I don’t even know what that is. So many choices.
I’m not trying to “defend” Roon’s sound quality. “out of the box” it’s crazy how different it is than a stock Audirvana install (and others echo this with other software). However… after going “all in” I have it sounding better than Audirvana ever did and I don’t doubt there are improvements from where I am. Now, to be fair, the last time I used Audirvana it was still using iZotope SRC and I had that dialed-in and singing sweet with its upsampling into my old DAC via USB. Different streamer and DAC later I feel that I’m back to the same sound I was getting from a Audirvana on a MBP.
Roon is very temperamental (or use the word “revealing”) to the gear that connects the Core to the DAC. Should it be? I have no idea but to anyone who really loves separates… man, Roon should be your baby. You can stack so many different “boxes” between the Core and the DAC to make Roon sound better it should be top of the list for anyone who has shelves to fill. It’s amazing how different each bit of gear can make RAAT / Roon sound. Even the PS Bridge II is a polarizing bit of kit when it comes to Roon. Many have opted to go the Matrix X-SPDIF 2 route out of a high quality USB streamer into the DS. If I owned a DS I wouldn’t judge Roon sound quality until I hooked it up this way. Just too many reports of this being the reference standard way of getting the DS into Roon to use it any other way (if you’re serious about sound quality).
I’m a network geek so I look forward to understanding, and comparing to RAAT, what Octave does on the network. Stay well and enjoy your weekend.
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I am also a Roon lifer and really cant tell any difference between music streamed via Roon / Qobuz or Roon playing from my local library or a CD playing on the Oppomod. Looking forward to the update to see what it brings. Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss.
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I have what I think is a fairly revealing system. Not the highest end but not bad. I was just running roon through a NUC with a linear power supply. I’ve read many people do not like the sound of roon so I decided to try an Aurender N10. It is way better than my NUC. That made me curious and I went down the rabbit hole and tried a dCS Network Bridge controlled by roon. I would say the NB is slightly better than the Aurender when streaming through my EtherRegen. So now I do not believe that roon is inferior I just think you need a good streamer.
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Took a quick look at the website for this, and there’s a link to download a trial.
So are you running this on a Mac or Windows or other Linux device? On a Mac would it REPLACE the mac OS? (And does it just run on a USB stick?)
Interesting.
Overall, I still tend to prefer my own files “streamed” from my iMac via JRiver Media Center over the same files via Roon and files of same resolution via Roon/Tidal or Qobuz.
Sometimes, with certain tracks, it is a toss up. But, on balance, I tend to find the JRMC/stored files to be better.
In all instances, the input to the DS DAC is via the Bridge II over Ethernet from my router which picks up the digits over Wi-Fi from my iMac.
Go figure(?).
Cheers.
[Just to be clear – I am not saying I don’t enjoy Roon or that it sounds “bad”. It is a relative preference.]
Euphony is a customized Linux OS build much like Audio-Linux. They’ve tweaked the OS to reduce latency and improve SQ. Its effective and I believe they still have an eval. Euphony is quite locked down which can be a good thing as Audio-Linux allows for a near limitless combination of tweaking.
Whatever one does with Roon architecture, I’ve found it’s most important to separate Roon Core from the endpoint device that connects to the DAC. The machine Core runs on is now less important (though there is still value in optimizing) than the Endpoint.
I would start with a machine to run Roon Core, either ROCK which is ready to go or Windows or Ubuntu. The endpoint then can be many things. Roon Bridge on Linux is probably the quickest to setup and get good performance/SQ.
That said, there is a lifetime of digital tweaking if you desire to learn and experiment. Mostly though the biggest impact to tweaking the digital chain will only come if the analog chain is well sorted with high quality power supplies, cables, etc. first. I suspect many that don’t hear the difference between Roon native and augmented Roon don’t have their analog side sorted enough yet and the changes are obscured/lost in the noise.
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I might have a bit of an advantage as my streamer and core are the Pink Faun 2.16X Ultra with all of the bells and whistles. It uses a JCAT network card for input and output is via PF i2s card and cable. I am happy enough with the setup that I am not in the market for another streaming device or core. I don’t have a Bridge card in this DSD.
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Vern you need to upgrade to a pair of Taiko Extreme!
My single Pink Faun 2.16 is still going strong as my endpoint 2.5 years later. Still a beast.
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Very nice, I am sure. Enjoy.
I would say though, that part of the point of my post and experience is that I believe the only difference between listening to my files through JRMC and Roon are the players installed on my iMac.
