‘Pause all zones’ would also benefit from a ‘resume paused zones’ (ala ‘mute all’, ‘unmute all’)
Hi all
Unfortunately for me this “upgrade” has been a downgrade for me in more ways than one
Firstly sound quality. Previous to this upgrade I had a very tweaked sound with my gear and roon was sounding excellent. After this upgrade I am finding the music has the dreaded “digital sheen” with harsh highs and trebles. That to me has been the biggest disappointment but I am also fix ING some usability issues
- Play album button plays a random track in the album
- Play next actually plays the next song straight away and not next
- Play from here plays from here but like in number 1 it then plays random songs.
I am hoping I have recieved a buggy upgrade so I can revert and hear the sound improvements everyone else has mentioned. I can see the small improvements but these issues above has really detracted from the experience for me.
Before now I have been a happy roon user and have introduced it to many of my other music mates.
Anyone else experience any of this?
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Check play settings to ensure they’re set the way you’d like them to behave - they can be customised. As to SQ it seems you’re alone… no glare, harshness etc. Did some listening on hifi yesterday and Roon sounds as good as it always has in my setup.
Also make sure you have updated all the Roon remotes, double check they are now 1.4.
Note 1.4 requires iOS 11 or later.
Actually, Stephen is not alone. In my system, the last update shifted the sonic balance towards the top end. My room is fairly big, has acoustic treatment and I’m using a Bruel & Kjaer house curve. Needless to say that I’m disappointed…
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Hi Stephen,
For items 1 and 3, it almost looks like you have shuffle activated. On a phone, it will be in the Now Playing screen otherwise you’ll find it in the queue and it will be blue and look like this.
For #2, I assume you mean Add Next, but it seems to work for me. Can you tell us what screen you are on when you select a track and click add next? ie. in playlists or albums or Tracks Browser?
Cheers, Greg
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So that’s 2 out of maybe 30,000 users. Not alone, but not exactly a big extended family. 
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Thanks for your helpful comments!
I know it’s just not me and @Carmen_Marin as there was at least another user in the computer audiophile forum mention the exact same thing.
I am running heavy speaker/room treatment with deqx hardware and software and it was tuned for my specific speakers in my room. Something has changed this in this update, and as Carmen said it has shifted the sonic balance to the top end.
I am happy for the many users who have reported an increase in sound quality. Some have reported no changes as well. Whatever has been done or tweaked on this update has interfered with my set up and I can’t get rid of this new sound signature no matter how much I tweak my system.
I am all for roon improving their software and sound. This is a good step forward and I can see they are a company that cares for their users and are very responsive in support which is excellent. All I request is that users have the option to turn off whatever they did to the sound signature in the settings. I realise reverting to 1.3 is not recommended by roon but I really want to get the sound I previously had. I have spent a lot of money on my gear and it’s disappointing to be let down by the end point software controlling the music. I love roon and it is miles ahead ofany other program however this has made me start to consider other providers as the sound quality is not what am expecting.
Are there any plans to have these sound changes as an option to turn on and off in the near future?
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Thanks @Greg . You situation solved my issue. I never had shuffle on before so must have accidentally clicked it. Appreciate the help!
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What is the purpose of your remark? Carmen is not implying to be a majority. I think if I would experience a significant decrease in SQ, I wouldn’t be happy, and such a reply to my first post on this wouldn’t make me feel welcome here, nor taken seriously.
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Hi Stephen, do you have the option to re-run your room calibration? It would be interesting to see if any change showed up but if it did, hopefully it would adjust for your target curve.
Just an option maybe?
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This is most unlikely. The changes in 1.4 that could have affected SQ were described in the Release Notes as follows:
We’ve also optimized the RAAT implementation in the Core to minimize CPU usage and context switching during streaming. On the endpoint side, there some optimizations in Roon, Roon Server and Roon Bridge that reduce timing variability when passing audio buffers to device drivers.
