Lots and lots of questions

So new i havent started yet!

Hello to everyone. Before i jump in head first a few questions and hopefully some answers.

In brief my current set up is as follows:-
Jriver v23 using sox resampler (best sound ive had from jriver)
Ming da campana valve amp
Chord Qute EX (usb connected)
Chord running kernel streaming via jriver
Tannoy precision 6.4 speaker
Winows PC i3 4025 1tb hdd internal
X64 windows 10
4gb ram
1 tb lacie external hdd (approx 2,500 albums)
Almost all files are flac
Samsung galaxy tab 4 (currently using j remote
LG 50" tv as used as monitor.
Thinking bout Tidal but not moved on that yet!

Ive been a jriver user since v16, but roon has sparked my curiosity.

So first of all - is the pc up to coping with roon?
Can i use it remotely using my tablet as a controller? (I use jremote which i do like a lot)

Can/does it support the dac?

Does it or can you use the sox resampler? (Again i like this a lot)

Im puttin my hands up here to being a complete ludite (lol)

Ive just started messin about with dsd files and have been very interested as to sound comparision against flac

I did read that roon can upsample my flac files and output in dsd, hopefully i picked that up correctly.

Im trying to get all my questions in before i even start a trial !

In my listening room im sitting about 14-15ft away from my lg tv, any issues there regarding layout reading content etc, im not getting any younger and neither is my eyesight (hence the tablet for remote use)

No plans to run this house wide yet!

Any thoughts suggestions comments etc etc would be greatly appreciated

Apologies for being very long winded

Regards

R

Yes, it will do fine if you add an SSD for OS/Roon Database. If not, it’ll probably cope but may be a bit sluggish.

Absolutely, the Roon experience is best enoyed on a tablet imo. There is no reason for a screen connected to the Roon Server at all and i, for one, prefer to run servers “headless”.

If it is available today for JRiver, it’ll be available tomorrow for Roon :slight_smile:

Dont know what lib’s are used for the DSP function but i seriously doubt you will be disappointed.

Absolutely, your hardware MAY be on the limit for upsampling to DSD128 but i think it’ll be alright.

No need for a screen as i mentioned. The best experience is with a touchscreen anyway.

Well, when you feel like it… :wink:

Give it a try, trial periods are available and if you ask the team im sure they will allow you an extra month if you are not convinced after the first! (But you will be! :))
The install wont corrupt your JRiver install and all of your concerns will be trialled.

And, the Tidal-integration is for me a big bonus which adds to my musical enjoyment.

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Thank you very much for the response to my questions.

The 1 TB Internal hard drive on my pc is only used for jriver and windows, the pc isn’t used for anything else. Would your recommendation still be a ssd for roon’s database, the answer being yes, what sort of size of external ssd would you suggest?

Im assuming i will get away with puggin this into the pc via usb, sorry for more stupid questions

Kindest Regards

R

If you accept Roon is ‘snappier’ on an ssd then I see no reason you can’t just run it on your pc disk while you see if the Roon interface is for you, if it isn’t then nothing lost, if it is then you may choose to run it in a way that does not utilise the external ssd you are considering eg a NUC with an M.2 ssd?

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No problems Robert!
The SSD performs best om an M2 PCIE bus as @Ratbert suggested but also on an internal SATA-bus. It will of course work with an externa USB SSD on a USB 3.0 port also but not quite as swift.
The size does not matter as log as it is bigger than your Roon DB which would be around 1Gb i assume.
So any size will do. You can use it for other things too, such as Win 10s accelerator functions etc.

But give Roon a try on your default hardware, you will se what it does (and don’t) and take it from there!

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JRiver user too

One thing to note as above, Roon does not Write to your files so the JRiver library will stay as is

Mike

Thanks to all this stuff is all very helpful, im doing a thing a never normally do, Prep Work and Reading, LOL., so yet another question.
Im currently using a Chord Qute EX Dac (it uses Kernel Streaming in Jriver as recommended by Chord) should there be any any issues using the Dac with Roon?

