KEF LS50 wireless - roon ready? [not roon ready, but supported natively]

Volume control from the UI in Roon is possible when the Roon integration is released, and it tells the speaker to change the volume. Standby/convenience-switching is not due to a limitation of the hardware.

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Danny that would be amazing. Right now I can use the pause button (F8) on my keyboard to pause the stream that is playing. Will the volume controls on my keyboard also control the volume on my LS50W? Wish list?

No, but you can control/cmd-up/down in Roon. We don’t take over the the volume media buttons, since those impact your computer’s output.

Cheers, just so I dont misunderstand: once they are Roon ready, I can run the KEFs in exclusive mode and change volume in Windows, and it will send volume information to the KEFs who will change volume (no Windows mixer involved)?

That’s what I do now with my DAC and its very convenient (I have volume control on the keyboard), and since the DAC is run in exclusive mode Windows won’t mess with the signal (even though many seems to think it does since you can change volume with Windows volume).

Btw, I am guessing that Roon reads (or get events from) the volume from Windows and passes it on to the DAC when run in exclusive mode, and sends the data with no volume modification to the DAC together with the volume so the DAC can apply the volume.

EDIT: I am guessing for the above to be true you need to have the same default output in Windows as the exclusive DAC in Roon.

That works!! Thanks.

They will not become Roon Ready. This is a bespoke integration. Given the limits of the hardware platform, we were unable to get the speakers to implement RAAT.

This not-yet-release support is for networked speakers – no Windows involved. Are you mixing up USB and network streaming?

you should be able to do that now with the KEF LS50W in Windows without anything more from Roon or KEF.

I am not mixing them up, but my current DAC is a USB dac and can be controlled from Windows (changing Windows volume leads to a change in Roon volume, and volume is set to “Use device control”). Basically that means I can change volume from keyboard/Windows, and still have optimal sound quality since no Windows mixer is involved.

But now that I think about it this won’t work with KEF running as network speakers, since you won’t be able to set Windows default output to point to KEF. So yes, maybe I was mixing them up a little :slight_smile:

For those who are interested, apparently, Kef will be updating the firmware in the coming weeks. One feature I’m aware of will be the ability to swap the main speaker from the right channel to the left channel. Nice to know Kef are listening and continuing to develop the software capability of these units.

Source for this info?

A forum member on pinkfishmedia.net received the info in an email from Kef.

So I’m going to give the free trial a go (just waiting to receive my measurement microphone). Main questions for me about performing the measurements:

  • is it best to leave the LS50W with all settings as standard and no DSP corrections e.g. Wall mode, desk mode, etc. all disabled?
  • should I set the Kef’s to full range (currently got high pass crossover set to 70hz as I’m using a subwoofer). I don’t intend to run the Kefs full range in practice but, nevertheless, I may be missing out on some sub-70hz goodness from the Kefs. To be clear, I have set the high pass crossover at 70hz because of bass boom at around 55-65hz.

I would use default settings and if using subwoofer than set crossover and measure with subwoofer. And once you get the room correction, make sure you listen with the same settings/setup. If you have a bass boom, then leave it there, the room correction will fix it.

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To follow up on my Kef replacement story…After 8 months my right speaker developed heavy static. I have seen a few other people report this. Also the middle three buttons started blinking constantly off an on. Obviously not good…
I contacted Kef and they said send them back and we will send you brand new ones as replacements. Sending them back is on your dime and it’s not cheap as they weigh around 50 lbs total. So it was a week to get there, a few days for Kef to send the new ones with tracking number, and about a week to get to me. They arrived yesterday. Everything is indeed brand new. They sound amazing of course so any thoughts I had of selling them to buy something else went away pretty quickly.
My two tips from this experience are keep your box in case you have to send them back and use a credit card that adds warranty to what you buy to account for Kef’s miserly 1 year warranty. Mine adds an additional year. They did not reply when I asked what happens with the warranty on the new ones but I’m going to ask again and call if I have to. They sometimes don’t answer support e-mails at all or only answer part of the questions.
Hopefully whatever went wrong with mine happened in the early production models and they have figured it out in manufacturing.
It’s really nice to get brand new replacements but I’m thinking these must be pretty hard to repair.
I’m using Roon through an Apple TV right now but look forward to the direct integration. It will be interesting to see how people perceive the SQ of the Roon integration vs full RAAT using a Rendu etc.

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Nice colour choice :slight_smile: now you can enjoy and, hopefully, not too long to wait for Roon support

Darwin, glad you got them back. I would hate to have to do without mine for a couple of weeks. It’s nice that they sent you new. I too am curious about the sq of the Roon implementation vs my ultraRendu. I originally was thinking I would sell my uR but given that this is not a full RAAT implementation I may have to rethink that. Hope that the updates come soon. Enjoy the “new” speakers.

PS: mine are that gloss black also. They look sweet.

Thanks John. Yes, I really like the look of that color too.
No full RAAT or multi-room leaves room for other devices which isn’t a bad thing.
I’m thinking of getting a 2nd pair and use the Allo USBridge with wireless to get multi-room with Roon.

Thanks Rik, yes I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve been reading the pink fish media thread on these speakers and it’s interesting. Thanks for pointing that out. I had never heard of this forum.
http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/showthread.php?t=203828

That’s not what I said at all John.
I said I was considering selling the Kef’s because mine failed and I was mentioning the Elacs because they are Roon ready and seem like the closest I have seen to the Kef’s. I’ve talked about the Elacs long before my Kef’s failed. Many people have mentioned the forthcoming Elac’s in conjunction with the Kef’s as their closest potential competitor.
I certainly never said I “hated” the Kef’s.
Go back to the tape…

The thing so many companies don’t seem to understand is that when things go wrong, as they do, it is their time to shine and show what they are made of. Turning lemons into Lemonaid, of you like.
KEF seem to have done this…

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They have some work to do still.
The app still isn’t what it should be nor is their support.