[TheAttorney]

What about the setting of: volume leveling ?

That's easy - under no circumstances enable Roon volume leveling (if you're interested in getting best SQ).

It was a long time ago when I last tried (years), but I felt that the volume leveling function was the single worst thing I could do to Roon SQ.
Of course, YMMV.

 

[Hubert481]

I just ask, because i could not find it in #1 - and this was curious for me

 

[wirewiggler]

After using Roon for close to 5 years I built up a new server in a fan less case and went from a Nash server to a usb drive. It is medium size I5 with 16 meg memory with solid state drive. Sounds the same as my old server. I run a Yaggrisil dac on one endpoint and Pontos II on another, other than changes in loudness most of recommended changes really did not make much difference in my system. I think if your server is a little weak relieving processing demand may be a benefit, and how it interacts with your dac. Some of my endpoints that use Allo & Hifiberry dacs it did make some difference.
Bill

 

[TheAttorney]

I think if your server is a little weak relieving processing demand may be a benefit

The idea that a weak/low powered server would benefit more from these optimizations is an entirely sensible deduction.

And yet many of these optimizations are also recommended in the Taiko Extreme documentation.
This highly regarded $30k server is massively built, with powerful processors and massive power supplies and a huge amount of effort to reduce noise etc.

 

[Daiyama]

Why using Roon when I should switch of all features of Roon which makes Roon such a great music player software?
Wouldn't it make more sense to use a much leaner music player software to reduce processor load? for example good old winamp? But don't use the visualizer! uses waaay to much processing power and will degenerate the sound quality badly.

 

[TheAttorney]

Why using Roon when I should switch of all features of Roon which makes Roon such a great music player software?
... But don't use the visualizer! uses waaay to much processing power and will degenerate the sound quality badly.

Even after invoking all the optimizations in this thread, Roon still has by far the best UI, discovery and Qobuz integration features of any music app I've come across.
And most of these optimizations can quickly be undone when necessary. E.g. I have Roon Radio disabled during "serious" listening, but enabled with one click when I'm in casual discovery mode.

It is indeed a shame that SQ prevents me from using some of the DSP features, but that also applied to another app that I've used in the past (JRiver).

My Grimm MU1 server currently supports only Roon, so I have no choice. But even when a future firmware upgrade enables UPnP (and therefore slim apps like JPlay), then I envisage I'll still be using Roon for casual discovery mode, even if the slim app sounds better. I have a lifetime Roon license, so nothing to lose.

What do you mean by the visualizer? I haven't seen any setting for this.

 

[genefruit]

What do you mean by the visualizer? I haven't seen any setting for this.

He's referencing Winamp visualizer

 

[littlej0e]

Why using Roon when I should switch of all features of Roon which makes Roon such a great music player software?
Wouldn't it make more sense to use a much leaner music player software to reduce processor load? for example good old winamp? But don't use the visualizer! uses waaay to much processing power and will degenerate the sound quality badly.

You are 100% correct, but you have to pick your poison. Would you rather have a great player with a $h1t GUI or a world-beating GUI with mediocre sound? Many people on Head-fi have a lifetime Roon subscription. So it only makes sense for those people to do whatever they can to maximize Roon's sound quality and therefore their investment.

The cold truth is that many players can beat Roon in raw SQ. But none I'm aware of can match Roon's UI and recommendation algorithms (incidentally, Qobuz has recently become miles better at this). This single feature is so integral to my personal music discovery that it would be difficult to live without it. But that's me, and I'm not you.

Unfortunately, it seems you can have a great GUI or great sound - not both. Not yet anyway...

 

[Hypops]

You are 100% correct, but you have to pick your poison. Would you rather have a great player with a $h1t GUI or a world-beating GUI with mediocre sound? Many people on Head-fi have a lifetime Roon subscription. So it only makes sense for those people to do whatever they can to maximize Roon's sound quality and therefore their investment.

The cold truth is that many players can beat Roon in raw SQ. But none I'm aware of can match Roon's UI and recommendation algorithms (incidentally, Qobuz has recently become miles better at this). This single feature is so integral to my personal music discovery that it would be difficult to live without it. But that's me, and I'm not you.

