Hi, my first post on here so hello to you all.
I currently have Roon on trial and I would love to keep it as its a great piece of software and I admit to being slightly addicted.
However in my set up it just does not sound as good as my Melco streaming music and for that reason I am not sure about subscribing yet.
My set up at present is Devialet 200, Melco N1A and SF Olympica 2. I have turned to Roon as the Melco is having issues with tidal and I have lost patience. What I did not expect was the drop in sound quality.
Of course I know I have now introduced my lap top in the chain and taken the Melco out. I now know how good the Melco is at doing what it does I guess.
I know long term if I go for Roon I can get some new hardware that will eradicate the need for a PC, and that nay happpen but for now I would just like to try and get a better sound from this set up.
The biggest difference is the bass. On the Melco its a very tight bass, with the PC involved the bass is somewhat bloated, it sort of drowns out the detail in the rest of the music.
I also feel that the instruments are more clear, like the Melco has a much quieter background and using the PC acoustic guitar in particular does not sound as sweet. The differences are quite large and I did not expect this I guess.
So I am looking to see if I can help with this. I am now 95% Tidal listening , so I have a dilemma. Roon is gorgeous and also gives me the stability I have craved for the last 3 months but it comes at a cost as stated above.
I have read the roon help pages about the DSP and Exclusive mode but I cant even find an exclusive mode.
My apologies also as I am not that good with technical issues …but can anyone point me in the right direction
Any help would be apprecaited
What PC hardware is your core running on? Speed brand etc… and network connectivity too.
What other options do you have to load it up on?
How is your DAC connected to the core?
Hi Steve
I assume you are using AIR now direct from Roon and we’re using USB before from the Melco?
Have you tried keeping the Melco in the loop and connecting the Devialet Ethernet to the player out on the Melco?
I don’t have one any more but I felt the Melco did provide some Ethernet isolation when I had one.
There aren’t many settings to tweak in Roon when streaming to a Devialet as a network end point.
I stream from a Nuc running ROCK directly to my Dev (though I now have Core Infinity) and it sounds excellent, at least as good as USB from the Melco did.
Good luck!
Chris
Hi, its a 2 year old Lenovo Windows 10 lap top Core i5 4210U Processor 8GB Memory.
No other options to load it I guess.
The Dac is the Devialet 200 and that is a wireless connection to the Lap top the core is on.
Thank you
Hi Chris. Yes I never used Air as it was a disaster for me. I uninstalled it before I installed Roon.
So I should try the Ethernet from Dev to Player port in the Melco? I assume the other ethernet goes from my router to the Melco? I would then try the Wifi option for the Devialet input?
Or am I getting this wrong?
Would this affect the Tidal streaming quality as I assume this would not go through the Melco?
Thanks for the post
Steve
I have a rather new Win10 computer that houses my Roon core. It’s connected wirelessly to my network – via what I have found to be the robust Google wifi solution – and my Devialet 200 sits a few rooms away connected by Ethernet to a switch, fed by a second Google wifi puck. My system uses the Devialet Roon/ethernet/AIR combination. I have found the sound to be excellent. I did purchase an AudioQuest Niagara power strip, which I found to be a nice enhancement (see review by Digital Audio Review here) but I don’t consider that essential. By comparison, I also have a BlueSound Node 2 tethered to the Devialet by both coax and RCA cables (so I can get full impact of MQA music) and the SQ of the Roon/Devialet combo is much better.
Hi Steve
Yes to the connections, router to Melco and then Melco to Devialet. The Melco isn’t doing much here but it may help.
The input to enable should be Ethernet, I would advise to avoid WiFi,Some people do ok with it but most struggle, having the aerial inside a metal box doesn’t seem ideal. It may be best to makes sure it’s disbled in the configuration to be sure.
There are lots of things to tweak the network but you need a good baseline first.
Cheers
Chris
Hi Chris I did try this but there was no improvement to the sound quality. The real standout is the poor bloated bass, the difference is very noticeable. It also caused a lot of wifi issues with the Devialet remote app and when i i was reverting to the Kinsky/Melco combination. I am just not sure this is a network issue. I am starting to think its the introduction of the lap top into the music chain. When I got the Melco a few year ago the improvement was very noticeable. I guess that is what it is intended to do.
I am not very technical so i dont really want to start messing about with my network as it is vital for other stuff in my place.
I love Roon, but it introduced a PC into the chain and I think this is the issue. I think if I want Roon it should not be PC based solution…maybe some other way.
