Can’t say I have experienced this at all. I often add lots of new albums in one go and I can be listening when this happens and it’s not changed a single thing sound wise.
No, LLVM rules!
Yeah, this I don’t find credible.
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Using your Gmail email argument in the digital domain
If I set up a Microsoft account in a Gmail shell or vice versa wouldn’t the email view look different between whether I opened it up in the Gmail email shell or Outlook?
Or even focusing on Outlook. Doesn’t Outlook look different than Outlook in Microsoft 365? Same email text and attachments but the fonts and everything looks different. Sure the data in the email is the same but the container is different all digital.
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So if we are speaking bandwidth, if there isn’t enough bandwidth or processing power to encode a 4k movie doesn’t that lead to stuttering of skips?
Couldn’t we see that the more processing power it takes could degrade the quality than a lower demanding file or a machine with higher processing ?
I would rather enough processing power than not enough and that demonstrates sound can get impacted in the digital domain quite clearly
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Dear God. Dunning-Kruger in full effect.
Yes. Stuttering and skips
No. At least not with RAAT (or even using music codecs) over the network.
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Sands, duck! That went over your head 
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Sure. Just like the UI for Apple Music varies greatly from the UI for Spotify. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.
A bit stream is something like “01010100010100111010”. With respect to the very specific area of Roon’s feature set that we’re talking about, Roon gets “01010100010100111010” from somewhere and passes it on to someone else. Unless the machine you’re running Roon on is overwhelmed such that it can’t accomplish this task, the bits passed on won’t be altered in the process.
I am wondering, though, if we’re having a sincere conversation here. Your examples are kind of far fetched.
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The latest build makes a sandwich taste better, I use less mayo. More intense flavors but I get full faster. Beer stays cold longer as well. I like it very much.
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So what digital source are you running then? I assume it’s the cheapest you could find because a digital source doesn’t matter at all, right?
I very clearly said a few times I am no tecchy. Just reporting what I hear
Did you bring up email containers as an example first, or did I?
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I run a NUC with ROCK. It streams into a streamer that includes the DAC and that’s where digital transmission ends.
My point exactly. Maybe your source isn’t resolving enough to hear differences. Windows without heavy optimisation isnt the best medium to start a digital set up and can be improved
Maybe try a better source and gear and you may hear it too?
You did not understand this example AT ALL. When writing an email, the client creates the content which might be text or HTML. This content gets transmitted 100% unchanged. The recipient’s client renders it in different ways, but this is completely unrelated to the 100% bit-perfect transmission.
Maybe a more direct example would have been that the email that you receive does not change at all depending on whether it gets transmitted by Sendmail or Postfix email servers.
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Time for EVERYONE here to take a couple of steps back, a deep breath or three and relax.
There…that’s better now.
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Wouldn’t it be great if there was some Roon-edited, illustrated and easily understandable primer on the general basic facts and processes of digital audio, for all those who evidently have little or no knowledge and understanding at all?
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Stephen, just don’t respond to them.
You came here to ask if others have same feeling as you.
Just have a civil conversation with people that share similar views.
Ignore the others, especially the ones that are mean and condescending, it’s not worth your heart pressure going up.
Just mute them.
I don’t even know why they are on a forum .
If not to discuss what we don’t understand.
We are here because we don’t know , and would like to find answers .
Condescending know it alls are better just ignored.
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I’m going to take a crack at this in the hopes it helps.
The email example is, I think, a good analogy.
The words written in the email don’t get interpreted differently by Gmail vs 365. Think of the 1s and 0s of the email content (the words) as the 1s and 0s of the music file.
Think of the ‘window dressing’ of font choice, border colors, etc. as the analog domain after the 1s and 0s have been converted back to analog.
A piece of software that is responsible for correctly transmitting a message does so in a bit-perfect way. If it didn’t, your emails would be garbled instead of being exactly what the sender wrote.
Roon is a bit-perfect transport, which is one of the main reasons I use it. I know it isn’t modifying the bits of the music file. It dutifully hands the bits off to my DAC where the DAC then converts the bits to an analog signal to be sent to my amp. One build of Roon to the next isn’t going to change the transport of bits, and as a result of that, as well as how I let my external DAC handle the conversion, I don’t have any change in sound quality between Roon versions.
On the other hand, if you’re running the Roon core on your laptop, and that laptop is handling DSP and digital-to-analog conversion and as a result your laptop is burdened trying to handle CPU-intensive tasks, file system activity, network activity, drawing the screen, etc., then yeah, your computer may struggle to deliver a consistent experience.
If you are able to help us understand your signal path perhaps we can assist with finding ways to mitigate the changes you are perceiving.
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Fair point and I did understand what you originally meant with bits to bits with email data and I mentioned that also.
I added my example to demonstrate that digital can be displayed differently (ie different UI) which can lead to a different experience or feeling for the end user (ie I personally like how email is displayed via Gmail VS Outlook or vice versa)
I am saying there is more to this than bits to bits
Trust me guys. When I started out in this hobby I thought most things were snake oil. As I went deeper and heard differences between may things in the analogy and digital domain my eyes were opened and I heard a difference.
I was the biggest champion of bits are bits.
I bought many things where I had the chance to get a full refund if I didn’t like the sound to prove the vendors wrong. I made the change liked the sound better, took it out and it wasn’t as good. I spent the money when I didn’t have to. It wasn’t a case of “I sunk money into this with no refund so I HAVE to like it”
I totally agree with David above.
We have to remember that scientists only understand a small percentage of the human brain. Saying we know everything we need to in that domain would be arrogant. Who’s to know that what we are hearing may be able to be explained as we get smarter and understand the brain better?
All I am saying is multiple people are reporting what I am hearing, from all around the world with different systems and set ups. I don’t think we are all delusional and “audio fooled” we are hearing something that maybe bits are bits cant explain.
I realise this may sound too esoteric and far fetched for many here but I did hear a difference and others share my view so there may be something more here.
I have no reason to bag Roon or complain for no reason.
I love roon.
It’s the best player by fair and as I said I bought a lifetime membership years ago. Just reporting my findings and I know it’s a sensitive subject here
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Primer or not, I think Roon has been very clear here: there should be no changes in SQ unless they say so.
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Of course they won’t say so, as that would start an audiophile World War III! And Roon would be damned if they did (and damned if they don’t). It’s why manufacturers like Sonore won’t say anything about the sound quality of their devices, even that the newer one is better, as it’s just an invitation to a drubbing. Best to stay mum, and let those who try the gear come to their own realizations.
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