Roon playback/endpoint comparison with CD/SACD player

Audio Gear Talk
1

Hi!

This kind of question has probably been discussed before, but I was not able to find a satisfying answer. I understand that is also because it can be several reasons for what I’m about to describe. Hopefully some can put me in the right direction.

I run Roon from a NAS to a Windows Laptop as endpoint (possible reason 1) which is connected to my DAC with a USB connection. Since the DAC also has an i2s input, I have that connected trough a “modded” Oppo so I can bitstream DSD64 (SACD’s).

Today I listened through a DSD recording firstly from my Roon server with said endpoint. I sound fine, but since I’ve heard the recording so many times, I had to the same playback from the Oppo from the SACD. Not long into the recording I noticed that the depth and clarity was far superior on the Oppo. On my Roon server I have the “exact” same recording, by that I mean an .iso was creating using said Oppo, and split to .DSF files with iso2DSD - so no actual conversion has taken place. I also have a PCM version made from the .iso (a process which require some software to get a good result from) which in fact to some degree sound better than the .DSF original with Roon playback.

So, that brings some questions which may be hard to answer without knowing more about my particular setup - but if we just keep it to the generals.

  1. I know there are many opinions on this matter - but to what extent to the USB cable itself matter?
  2. What has the most inpact on sound? The endpoint connected to the DAC or the Roon server which sends the signal in the first place? Or both? =)
  3. To what degree does for instance volume matching by album impact the sound? If, let’s say there is a -2,3 dB album volume decrease I do notice that the server must do the sound processing before sending the signal.
  4. I know there can be a lot of other factors like network configs and so on, but let’s keep that out for now. The chain is connected with 1GBps LAN ethernet cables. I’m good at networks since I’m an IT engineer, but I’m certainly not a sound engineer. =)

Thanks a lot for your help,
Simen

2

Unless it is broken, to no extent at all.

Neither. DAC is what creates the sound. While there are some DACs that may produce worse sound from certain inputs, or are sensitive to noise on the USB input, that’s just a sign that one needs to get a well-designed DAC instead.

Most important, without volume matching to far greater degree than 2dB you can’t make any conclusions about sound quality.

These are factors for the reliability of playback. THey can affect sounf quality to no greater degree than inserting a fancier switch would increase the balance your bank’s web page shows.

2 Likes
3

The cable itself does not matter, it’s transmitting digital data packets only, so no impact regarding audiophile sound descriptions.
If something’s wrong with the USB connection, you’ll hear some unrelated to the music noises, reminiscent of pops ticks and crackles, or even drop outs.

The DAC only, it’s as simple as that, as long as we’re talking about bit-perfect or audibly (edit) transparent (more on that later) transport of the digital data packets

It only makes it less loud by the given value.
Volume adjustment is done with 64 bit floating point precision, and it’s just a simple multiplication operation, which doesn’t load the processor in any meaningful way, and even then, that doesn’t influence the sound regarding audiophile descriptions.
Any sort of artifacts due to the operations are orders of magnitude below any of your downstream components’ capabilities, no matter how good they claim to be.
In simple words, it’s absolutely transparent.
You may want to look at our dear member’s @DrCWO report on his measurements to see, what I’m trying to tell you.

No factor at all regarding sound, as long as they are in the realm of digital data packet transport, and as long as there’s no technical flaw causing unrelated to the musical signal noises creeping into the analog output of your DAC, that can be heard.

And no, no audio related timing jitter over USB or Ethernet involved at that stage - that one belongs to the DAC, and that’s usually a fixed problem these days, unless you insist on using I2S …

Of course you know, that you will find plenty anecdotal evidence everywhere, telling you that everything matters and that you must invest into all sorts of special devices and techniques of unsubstantiated merit.

If you want to believe in that sort of thing, instead of seeking proof and insight, then better not ask, just get whatever you’re lusting after and quietly indulge yourself …

4 Likes
4

You will get a spectrum of opinions on here

Your best bet is to experiment; find out what you like. You can get stuff on sale/return and if you can find a decent dealer, even better

1 Like
5

But not all are equal, or backed up with measurements.

1 Like
6

Your opinion is absolutely correct :+1: :grinning:

I am so glad that there are people with profund technical understanding in the HiFi scene and not just those who “believe” they hear this or that.

The old saying goes: “Music is art, audio is engineering”

Thanks’ you for your comment.
Best DrCWO

4 Likes