# Poor sound quality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Roon Software Discussion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339 "2022-01-13T23:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GARY\_MORESKY](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/gary_moresky/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@GARY\_MORESKY](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/GARY_MORESKY)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/1 "2022-01-13T23:52:16Z")
I’m road testing Roon today. I have a dedicated PC music server storing FLAC files and outputting digitally through an Asus sound card. Switching back and forth between MediaMonkey and Roon, the sound quality through Roon is much worse. I can only think of three explanations: (1) I have a configuration problem, but where? (2) I’m wrong, and the sound is indeed the same (3) the Roon community doesn’t really care about, or notice, sound quality. Anyone else conducted a similar test? ---
**Author:** ![SukieInTheGraveyard](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/sukieinthegraveyard/32/194788_2.png) [@SukieInTheGraveyard](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/SukieInTheGraveyard)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/2 "2022-01-14T00:05:00Z")
> [@GARY\_MORESKY](#): > > (3) the Roon community doesn’t really care about, or notice, sound quality. That’s the second time that you’ve made an inflammatory comment about Roon users. There are around 500,000 users enjoying Roon, many of whom are rather discerning when it comes to SQ issues. ---
**Author:** ![ipeverywhere](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/ipeverywhere/32/288113_2.png) [@ipeverywhere](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/ipeverywhere)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/3 "2022-01-14T00:10:13Z")
1. Roon is accurate and MediaMonkey is applying some kind of filtering / DSP that you prefer. There are lots of threads that address this issue. Many of us believe Roon is accurate and will reveal the transparency, good or bad, of the playback system. ---
**Author:** ![AceRimmer](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/acerimmer/32/367705_2.png) [@AceRimmer](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/AceRimmer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/4 "2022-01-14T00:11:57Z")
Im going to go with #1 here. It could be #2 but I trust that You trust your own ears. If it was #3 we could likely rename this the Spotify forum rather than the Roon forum.(Jk). Give us a bit more system information so we ( the Roon community) can see if there’s a configuration issue somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Davis2](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/chris_davis2/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Chris\_Davis2](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Chris_Davis2)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:20am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/5 "2022-01-14T00:20:33Z")
Nothing wrong with spotify, at least other streaming products support spotify/connect to judge the sound quality. ---
**Author:** ![Marian](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/marian/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Marian](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Marian)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/6 "2022-01-14T00:31:38Z")
> [@AceRimmer](#): > > we could likely rename this the Spotify forum What’s wrong with Spotify? Is there a hidden reason Roon takes this long to support other non-hi-res streaming services like YouTube Music? ---
**Author:** ![AceRimmer](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/acerimmer/32/367705_2.png) [@AceRimmer](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/AceRimmer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/7 "2022-01-14T00:33:05Z")
I know that you already know the answers to those remarks so I will not be engaging you on this matter. Please read the post carefully next time… ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Davis2](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/chris_davis2/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Chris\_Davis2](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Chris_Davis2)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:36am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/8 "2022-01-14T00:36:14Z")
You do understand that when you edit a post it has an “edited icon” so telling someone to read your post carefully after you have changed it is a tad sneaky. ---
**Author:** ![AceRimmer](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/acerimmer/32/367705_2.png) [@AceRimmer](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/AceRimmer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:37am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/9 "2022-01-14T00:37:11Z")
And you do know that it was edited WELL before the above poster replied… Unless of course they are a very slow typer or has a very slow connection 🕶 Although I only “added” the Jk edit as it became apparent very quickly that nobody understood the attempted humour. Oh well, I won’t give up my day job. ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Davis2](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/chris_davis2/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Chris\_Davis2](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Chris_Davis2)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:38am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/10 "2022-01-14T00:38:55Z")
You know the answer to that so I won’t be engaging with you on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![Marian](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/marian/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Marian](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Marian)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/11 "2022-01-14T00:42:51Z")