Unfortunately, it seems you can have a great GUI or great sound - not both. Not yet anyway...

For sure. And like everything else in audio, every time you add something, you take something else away. "There's no free lunch," as they say. That truism applies as much to Roon's features as it does to adding additional components and cables.

For me, using Roon is a constant exercise in restraint. It can do a lot. That's as much a blessing as it is a curse.

 

[Daiyama]

So it is good for me I run HQP on my Roon machine as well, so I do not need to worry about the processor load from Roon as HQP uses app. 10 times more.
and sounds fantastic.

 

[TheAttorney]

So it is good for me I run HQP on my Roon machine as well, so I do not need to worry about the processor load from Roon as HQP uses app. 10 times more.
and sounds fantastic.

It's not just about processor load. There are other factors involved, such as network traffic, which Roon creates a ton of, even when it doesn't appear to be doing much.
It is this network traffic (and resulting noise creation everywhere in the system) that may possibly be the reason why some of these optimizations impact SQ when common sense dictates that they shouldn't.

Back to the Taiko Extreme server... Anyone following that forum on WBF will know that Taiko are developing their own app because they are fed up with having to adjust their operating system almost every time Roon does an update (that randomly impacts SQ for no good reason). Most Extreme users agree that the ongoing alpha/beta releases of the native app sound much better than Roon. But every now and then somebody notes that Roon is suddenly sounding great. No more so than now, after Taiko have released supa dupa network addon components to reduce network noise. Now some are saying that Roon actually sounds better than the native app - when the only things that have changed are network-related components..

 

[Daiyama]

Ok, lucky for me I am more the simply "bits are bits" type of guy.
Happy listening.

P.S. Need to remind wife not to stream 4k movies when I am listening to music.

 

[Xerosnake90]

Ugh, so I went into the whole Roon thing wanting to play with filters and such that I don't understand at all and I didn't get much of anything done. Was about to cancel the trial and found this thread so I thought why not.

I hate you guys. It cleared things up just another level, noticably made every one of my albums sound better compared to Qobuz stand alone. Does the lifetime sub ever get a discount? I'm not gonna jump in just yet but with the way things have been going with this hobby I'll be subscribing past the trial

Can someone try to explain why it improves the sound? It's like the resolution went from 1440p to native 4k. Didn't notice much difference in other technical performance

 

[Hypops]

Ugh, so I went into the whole Roon thing wanting to play with filters and such that I don't understand at all and I didn't get much of anything done. Was about to cancel the trial and found this thread so I thought why not.

I hate you guys. It cleared things up just another level, noticably made every one of my albums sound better compared to Qobuz stand alone. Does the lifetime sub ever get a discount? I'm not gonna jump in just yet but with the way things have been going with this hobby I'll be subscribing past the trial

Can someone try to explain why it improves the sound? It's like the resolution went from 1440p to native 4k. Didn't notice much difference in other technical performance

As for why Roon sounds better than Qobuz to you, it might be some of the settings you have set up. I mean, yes, with like-for-like material, Qobuz and Roon do sound marginally different under the right conditions, but they don't sound *that* different. More likely is that you have upscaling on or that Roon is outputting at a higher volume or something similar.

On a broader note, Roon is the single-most significant part of all of my audio setups and gear. I use it for pretty much everything audio-related (if only Roon Arc didn't crash every twenty seconds on my phone. Alas). The DSP tools have a bit of a learning curve if PEQ and whatnot are new to you, but once you get the hang of it, you'll swear by it. And no other service or music player that I've tried has the same ease-of-use as Roon in terms of music playback, browsing, and discovery.

The way to get a discount on a lifetime sub is to get a time machine. It was a lot cheaper early in its existence and the price has gone up ever since. If you're looking to save money on a lifetime sub, your best bet is to get it sooner than later. I pay annually since I'm never confident that any subscription-based service will last that long. With Roon's recent buyout and the growing threat of a crash across all streaming media, I really don't know what to expect in terms of the service's lifespan.

 

[Whazzzup]

2015 lifetime subscription, still alive so good call