Deep level changes like these are impractical to be user controlled options as they would require that all future development support and be tested with both configurations.
I haven’t noticed any tonal shift, but I think I’m hearing more dynamics and detail. In my case it’s probably placebo, but I’m happy to bumble along.
The suggestion to rerun your Room EQ sounds a good one. It may be that some masking has been removed resulting in increased reflection from hard surfaces.
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I am noticing the opposite, listening with headphones (HD-700 out of a Woo WA3 w. great tubes). I am using a Bryston BDP-1 as my endpoint, USB out into a Bel Canto stack (REFLink and DAC). Previously, I was struggling to differentiate Roon from MDP playback (a good thing), but with the latest builds from both Roon and Bryston, MPD playback has edged ahead.
I wish I could say the difference is subtle, but I can really hear it with percussion elements (e.g. snare drums and high-hats). What stands out the most I can best describe as: drum hits are “soft”.
I have disabled all DSP processing in Roon. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was all expectation bias (in my head), but I can “hear” the same differences across a wide variety of music. Right now I am listening to a DVD-Audio rip (96/24) of The Doors LA Woman (title track) and the drums really pop with MDP playback.
Who knows… and I appreciate how frustrating it must for folks at Roon to read these posts.
Reruning calibration would be helpful only if the calibration sweeps could be served by Roon. I had a quick look at the DEQX user manual and it doesn’t seem to be the case. Failure to do this will lead to the same results.
@Carmen_Marin thanks for looking into that for me. That’s a shame that it appears a rerun of deqx won’t change anything… I’m sort of annoyed at this situation now… Wondering what else we can do to rectify this?
No problem, Stephen. I may be wrong, though…
@Krutsch thanks for sharing your feedback. It’s weird but I find voices are harsh but I am hearing what you a re that other things like drums are softer. I would say that drums have lost their punch so to speak. I feel there is a veil over my speakers compared to what I had before. I had transparency, punch and dynamics. They re still there but I know my system and they I understand veiled overall. Just not as focused. Some voices on the high end sound awful tbh. MJ on thriller and off the wall especially.
I am starting to see now only after a short time of me posting that some other users reporting are reporting a degradation of sound quality. I have a feeling there will be more people reporting degradation over time.
I just wish roon was flexible enough to revert back to previous versions. I dont see why we should have to put up with a significant decrease in sound. I took a punt and paid for a lifetime membership because I loved that much. I have only had it for a few months. I am seriously looking at asking them to inly charge me for a year and get a refund on the rest of the lifetime membership
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Well, I would say be patient. I’ve been through this before with Roon + Bryston as my endpoint. A subsequent update (on either side) might magically restore the balance, but I hear your frustration.
I am going though an analog phase now and despite the “inconvenience and expense” (to quote the New Yorker cartoon), I do sometimes make a mental note of the fact that I don’t have to screw around with endless software updates, tagging issues and USB “decrapifiers” to just listen to music. Listening now to a cassette tape… how’s that for “softer” sound 
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Is Roon’s EQ an option?
I found SQ improved with v1.4 in comparison with Audirvana. I and others have commented in this past on this forum about Roon’s SQ vs Audirvana. Others have commented on other forums too.
So my highly subjective personal preference for SQ improvement was always referenced against how Audirvana sounded. A bit like the first paragraph here:
"With Mac + USB DAC, if I want the best sound quality (by a nose), I opt for Audirvana Plus. For UX elegance, auto-tagging, meta information layer, music discovery and networked audio streaming, I opt for Roon. "
http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/08/network-streaming-comes-to-audirvana-plus/
With v1.4 and with my DAC directly driving my headphones (no room effects) and playback set to bit-perfect (as always, in my case) I now can’t hear any obvious difference with Audirvana…
Of course I’m just one data point sharing highly subjective observations and my happiness with the SQ now doesn’t help you. Which is why I ask if EQ via Roon is an option for you?
I listened to both of these classics yesterday and noted the opposite 