for the buck I have ever added to my system. I am so glad I got a lifetime subscription. I run the core on an Innuos Zenith MkIII. I also have a LUMIN U1 Mini and a Sonora UltraRendu as endpoints on other systems. Occasionally I have to reboot the Innuos when using a Chord M Scaler. But other than that it is so great for SQ and music discovery. I use it with both Tidal Hifi and Qobuz Studio. I prefer Qobuz at this point. By the way, when ever I have had a question I email Roon support and they always email me back within 48-72 hours. Never had to use a forum for anything. Go for Roon! |
I've had Roon for a couple of years and apart from occasional drop outs it works fine as far as SQ is concerned. However the app is not good if you want to catalogue or search for classical music. Like almost all other apps it has difficulty sorting out composers, orchestras and soloists. The only app I have found which does a good job with cataloguing classical albums is Idagio, but it only streams classical music, which means you also need to pay for Tidal, Spotify etc if so want to stream other genres. Can someone please develop a really functional app for all types of music. |
I wrote to LUMIN about the app and got an answer leading nowhere. As I'm looking at north of another 2K+ (dedicated computer and lifetime subscription fee) I'm dragging and tire kicking more than normal. If I were ROON i'd be at work licensing to Tidal, Qobuz , etc. All this is evolving begging the question of what's next and when? Really when? The large enjoyment of the music not whitsatnding, the purchased yards of CD's and lot's of (cruddy) Mp's are done getting used. My 20000 or so Mp3s are no longer in use and the CD's are gathering dust. |
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tvad Just noticed that roon takes -6DB to run. Do you think this is the difference I'm hearing? I mean, duh, a bit louder would sound "better." Do you think running Roon from an iPad (in turn running a computer) would degrade sound? My amp needs an iapd/iphone to run it. Does my spouse need a new laptop for Xmas? |
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I've been using Roon for a year now and simply love it. Have it running on a Roon Nucleus. Feed a Chord Qutest directly via USB in my main rig, and am using it with 4 different pieces of Bluesound kit in different rooms of the house. Originally bought it for its integration capabilities. But now value it most for the music discovery piece. To Roon or not to Roon is simply no longer a question. If you can afford it, the value add in my opinion is well worth it. |
I have Roon core on an Antipodes Core Server. I much prefer using Roon to convert to DSD512. I find it less bright and less harsh. If anything DSD is smoother and softer. I have gone thru all the upsampling and converstion settings and prefer DSD with 7th order CLANS for the Sigma Delta modulator and linear precise filter. The headroom management is - 6 db. |
I've used Roon for 2 years and think it's ok at best. Their support is horrible. You have to post on some forum and hope someone gets back to you. For $120 a year you should get phone support. If their product is so bad that they don't have enough people to do tech support then maybe their product isn't designed well. I have all Apple stuff at home and Roon crashes constantly on all my computers. Maybe it's made for Windows? Someone will come along with better. As an aside, I have a Teac NT-505 which uses the Lumin app and I also think it sounds better than Roon but the interface is clunky to say the least. |
I am enjoying the Roon music discovery a great deal, not to mention the UI. I couldn't care less about MQA, though my DAC supports it and Roon can apply EQ to it while keeping MQA. As for upsampling, with modern DAC's I haven't found a big benefit to doing more than 96 kHz. You can get brighter and harsher by doing to DSD, but meh. Not for me. |
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