A new direction for Roon?

Roon Software Discussion
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Roon just announced a partnership with Audeze putting filters in the DSP engine for their headphones!!

Really? I didn’t sign up for another Devialet…did you? I know Danny lives in Paris and is easily influenced but WTF? Next thing coming is Roon will be sold ala Sooloos/Meridian and we’ll all be screwed again

Maybe more effort in improving sonics and the DSP engine in general would be more important to most Roon users than developing filters for headphones…

Very worrisome direction IMO.

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Why would this be “worrisome”? Not following.

FWIW, my understanding is that Audeze developed the filters, Roon is simply providing an interface to select them. I say go for it - the more the merrier!

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I feel you’re running a long way with the ball here, G997. Audeze and Roon have created some synergy for Audeze owners, Devialet and Roon also and I expect Roon would be open to other manufacturers doing the same. But I have heard no suggestion either publicly or in any confidential way that Roon will ever be constrained to particular hardware. My perception is that the devs remain fully committed to Roon as hardware agnostic.

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@G997, what exactly do you think needs doing to Roon to get it where you think it needs to be. I am not a Devialet or Audeze user so there hasn’t been a great deal in the last two big updates for me but I am not concerned by that. If you are perhaps you should tell Roon what you want so they can get to work on it if viable.

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How in the seven hells is it a problem that Roon now has a new DSP setting on tap? What does living in Paris have to do with anything?

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Never heard of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency then?

.sjb

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G997, I think you are missing the target here. Many Devialet users will finally have the option to stream directly to their amps with better sound quality then ever. I own a Devialet amp and am very happy for the integration, but I do not use it as I get better sound quality from different streaming hardware. I do not own Audeze headphones. If I ever buy a pair I’ll be glad there is specialised DSP settings for them.
What is very nice, however, is the fact that the convolution engine has been made more effective. The CPU load on my NUC is lower than before. For me, one-click-play is good. The last two are general developments for every ones benefit. Who knows what comes next?

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I would much prefer global update efforts, not ones limited to a few dozen users.

Here’s one…how about a relationship with HQ Player? Now thats something all Roon users could benefit from.

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Sorry, but no. Even though I am part of ALL Roon users, I wouldn’t benefit. Don’t need it, don’t want it.

But I agree with “I would much prefer global update efforts, not ones limited to a few dozen users.”.

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That’s already there and has been for some time. You can add HQPlayer as an audio target in Roon. Just ensure you have HQPlayer set to network mode. Works very well.

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No thanks, prefer my digital neat not on the rocks.

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The expansion of Roon through affiliations with prestige brands has to be good for all Roon users as this ensures a bright economic future. Especially when Adeze did most if not all of the work themselves.

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You believe the camel’s nose is in the tent. You misunderstand. Might just as well fear the Tidal integration.

The more equipment manufacturers that support/recognize Roon the greater Roon’s longterm viability.

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^^

That’s a good way of looking at it. The life-time Roon members (like myself) like the “greater long-term viability” buzz words in your statement, for sure.

I do wish that Sennheiser would come on board too. I have the Senn HD 800 S and the HD 600 cans and presets would be welcome for these.

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dont worry @G997

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You know that about me? Seriously?!?!?!

I could say a lot about what I “know” about you, but I wouldn’t be impudent enough to do that.

Let me correct the misdirected worries you may have by listing the reality of the situation:

  1. There is always risk of us being acquired – the offers come more often than you know. You need to accept these offers as an eventuality for any company you know that makes something interesting. We’ve turned them all down so far. That’s not to say we won’t be acquired, but right now we see a vision of Roon’s future and courters so far haven’t seen it.
  2. You are only looking at software release notes, which is a very small subset of our business partnerships that require software updates to fulfill. We have dedicated partner programs that bring dozens of other companies into our ecosystem without software updates.
  3. You are only looking at recent software release notes. I can tell because you mentioned HQPlayer explicitly as a partnership you’d like. You’ve totally missed the partnership that we have had with HQPlayer for since 2015.
  4. You are missing all the announcements about Roon Ready Partners that ship much more often than partnerships via release notes.
  5. Sooloos was sold to Meridian because hardware was/is expensive to make, it was our only business back then, and we ran into cash flow issues during a terrible financial period (2008). Had it been any other year, we wouldn’t have needed to sell. This time, we have built a software business on top of a very different consumer hardware ecosystem (just as a reference, Sooloos started pre-iPhone!). We are treading carefully into hardware. It helps a lot to have lived through failure.

I’m happy if you disagree on where we are headed, but please try to be less presumptuous. We are here, active in the forums and very open about how we do business. There is no reason to jump to conclusions when you can just ask.

This partnership was an experiment in pushing the industry forward. We welcome more manufacturers to contribute here, similar to the Roon Tested program. We also invite manufacturers to provide filters for more than just their own headphone brands.

Headphones are one of those things where DSP can be used very effectively and I would argue that every manufacturer should always release multiple curves along with their hardware. It’s unfortunate that manufacturers stop the work at delivery of hardware. The good manufacturers are much more capable of extending the sonic improvement of their products even further.

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I would love to see more tweaks for other models. I have the Beyerdynamic T1’s and would welcome a DSP setting for that :slight_smile: - Keep it up guys!!!

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I am a proud owner of Audeze LCD-X’s so quite interested in this direction. Now talk to the guys at Focal so I can get a setting for my Utopias too!

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You guys gotta talk to the manufacturers and tell them to talk to us… Send them screenshots from the Audeze stuff. We don’t have the proper equipment nor do we know the cans as well as the original manufacturers.

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Hi Danny

  1. HQPlayer: Yes I know it streams…I’d like to see it built into your DSP engine…

Point 4. Not really

Point 5. I know

Sorry about the easily influenced comment

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