I find if I wrap the tp many time along the usb cable that make a huge difference, but it’s got to be the thick stuff, preferably quilted, not the type that crumbles in the hand
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LOL. I am glad you guys are having fun with this. It’s good not to take this hobby too seriously. I am going to try the quilted version with air gap built in between sheets a serious consideration.
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Didn’t think much of this, but gave it a try, and indeed, the sound quality is now very close to Lightning DS. There is still a bit more space and openness with LDS, but Roon will be usable. Just to confirm, I turned on all the features mentioned in the post, and sure enough, the SQ collapsed. Thanks for the tip.
Good to hear that the optimization tips worked out for you.
My attempts to integrate with ROON were quite a few versions in the past.
I gather ROON has come a long way regarding sound quality, but I am always hesitant to add extra processing into the network path.
So far, for me, HQP is the only process that I feel contributes to better sound quality.
I want the discovery and curation features of ROON without the processing.
Paul, could you rate the level of improvement on your P20, your Matrix I2S setup, Hoer-Wege PSU, SR Master? I would love to know which had the most significant impact on your sonic quality. Perhaps, you can even try to quantify the gain in some scale.
When I tried, Jriver sounded clearly better than Roon. I think independent if someone likes disc and vinyl better anyway, Roon seems to be one of the worst sounding streaming SW if you play from local storage. If you do online streaming that sounds worse anyway than local AIF files, not sure if Roon then makes a negative difference on top, didn’t use online streaming when I tried Roon.
Those differences are certainly smaller than the one between AAA vinyl and it’s digital version 
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Currently I’m not using my Directstream Dac and have not used it with the G2 since the Hoerwege mod. The master fuse is in my integrated amp the G2 has a SR purple fuse. The P20 and Hoerwege mod both address the Auralic weakness and that’s the power supply. When I put the P20 in my setup everything benefited but the G2 I feel had the most improvement I was contemplating trading the G2 in before the P20 and I was so impressed by what I heard I kept it. I read several posts on the Auralic forum about the Hoerwege power supply board and reached out to Stephan he sent me a quote and I believe it was $630 shipped which is a no brainer if you own a Auralic Aries. The new power supply gives the G2 a cleaner sound stage with tighter bass, vocals sound more natural, blacker background etc… for me I noticed the improved sound right away and it got better with more hours. A really good power cable makes a big difference on the G2 as well. If I had to say what had the most impact I’d say the P20 then the Hoerwege a close second.
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Not at my house.
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I absolutely believe that. Too many individual influences could play a role. I tried to keep all surrounding parts the same (server HW, NAS, no special processing in the SW etc.), use the best and uncompressed, native PCM format source (local files AIF or wav, no Flac, no online streaming) and I just compared with Jriver, comparisons with other server SW might be different.
Foolishly, I have kept current with version updates for JRiver. But I stopped installing them two years ago. I haven’t reached for it in three years.
If I am leaving something on the table sound quality-wise, I am not suffering. There is a rumor the Grimm MU1 solves Roon. Could be, but who cares. I prefer Roon. I tried Audirvana, it seemed nice but it couldn’t load my music library. My DSD collection stops it cold. And that user interface? No thank you. JRiver is pretty Crayola as well. When I added the BACCH gear to my system the resulting sound just doesn’t inspire searching for that last bit. Just listen to music and if it is streaming the best user interface seems the obvious choice.
But it is a Hobby, a great hobby! If it’s fun to play with this and that for amusement, who am I to say?
Party on!
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I agree, I also don’t go too deep into details if it means serious effort compared to more important steps or change from what I otherwise prefer. In case of the Flac/AIF or the Jriver topic it was easy. Even if just a bit, it sounded better, no problem to convert, Jriver was the solution I preferred for customizable views, so the decision was clear for me.
If I had been a Roon fan and didn’t like the alternatives, I’m not sure if I had thought about a change for that SQ difference…probably not.
“I am pleased with Roon. If I want higher quality I spin a CD. If I want top quality, a Vinyl will win every time.”
Mic drop
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I’ve done the same with JRiver and currently running JRMC31 but I think this’ll be it. The last few version updates seem to be exclusively on the video end of the functionality spectrum.
I use Foobar2000 too and run both the series 1.6.16 version because my Oppo 105D “sees” that while the series 2 versions are invisible to it. I can still push files to the DS DAC and the Oppo from them but I must have something not right with Version 2 because I can’t pull files from the Oppo.
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If, at some point you find the time and inclination, it would be interesting to learn how JRMC performs now with your current system configuration/options.
Best regards,
SEE
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Grimm/BACCH/Stealth/Gryphon plus Whatever current speakers you have listened to now. Roon or not will all sound great in your room 
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lol, only AI is allowed to say this here. 
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Can we just copy and paste and make this the standard response every time this topic is addressed? Lol
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I have two devices that can act as Roon Core, an Innuos Zen Mk3 and a QNAP TS-473. Currently it’s the QNAP. Local files are always on the Innuos, even if played by Roon from the QNAP. I can play my main system via Lumin using Innuos in upnp mode with either the Sense app or the Lumin app in native mode. I can also play from Qobuz using either upnp option or native on the Lumin. Or use the Lumin with Roon.
The options are, therefore, far more than I care to think, and I don’t need to rewire anything. It’s all done by options via the Roon and Innuos apps. Press other buttons and I can have Innuos playing Roon.
I could rewire several ways, using wire or optic, but that’s another matter.
I’ve never found anything I consider optimal and I’d go crazy trying to test all the options.
My perhaps unsurprising overall feeling about streaming is that it is far less forgiving than vinyl. Good quality recordings (whether online or from local storage) can sound magnificent, poor recordings sound unpleasant. Vinyl seems to even things out. I suspect the recording quality is about 10 times more important than the streaming hardware.