I don’t even know if this is possible but I’d love to be able to replicate the features of the Aphex Exciter Rack Mount Exciter in DSP within Roon. In essence I’d like to be able to add back some tube sound (analog warmth = harmonic distortion) with certain tracks I find sterile sounding. Also just plain fun to play with!
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Yep, I second that request. A fascinating article here for the sort of useful things that are possible with DSP:
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YES ! And we need a knob for controlling the wow-and-flutter as well. A noise generator, some dynamic compression, and random clicks-n-pops are nice to have as well.
Sorry if this sounds a bit too sarcastic; I never cease to find this funny :). ‘We’ are working for a long time, to remove imperfections in our reproduction chains.
And the more we achieve this perfection, the more that people long for their ‘old & known’ listening experiences…
A bit more positive, now. I understand very well, why you’d want to apply additional distortion in the process of recording.
It can be part of the creative process of making a recording. Applied on some (seperate, isolated) tracks in the recording, that may benefit from it.
An electric guitar is nothing without even a slight bit of harmonics. A vocal with the same amount of harmonics, however… ?
But distortion applied on the recording as a whole (or in the reproduction chain, that’s essentially the same) : I really don’t understand why anyone would want to be able, to damage to an artist’s work in this way…
A logical implementation of this for Roon would be, to allow for the loading of VST plugins. I may have sounded negative, but I would actually welcome such an addition :).
Not sure if that could work though, because of Roon’s need fot ‘multiplatform’ support, and the high amount of ‘untested situations’ that this would give…
Excellent suggestion Marco. if we could just add some bearing rumble, end of side distortion, plus the crucial ‘muck on the stylus’ generator then people could junk their vinyl all over again! 
First…Please be nice. Second, do you realize that at least one highly respected amp designer does this in his products on purpose? Nelson Pass Third… I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive for accuracy (I follow Mitch Barnett’s book Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP myself)… all I’m saying is that harmonic distortion can be pleasant and can provide way more “improvement” than say a $5k Ethernet cord… (see what I did there?)
I’m very sorry, this message was never intended to be offensive.
Reading back, I think I can understand why it came across like that. Emotions can be hard to transfer, with only written words.
Trust me, I am a nice guy, and did not mean any harm to you.
Just an attempt at describing a strange observation. Or at least, it is strange to me.
That’s all, really. Please accept my apologies on this.
Yes, I certainly understand what you would like, and why you want that.
Slight problem is : there are many, many ways to introduce harmonics. There is no way of choosing the BEST one : it all comes down to personal preference or ‘taste’.
Which harmonics do you want to add, and which don’t you like ? How strong should each be, how should they relate to each other ? What about other (non-harmonical) types ?
I assume that you mentioned the Aphex unit specifically for a reason : you liked that specific implementation.
But what about other people, who would like to see/hear a different implementation ?
Without careful consideration, Roon could grow into a big monster, with options and switches everywhere. Where does processing stop, after this ?
That’s what I was scared about, a little.
Yes, my personal belief is that such processing has no place in a reproduction chain.
But my opinion is just that : an opinion. Both of our opinions are equally valid.
My comment wasn’t necessarily aimed at you… more of a preemptive strike if you will. I’m usually very hesitant to comment on boards due to the pack mentality of people. Once one person makes a negative comment others soon join and pretty soon it devolves into a feeding frenzy…
I agree there is no best way to introduce harmonics… which is why I don’t own a Pass amp (I do own a resorted Dynaco ST-70 however to drive a pair of Klipsch Heresy’s for fun). That’s why I specifically called out the Aphex Exciter Rack Mount Exciter… seems like the best way to have an adjustable amount across low and high frequency’s. VST’s are a neat idea though and opens up a lot of possibilities for many things…
Reopening this topic because it’d be an interesting DSP feature to add and not something available in any other player
agree. Something like this: PKHarmonic VST Plugin - Audiophile Harmonics Generator | Distort documentation