I think it is noteworthy that JRMC seems to have the edge. That suggests (but does not by any means demonstrate) that there is something basic to these software packages that could make them “sound different” when otherwise spinning up the same files. I should add that I don’t have any “DSP” or upsampling (or any other) sound shaping functions turned on/set in Roon or JRMC.
FWIW.
I used JRiver for a couple of years. I liked the flexibility of the software. I had the JR running on a fast win10 box but I never could get JR to be stable. It would skip, stop playback, stop responding, or start self looping. Regardless of the SQ of JR I was glad to see Roon come along. I ran them side by side for a while and just stopped using JR. I did like JR’s interface and feature set though. If there is a difference in playback SQ then I’m glad these old ears cant hear it. 
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When I made a post a few hours ago I went downstairs to make dinner and my wife was listening to Stacey Kent in the kitchen, via Roon. I mentioned there was a new version coming out next week and she started telling me all about the things she’d listened to in her clinic on Roon Radio. She used to have a playlist and now her clients apparently love the music Roon selects. She loves the music it throws out. So she is enamoured by the Roon Radio function that I hardly ever use.
The sound quality of Roon is entirely dependent on the hardware it runs on. The Roon Core device I use is extremely low noise (mains filter, no graphics card, no wifi, no fans, extremely efficient Intel N4200 quad-core processor, two separate internal power supplies and proprietary operating system). It has a CD ripper, a 4TB hard drive, also acts as a Roon server (usb to DAC, one of the linear power supplies is dedicated to the usb output. It can also act as a uPnP server without using Roon. I don’t use any of the Roon DSP and it connects to my main system using an ethernet cable, providing galvanic isolation and the RJ45 output socket also has an isolation transformer. It cost $2,600.
So in my system Roon is just serving up the files exactly as received from online or the hard drive, with no conversions or processing. It sounds good in my system because the hardware is optimised for audio.
I’ve never tried any software like Audirvana, as it has to be run on Windows 10 or OSX, which requires a device with a huge amount of unnecessary hardware and hence you’re pretty screwed before you start and then go down a rabbit-hole of adding devices to fix the main hardware problem.
The good news is that there are quite a few devices like mine, and at good prices, several of them mentioned above.
In the 2 years I’ve been using Roon, it has not crashed once.
It is most amusing being called a fanboy and cultist by people who are probably staring at a stack of PS Audio products. I try and buy products based on their function, quality and price, ignoring brand names completely. I’ve bought two products this week, a Cambridge Audio CXA81 and an iFi Power Station. They are connected to Raidho speakers I bought in December. I’ve never owned any of these brands before. Every component in my two systems are from different brands, so I will happily be called a fanboy of Devialet, Shunyata, Cambridge Audio, Innuos, Claro, Koetsu, Origin Live, Wilson, Raidho, iFi, Blue Jeans, Jelco, Cardas, Chord, English Electric, EAR Yoshino, SoundSmith, Goldring, Townshend and Atlas, and of course Roon.
The difference about Roon is that, as far as I am aware, there is no software product for multi-room, multi-brand music distribution and management that is remotely comparable. If there is, I’d like to know what.
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Never had any of the issues you mentioned (knock on wood)…the most frustrating thing for me is updating the software. It is never straightforward downloading it and replacing the previous version.
In fact, I paid for an update a month or so ago and have been so frustrated trying to get it loaded and in place of the current edition that I just gave up and sat it aside for a while – until I have the time to figure out what the heck is going on/I did wrong. 
Your current setup “sounds” great.
Cheers.
That’s one serious bit of hardware, you lucky chap!!!
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Seems if there is a sound quality issue with Roon it may be traced to the Roon Core or end point quality. I have heard from several who are using a device like the Innuos as a core/end point that the sound quality is night and day better when using a dedicated audio designed machine over a computer or Mac.
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I forgot about the JR update issues. If I remember right they would reset all of the settings too.
Yes the PF is a nice bit of kit as they say. I was running a Nucleus+ and happy with it. That led me to a research mission for the ultimate server in my price range. The PF kept floating to the top of the heap. It really is an “end game” device That is what I was after and lucky enough to be able to afford.
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Lifetime achievement award. 
Not true at all. I’ve been using it since MC 17, update every year and NP ever. I enjoying paying for upgrades. It is a great product run by dedicated, talented people.
I think I had 24 or 25 and it did have trouble being stable on my win10 machine. It did have a very flexible interface that I liked though.
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How much would you charge to hop in your car, head South and East and help me to get me from MK 24 to MK 27?
