Hi. I have a Hegel H190 that I have connected to my Roon server - a 2011 Mac Mini - via USB. The Ampnis also connected directly to network. When I play Roon by USB it tells me the sample rate (I’ll ask another question about this later!) but when I play via Network it just says “Roon Ready”. So which is the “better” option? Does “Rune Ready” imply anything about the sound quality?
Roon Ready is Roon’s certification process:
It doesn’t directly say anything about quality compared to USB, except that it uses Roon’s proprietary RAAT streaming protocol, which promises to deliver improvements over other network streaming protocols:
Depending on device, there may be differences. E.g., a device might be able to use higher sample rates over USB than over RAAT. The device’s manual/specifications probably provides the detail. However, typically there wouldn’t be an audible difference.
What the device displays in either case is in part required by the Roon Ready certification but in part is left up to the device manufacturer. If the Hegel doesn’t display the sample rate in the Roon Ready case and you want to know, you can always check Roon’s signal path:
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I have a H120, which shares the streaming engine and DAC with the H190. If you use the network, you’re using the H190 internal streaming engine, making use of all its functionality. This DAC resamples everything to 105.47 kHz, no matter what input you use. When you use the Network function it shows Roon Ready only, but Roon will show you exactly what the signal path is: Roon converts any sample rate to the nearest multiple of 44.1kHz and the internal DAC converts this to 105.47. Hegel claims that this is good because Roon does part of the resampling process outside the DAC. When you connect your computer to the USB port, you’re not using the H190 as a streaming device and it shows you what sample rate is being offered to the DAC (I believe it is restricted to 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz), but then the DAC will resample it to 105.47.
Soundwise, I can’t hear any difference, at least to my ears, in my system. Both sound very good. I use the Network because it allows me to turn the amp on and off and switch to Network mode automatically, just using the Roon App. It’s easier. Hope this helps.
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Thank you all. That really helps. Interesting that the Hegel DAC upsamples everything anyway! I can’t hear a difference between USB and Network streaming my FLAC files or Qobuz. However there does seem to be a discernible difference when streaming via Spotify airplay but I’m not going to a double blind challenge on that!
Spotify uses lossy compression (and AirPlay tops out at CD quality), so it’s not entirely impossible.
Or downsamples as the case may be.