“The above poster” would really like to know what’s wrong with Spotify and YT Music. ---
**Author:** ![Rugby](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/rugby/32/360588_2.png) [@Rugby](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Rugby)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:43am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/12 "2022-01-14T00:43:10Z")
> [@GARY\_MORESKY](#): > > Asus Which one. My Asus xonar essence stx sounds great. Are you using ASIO? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Janssen](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/bill_janssen/32/198723_2.png) [@Bill\_Janssen](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Bill_Janssen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/13 "2022-01-14T00:48:43Z")
> [@GARY\_MORESKY](#): > > (3) the Roon community doesn’t really care about, or notice, sound quality. I’m pretty sure it must be this one. After all, there almost no threads in this forum where SQ is mentioned! ---
**Author:** ![GARY\_MORESKY](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/gary_moresky/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@GARY\_MORESKY](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/GARY_MORESKY)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/14 "2022-01-14T01:05:42Z")
I never implied what you suggest. I said that if there was no configuration problem, and that if I was correct that the sound is inferior, then the only other explanation I could think of was that everyone else didn’t notice or care. I posted precisely because I don’t believe that to be the case. But I can tell you that, as I am setup at present, the accuracy is much worse through Roon. I’m testing with classical and jazz, so DSP doesn’t come into play, I may have a compatibility problem with the driver and will keep testing. It helps to know Roon does have discerning listeners who are getting good results on their systems, because there are 5,000,000 teenagers out there who think the sound through their earbuds sounds great. ---
**Author:** ![ipeverywhere](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/ipeverywhere/32/288113_2.png) [@ipeverywhere](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/ipeverywhere)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/15 "2022-01-14T01:53:53Z")
A screenshot of your signal path and Settings → Audio will help the community provide suggestion to improve. ---
**Author:** ![andybob](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/andybob/32/109007_2.png) [@andybob](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/andybob)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 11:22am UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/16 "2022-01-14T11:22:38Z")
It’s quite possible that your setup is working properly and Roon has lower SQ compared to a smaller footprint player. Roon has a relatively large processing footprint, which can affect SQ with direct connection setups.The recommended setup for best Roon SQ is a network connection separating Core from Output. ---
**Author:** ![Toolio](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/toolio/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@Toolio](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Toolio)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/17 "2022-01-14T15:46:49Z")
> [@GARY\_MORESKY](#): > > (3) the Roon community doesn’t really care about, or notice, sound quality. And you, of course, have the mythical “golden ears.” ---
**Author:** ![DaveN](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/daven/32/233215_2.png) [@DaveN](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/DaveN)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/18 "2022-01-14T17:22:16Z")
> [@GARY\_MORESKY](#): > > But I can tell you that, as I am setup at present, the accuracy is much worse through Roon. I’m testing with classical and jazz, so DSP doesn’t come into play, First up, could you clarify what you mean by accuracy? Second, why is DSP not an issue with classical and jazz? More importantly, @ipeverywhere’s suggestion is a good one. Post some more details about your setup, including Setting → Audio and your signal path, and it will be much easier to see if there’s anything odd going on that could be contributing. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Janssen](https://community.roonlabs.com/user_avatar/community.roonlabs.com/bill_janssen/32/198723_2.png) [@Bill\_Janssen](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/Bill_Janssen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/19 "2022-01-14T17:26:52Z")
> [@andybob](#): > > Roon has a relatively large processing footprint, which can affect SQ with direct connection setups. Is there any proof of this? It seems like another one of those “urban myths”. I doubt you’d see a difference in most cases. Perhaps if the machine is pressed to the gills with processing? ---
**Author:** ![anon44636269](https://community.roonlabs.com/letter_avatar/anon44636269/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@anon44636269](https://community.roonlabs.com/u/anon44636269)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2022, 5:43pm UTC](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339/20 "2022-01-14T17:43:29Z")
Considering Roon themselves state it’s best to be separate perhaps some truth to it. Most complaints against Roon and SQ come from users using core as player to DAC. > **[Sound Quality](https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/sound-quality)** > > Overview Roon is built from the ground up to produce extremely high-quality output, however, Roon works differently from other software, so you may not be able to drop it into an existing setup and get the same results immediately. Like most things... [Next page](https://community.roonlabs.com/t/poor-sound-quality/185339.md?page=2)