Is it me or does Roon degrade sound

Roon Software Discussion
43

So, even less reason for there being any difference whatsoever.

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@Rocco_Capobianco assuming this wasn’t a troll post, I’m not familiar with Linn products so I can’t comment. Prob best to search for similar threads on SQ as there are many and or others that have Linn products. However, as you can see, it’s pretty pointless to ask such a question.

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At least one poster referred to RAAT, so I tried to clarify that RAAT is not relevant to the discussion. Anything wrong with that?

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Nothing wrong with facts, I am just pointing out that which protocol isn’t terribly relevant, either. The thread title was not asking if RAAT degrades the sound but if Roon degrades the sound, which, if it happened (which it doesn’t) would not necessarily be a question of the protocol. If something else in Roon degraded the sound (which it doesn’t), that would be audible with RAAT and with the Linn protocol. And if RAAT sounds fine, then the Linn protocol should (unless there was something wrong with that, which probably isn’t, either).

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I LOVE the feedback. Wow…i never go on forums, i was trying to be sincere, and yes, I guess the “high-end” remark came across a bit assholey. Sorry - i wanted to eliminate system issues as the problem - but in retrospect, I guess that doesn’t matter - all things being equal.

Well, the test was of course, the same volume and it wasn’t any more scientific than 4 of us sitting in my listening room and switching between the 2 sources. That’s it. We all heard it - but it was not a blind test. Maybe that affected the outcome as it usually does when it’s not a blind test.

It’s sort of what i do when i compare vinyl to streaming. I queue them up and go back and forth to see what i notice.

Anyway, I need to read the rest of your responses before I post again. I was just wondering if this was something that I may be noticing alone, or if this is a commonly known thing (lessor quality) in exchange for the badass interface. I have read enough to know that for the most part, there doesn’t seem to be an issue here.

I ran this by my dealer and he said that in his shop for demos, they do not demo via Roon because of the “quality” issue. Go figure.

Thanks all, I appreciate all the feedback.

Rocco

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Thanks Lewis - so noted. And i agree. Bad form - not my intent.

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49

How do you know?

I don’t know your dealer but in general the staff at dealers, even good ones, talks a lot of nonsense.

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50

My Linn dealer, who I trust and has a serious EE/signal processing background, doesn’t think there’s a difference between Roon and the Linn app…

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51

No, thank you, I had a good laugh reading what you wrote.

While I believe you may have heard a difference, all I can say is trust your ears but above all enjoy the music.

I chose the UI over SQ, but on my systems (by no means high end) the SQ is good enough. Roon brings more to me than others use it for.

I would be curious as to the signal path during your listening.

Also, what’s the rest of your system. Curious now.

52

Jeez….

I’d rather not say now. The manufacturers are Wilson and Burmester. And a vetere turntable which I love.

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Well, I’m not sure that the volume was the same. I mean I didn’t change the level on the amp. I guess that’s not a good way to tell based on you question.

Like I said, I’m not a tech guy. I do feel that the levels were close.

I think I will do blind AB testing at various levels to really tell the difference.

Also, I take it from this thread that Roon quality is considered to have little to no impact on degradation of sound quality which is what I was wondering.

Thanks for helping me look at this question from different POVs

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54

Popcorn is only 8 characters. :grin:

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7   

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Sighted listening. You don’t/can’t know (by definition) what your expectation biases are. Nor can your friends. Sighted listening can result in “obvious” SQ differences even when they don’t exist.

The only other possibility is that you are listening to two different inputs when you compare and this is the cause of the difference.

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57

Or possibly, your Linn colours sound differently? What we hear, what we want to hear and what we like to hear are different variations that can be influenced by many factors, some subtle, some less than subtle.

For what it’s worth, my advice would be to be compassionate, be humble and listen to good music and enjoy life.

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Great feedback on reading your feedback :smile:

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I feel for you Rocco @Rocco_Capobianco.

The thing is, it’s all about the music isn’t it? It’s all too easy to focus on the gear, and to obsess with minutia.

I too own a Linn Klimax DS Organik, and I never use the Linn streaming app/Kazoo. Because they’re absolutely crap. Roon is the perfect companion to my love of music, and I don’t give a toss whether or not it degrades the SQ. :smiley:

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60

Very nice indeed sir!

Burmester 911 or 909 Mk5’s?

Which Wilson’s.

Vertere SG-1?

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The problem with asking this question on the Roon forum, is the inherent bias of users towards Roon, which you see every time this topic comes up (why does it keep coming up?). I often see this topic discussed more openly on other forums and you may find more useful discussions elsewhere. For what it’s worth, in my opinion, Roon does degrade the sound quality (noticed over many different bits of hardware), and I personally use Roon in Logitech Media Server mode with my current endpoint, which I find sounds better. I recognise that my opinion is anecdotal and of little to no value beyond recognising your concern.

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It is discussed in much the same way on other forums. For everyone that claims degredation there are matching posts to claim not. It is clearly system and user dependent.