Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)
4G LTE 10Mbps Wifi
Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)
Ropieee-RPI4 wifi - USB into Denafrips Ares 2 DAC
Description Of Issue
Audio Quality
Newby Roon user and newby streamer.
I have a decent rig for two channel music and would like to try to set up my roon system to deliver best signal to my DAC.
Presently I am experiencing no drop outs with the system in place. Wifi from my 4G LTE router to my laptop. Wifi into the Ropieee/RPI4 which is connected via USB to my DAC.
I am not using any DSP features and my volume is fixed, controlled by my preamp.
Question- If I am not experiencing any drop outs, does that mean my signal into the RPi4 is as good quality as it can be? Will my signal and sound quality improve if I connect my core to my router with gigabit ethernet cable? If so, how may sound improve and why?
Thanks very much
I’m confused by this as well and can’t get a clear answer from the “Network Guide”. It states early on “If your home can be covered comfortably with a single WiFi access point, that is what we recommend.” Later it states “Avoid connecting high resolution/high performance audio devices to Roon via WiFi to ensure optimal performance.” So if you have nice equipment, as in my case an Element X, is it optimal to use wifi (as recommended initially) or a direct connection (as recommended later)? I have a very strong wifi signal and do not have dropouts so I assume it’s fine, but would sound quality improve further with a direct connection? I’m not referring to the core or to remote devices, I’m concerned with the recommended connection for “high performance” devices. If you recommend one connection over the other please provide references that support that advice.
If you can use a direct wired connection use that, if you can’t use wireless. I believe the Matrix only employ 2.4ghz wireless which can be fraught with issues if your in a overly saturated WiFi area as your neighbours wifi can reduce the effectiveness of yours reducing bandwidth. Only using it in your home can you see if its optimal or not and only you can decide if wired sounds better than the wireless no one else matters or what they say. What wired gives you is better stability overall and will not have issues with bandwidth constraints or hires. I have several wireless endpoint’s that sound great and have no issues but I use 5ghz network for wireless audio.
What Roon do recommend and I would adhere to is not using wireless on your Roon core, that is risking a lot of issues. Servers are best left wired.
The problem with WiFi for RAAT streaming (Roon Core -> Roon endpoint) is that WiFi can suffer from congestion from neighboring WiFi networks. For example, sitting in my garden 1m away from one of my WiFi access points, I can still have neighborhood WiFi networks show stronger signal (unfortunately there are some WiFi access points that use excessive, beyond the standard, power to reach further). Temporary congestion can cause packet loss and thus Roon dropouts or track skips. But if your WiFi setup is not showing those issues, the sound quality will be the same as if your endpoint was wired.
Roon provides a lot of information about what exactly is going to the audio stream in in the Signal Path, I would reference this when you try different options.
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How is sound quality impacted by WiFI? Is it drop outs which are easy to detect, or elusive sound qualities like transparency, depth and width of sound stage, holographic representation…
I have my core and end points on wifi and do not experience any drop outs. I have a purple path all the way through, do not use dsp. Have I reached nirvana with my set up or will it sound better if I connect my core via gigabit ethernet. I am asking because for me to go that route, it would be very difficult…but I am willing to do it if it is necessary since my rig is quite revealing.
From AURALIC CEO:
’ The network router, the NAS and other network device are directly attached to the router using Ethernet cable which can be quite noisy. If the streamer is attached to the router using Ethernet cable then the noise can easily be transmitted to the streamer over this physical link. The regular CE, FCC and other EMC standards only guarantee the device will work stably, but when we are talking about sound quality, we are actually talking about EMI noise that is 1/1000 of the EMC’s standard, so it affects [sound quality] a lot. That’s why audiophiles say different NAS or different routers sound different.
The Ethernet cable is [also] a big problem. It runs long and can pick up low-frequency noise which cannot be filtered out. This noise will introduce jitter at low frequencies which no PLL circuit can get rid of and it will affect sound quality a lot.
WiFi will sound better if:
The engineer that designed the streamer knows how to design the WiFi module right. ‘Right’ means the module does not introduce noise to other audio circuits sharing the same ground circuit;
The WiFi signal between streamer and router is strong and stable. This is because if you have a poor WiFi signal, the WiFi protocol will try to fetch the data again and again due to large error rate (Yes, we use TCP to transfer music data which has error correction). If there are too many retries, it will add additional load to the processor and potentially generate more EMI noise.
The reason that many audiophile companies claim Ethernet to sound better is that they are not capable of designing a good WiFi circuit and they have no such background knowledge (poor WiFi network). All our streamers use existing Intel WiFi modules because they work well on a Linux system and they are well designed with minimum EMI noise generation and, most importantly, we know how to design the circuit around it correctly.”
Of course you could equally argue that Auralic is not capable of designing an Ethernet receiver that rejects EMI noise, and that’s why they argue for WiFi. And before you ask, yes, I’ve owned Auralic gear. Not any longer.
The answer to the question is that there is no right answer. You weigh up Roon best practice against what the manufacturer of the gear suggests. My streaming DAC doesn’t have a wireless option so my decision is in part made for me. And it happens to align with best practice. But between you and me, an Audiophile switch made a notable change to presentation. At a cost.
Uptone EtherRegen. The reviews are out there, mostly positive but there is understandable criticism (on the basis of digital theory) as well. In my case it worked well but it can be very legitimately argued that the extra could have been spent on a better streamer.
The argument against WiFi for sq generally falls around why would you want a source of RF that can interfere with your sensitive audio equipment. I tend to go with what works best practically. I dont have wired internet upstairs yet I have a headphone rig in my bedroom this uses WiFi to stream. Downstairs I have wired so I use that. I did used to use wifi on my main system until I got a wire into the room. Can’t say I noticed any difference in sq when switching to wired. Others using the same hardware as me swear they do. What I did notice was increased speed in the app and an overall smoother experience and drop out lag free.
I also don’t hear any difference with ethernet cables is switches so for menu choose my network kit on what works best, I chose Ubiquiti Unif products. Stable, easy to manage multiple devices , PoE so less nasty wallwarts. Currently it sounds amazing in all my zones so much so I have now stopped bothering with worrying about all this stuff and just listen to the music not the kit.
