Thanks for the feedback @NOA it’s good to know. I was wondering whether I might have to come back with a counter announcement when I was checking the wiring on my system. Easiest detail in the world to miss.
This is 100% correct… I’m not impressed at all… The bass is thin in this new version. I had it all sounding perfect… Stop messing with it Roon. The bottom end has been destroyed by this update.
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Really?
Not at all what I am hearing.
Care to elaborate?
It’s lost a lot of fullness particularly in the lower registers 50hz and down. The midrange as a consequence is unbalanced now. I get why a lot of people would think this sounds better but on a true reference system it has ruined the balance IMO
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Not sure as I would say I have a true reference system as it’s “only” about $60k right now but I think it is pretty stout.
I honestly do not hear any loss in the lower registers and the mids are just as glorious as ever.
What I do hear is a little better imaging and soundstage.
But I am also using DSP to upsample everything to 384.
So I would not say it is a huge impact but it is definitely not worse.
To my ears, in my system with my music of course.
Ymmv…
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I think it sounds better. The improvement was immediately noticeable…
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Unlike me, my kids reported noticable improvment on their Bose.
Roon for the masses!
Some users who noticed the sound degradation in 1.8 later found another problem because simultaneously with the update Roon made some other changes in the system.
I am puzzled genuinely as to why some say Roon is worse, some say it’s better and my system sounds exactly the same.
There has to be a reason, but I don’t think it has anything to do with Roon or we would all notice it.
So it’s system dependant.
How are systems that sound worse connected to and isolated from the Roon Core? Is their any common denominator?
Is it Psychological?
Are systems that sound better, just sounding different and the user prefers this sound?
Questions questions…
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Errr…I’m not even going to read back up like a normally do. Instead, I’ll just say, how can people actually tell this difference? Surely, you’d need both side by side and then to be blindfolded.
Has anybody done this?
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I’m not puzzled by it and I don’t think it’s physchological. I haven’t noticed a difference in roon sound very often. And I find incredibly little difference between various dsp settings. They are there, but they are very subtle. This was quite noticeable. I can see why a lot of people would find it pleasing. If your system is lacking a bit of clarity or attack, or your soundstage is a bit flat etc. I don’t have any of those issues. I have spent 2 years tweaking and wringing out everything I can from the system. The latest update has definitely lowered the bass response in my system and as a consequence maybe the higher mids sound a bit more crisp. I didn’t need them to be more crisp. Yes it’s Roon, everything else is exactly the same. I tried increasing the sub a couple of notches to compensate but it isn’t the issue. It’s not the level of bass, it’s the way it being rendered. I’d imagine the upsampling filters are different and that’s what’s caused it.
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And yet, my system has not changed. Along with many others, so my questions still stand and need to be answered.
Clearly you are hearing changes that others are not. Clearly others may find said changes pleasing but that does not explain why others, me included notice no change?
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I fear as long as we do not know EXACTLY what Roon has changed in 1.8 we can only guess why it’s sounding better or worse or identical for us.
The changes obviously have different effects on different systems, I suspect depending on Roon network architecture and DACs used.
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Do you have two identical systems side by side, one with 1.7 and another one with 1.8? Or are you trying to remember what your system used to sound like BEFORE the update?
There’s always someone with a better system, a better listening room or a better pair of ears…
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Maybe the change is more subtle in your system I don’t know. It’s a very low register bass thing like below 50hz to my ears but it could be more complicated than that, just the best way I can describe what I’m hearing. Maybe your system isn’t as revealing in that area. Maybe your dac responds differently or is doing some processing of its own that disguises it. It could be better or worse or just different. There could be a myriad of reasons. Essentially your question was that something else in the system changed, which makes no sense. I already stated it hasn’t. What is this burning question you had that can’t be answered. It sure seems to me that you are implying there is no difference because you think you didn’t hear any. Why suddenly are so many people noticing a difference with this upgrade when no one has really commented before, certainly not any where near this many people. I’m not surprised why so many people say it’s an improvement because unless you game your bass and room very well treated and extremely tight, a little less bass will often remove a touch of muddyness which in turn can open up the soundstage.
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And theirs always someone with a double blind argument to prove it’s all in our head. There is another way, I have many sources I can use. Switch sources, bass is as I’d expect switch back and it’s the difference I’m hearing. To be honest I’m really sick of the double blind test rubbish people throw out all the time. If you can’t hear a difference great! Good for you. Leave it at that. Why waste your time trying to disprove others… It’s really boring. If you think we’re nuts don’t read… Go do something else
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Yes I upsample to dsd 256
The question I asked you had absolutely nothing to with double blind listening tests.
It’s not typically the “lower registers 50Hz and down” that make a system sound either “thin” or “full” - unless there’s a problem with the acoustics of your listening room…
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I concur. 1.8 sounds just as good to me.
My source is a RPI4/Pi2aes hat (spdif) > RME ADI2 fs DAC.
Without direct comparisons between 1.7/1.8 via instant switching, any comparisons must be extremely difficult from acoustic memory.
Back in the days when I was using MQN play.
I remember the engineer would post small changes in software code, which had very audible impacts on sound quality. All being “bit perfect” of course. ??