Is there any sound quality improvement with the new Roon 1.8? What are the improvements, if any?

Roon Software Discussion
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I like to check myself from time to time as well. The test I’m running at this very moment is (essentially) RAM playback of WAV files local to the Raspberry Pi with the Ethernet cable disconnected and both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth disabled.

I followed these steps to set this up:

  1. Convert a familiar album from FLAC to WAV
  2. Use scp to copy the converted files to /tmp on the Raspberry Pi 4
  3. Install SoX and screen (if not already installed)
  4. Kick-off playback in a detached session with: screen -dm play --replay-gain off /tmp/*.wav
  5. Logout of the RPi
  6. Disconnect the Ethernet cable
  7. Enjoy the album

If I find myself more engaged in listening with this style of playback vs. using Roon with volume leveling, DSP, and MQA Core Decoding all disabled, there’s work to be done somewhere.

This test eliminates a few different concerns that could potentially affect sound quality:

  • Uncompressing FLAC – Roon does this before streaming music to the endpoint, so for parity, this must be done before copying the files to the RPi4
  • Disk I/O – Most Linux distros mount /tmp as tmpfs, a file system which keeps all of its files in virtual memory. Playing files from a tmpfs filesystem minimizes disk I/O to the microSD card
  • Network “noise” – People are falling over themselves in other threads to buy $1k audiophile Ethernet switches, optical media converters, AudioQuest Diamond patch cables, and what not. If network noise is a $1k problem, let’s remove it entirely…just to be safe

If you’re using an RPi4 (or similar) endpoint solution, this is the sound quality benchmark for Roon to aspire to. Spoiler alert…

Screen Shot 2021-02-04 at 3.21.32 AM
Screen Shot 2021-02-04 at 3.21.32 AM1364×1128 211 KB

YMMV, but as far as I can tell, they are already there. :wink:

Edit: System context in case you thought I had plugged headphones into the 3.5mm jack on the RPi4 :stuck_out_tongue:

  • Raspberry Pi 4 in a Flirc passively cooled case with official USB-C power supply
  • microSD card flashed with VitOS (RoPieee would work too)
  • iFi Audio Mercury USB cable
  • iFi Audio micro iUSB3.0 power/signal regenerator with iPower 9V power supply
  • iFi Audio Gemini3.0 split USB Cable
  • iFi Audio iPurifier3 (Type-A)
  • iFi Audio micro iDSD Signature DAC/Amp
  • Drop E-MU Wood Series Headphones (Teak cups)

So, not the best system in the world, but not the worst for this kind of test. :headphones:

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