Thanks for the input
Steve
Hi Michael thanks for the post. The sound using Roon is good, but its nowhere near as good as the streaming from the Melco. I am not one of these who keeps tinkering for a better sound, but I am a little taken aback how much worse it sounds when the Melco is taken away from the chain. Sometimes you dont know what you have until you lose it maybe 
Thanks for your input
It would be interesting if you could try some other solutions for running the Roon Server to see whether the PC really causes the problem. I am thinking something like for example Roon Nucleus / Roon ROCK, sonicTransporter, or Innuos Zenith.
Would your nearest dealer happen to have Roon Nucleus, Innuos or something similar that you could try at home?
Hi Steve
I guess it could be the PC but given the way Roon works over the network, I’d expect any changes due to the PC it runs on to be subtle rather than so obvious.
It’s easy to have a downer on computers, though in effect that’s what the Melco is so they can be made to behave ok in a hifi setting. With Roon ROCK, once installed you wouldn’t really know you were using a pc, the ready made version is the Nucleus, I would agree with Petri above that borrowing a Nucleus would be a good way to see if you can get sound from Roon that you’re happy with. As you know, loads of people on Devialet Chat are happy with Roon so it can work.
regards
Chris
So the Melco was plugged in USB to the Devialet and now you are straight wireless Air?
If so you need to try Roon Into USB to isolate the problem as not Air vs USB. Your laptop straight in the Devialet’s USB would suffice.
Also show us a screen capture of your signal path, you can see it by clicking the glowing dot in the bottom playback bar.
Thank you for drawing my attention to Melco N1A. It seems to be something that I have been loking for and it is being sold here in France, But how do you run the Roon Core in the setup with Melco?
Ulf Lundin
A Swede in the south of France
Good luck, Steve. Lots of knowledgeable people on the Roon community site so perhaps they can assist.
It sounds like you are running in System Output mode. Can you take screen pics of your devices audio setup pages? That would really help in creating a base understanding for everyone giving you suggestions.
I’ve given examples of the screens to look at. Keep in mind that Roon varies the options in these screens depending upon the DAC so yours may not look identical.
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Audio Setup Page
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Specific Device Page 1 - General
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Specific Device Page 2 - Playback
First of all a big thank you to all of you trying to help me on here.
It might help if I make a few points about what i was wanting out of Roon. You see I am more than happy with mt set up right now. I have no desire to change any part of it yet, or in the immediate future. I love the Roon user experience, the app is gorgeous and a pleasure to use…but and its a big but. I am only trialing Roon as I have had problems using Tidal with the Melco since late November and I got fed up with it.
My listening now is 95% Tidal so Roon would be an extravagant purchase anyway, but YES I would go for it if it gave me the stability I have lacked for over 3 months. However i did not expect a drop in sound quality like I am experiencing.
Its undoubtedly the bass…it just overpowers everything I feel. I like bass, but I like it tight.
I have spent a lot of time a couple of year ago to get my room and hifi working together to get a good sound. Bass traps, big fluffy carpet all of that stuff, and I love the way it performs now.
After a few days of Roon I am convinced it is the removal of the Melco from the chain that is doing the damage. I believe this as a few days before i tried Roon I used the Devialet Air facility and this also removed the melco from the chain. The results were the same poor bloated bass.
I then remembered I had a 3 month trial of Roon if I wanted it. It was a no brainer.
I was not intending to do any comparisons as I never thought I would need to, but after about an hour i noticed it just did not sound as good. So I switched back to the Melco and the bass was back to how I like it and the treble sweet.
This is why I believe its the removal of the Melco that is causing the problems. Trust me I wish I didnt need it as the false hopes with the app situation really annoyed me, but I think now I have something which in my system compliments the detail of the Devialet and removes some of the harshness I used to hear when used without it.
So here I am. Roon is a trial, I bloody love it, but for me to have it I will have to make system changes that I do not want to do. If there was a way of using the DSP or something yes I would try that.
I love Roon and I would accept a slightly inferior sound quality as its stable for me and it just works, but the difference in bass is massive and I think if the bass is wrong the rest of the sounds just dont work. To me getting the bass right is essential.
If I do want to change my set up in the future I will definitely look for a Roon ready piece of kit.
Once again thanks for all the posts.
Steve
You’ve made 2 changes. Melco -> Roon for software and USB -> Ethernet on the Devialet.
The reason I keep bringing this up is there many cheap options for Roonready endpoints that will go into USB on the Devialet. You just need to rule out ethernet vs USB first.
This is true I have made 2 changes I guess. When you say cheap how much?
Like I say I dont really want to change anything in my set up I just want it to get back to how it was working 4 months ago.
As stated though I think the Melco was the moment when for me my hifi just sounded right.
No need to spend money right now, do a test by plugging your laptop right into the Devialet via USB as a test and try direct playback from Roon.