Thanks again in anticipation

R

I use a Hugo2 fed by an Allo USbridge and it works perfectly.

Hmm ive just picked up a mail from Chord and they have said that the EX wont work with Roon

Thats like saying “the Qute wont work with a Windows based PC”…

I can see no reason whatsoever it wouldn’t work just fine. But hey, as suggested, just install Roon on your 'puter and try it out?

Morning all, well it is here anyway.
Downloaded the software to my pc last night. A breeze!
Recognized my chord dac no problems. SQ is good but ive noticed im getting a bit of drop out when tracks are playing.
Any suggestions to resolve this?
Do you recommend leave the pc on 24/7 as i normally power it down?
Is the process for putting the software on my tablet as easy
So far very interesting indeed.

Hi Robert,

Dropouts have multiple sufficient causes. This KB article might help.

There is no need to leave the Core going 24/7. People with NUCs or other low wattage Cores often do, folks with higher wattage servers or PCs may not.

Installing on a tablet is as simple as downloading the app and pointing it at the Core.

Hey All, ok thats nearly a week of the trial period gone.

So here’s my warts and all feedback. I will try to keep things as simple as possible to make it easy for me and everyone else interested.

Im running jriver v23 sox resampler (in my opinion the best ive heard jriver sound), ive been doing some back and forward listening between the 2 platforms and the up and down of it is as follows

SQ Roon gets it. I dont want to get all audio wordy and i can only tell you what my ears tell me, but in my system listening to a wide range of music, one word - Dynamic

I love the sound of jriver using sox, but just feel it sounds soft and a touch flabby round the edges. Its not unpleasent to listen to but using Roon it just sounds, well, fab.

The down side and maybe in the short term the show stopper is im still having a few issues with drop out. It seems to be generally at the start of tracks, but not always, and the weird thing is once things have been playing for a while it settles down.

I fully appreciate that my existing pc spec may well be a contributing factor and possibly my dac as i run the chord using kernel streaming in jriver without a hitch so if theres no obvious fix that doesnt involve spending on either a new pc or indeed dac in the short term i wouldnt commit to Roon, however

Well theres always an however with me, i now know what it sounds like now and if i say no in the short term it would be till funds are available to sort these things out.

Unless there a fix someone can suggest?

As i user of jriver since v15 ive been more than happy with how it looks, plays, ease of use etc etc.

But i have to say i do like Roon a lot

If anyone can assist with the drop out issues id be happy to listen to any suggestion.

Please bear in mind ive just replaced the square wheels on my bike for round ones, so be gentle with me from a techincal point of view :blush:

Hardware is in spec. What sort of CPU usage are you seeing ? Is anything else running on the laptop beside Roon ?

Apologies, carried away listening to tunes, honest answer dunno will check an report back. Its a pc dedictated to either j river or roon, almost no browsing on the internet i use my tablet for all that. So music only. Internal 1tb disk drive has a few photographs on it but thats it.

Ok as follows

Cpu 6-7%
Memory 70% (819mb ish)
Disk 2-3%
Network zero
Gpu zero

Obviously itsmovingabout a bit as the track plays

Does that help

Other than that everything else zero or next to zero

Apologies should said that

Shoot me down on this but is it the dac thats the issue?

Its using waspi in roon and the dac didnt like it in jriver, no drop out but somtimes jriver just didnt see it.

I contacted Chord and the were superb and very helpful, chord sent me drivers for the dac and told me to use kernel streaming in jriver. Since then not a problem.

Usage doesn’t sound like it’s the problem.

Is Exclusive Mode enabled in Device Settings ?

Do you have alternative zones for your DAC in Settings/Audio ? Different drivers sometimes show up as different zones. If so, try them and see if they make a difference.

Thanks so much again for suggestions. I will have a look at the settings later on tonight and report back. Nice to see there are people out there willing to assist a rank amateur like myself. :grin:

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