Why can’t Roon get anything like this:
1 Like
The expected/detected quality seems useful. What other information can you not get via Roon’s interface?
How much of that info is not available on the DSP page or the Blue Dot Path info ?
Once set up how often is this useful ???
Cpu load and memory usage
Thank you. This really helped me move in the right direction with my roon chain and may explain some of what audiravana may be doing (brilliantly?) well. In short, roon with rock+rpi+digihat+optical-out, and zero DSP into mojo 2, sounds same or better than audirvana through windows+usb+mojo 2 (approx chains.) In short, taking the windows + usb noise out of roon chain (using rpi + digihat) has removed the the gap in SQ, suggesting to me that audirvana is doing an exceptional windows (OS + sound player) noise management job. However, am delighted to now have a roon chain that sounds as good or better (with the same dac, source streaming service, and speakers). I will note that for me, just adding the Rpi to the chain instead of windows was an improvement (roon became closer to audirvana, but not there yet), and the key was indeed adding the optical out hat (hifiberry digipro2) to the rpi in front of the chord mojo 2.
Thank you again for confirming the windows to rpi direction (away from windows at least for roon player.)
4 Likes
Happy you managed to get Roon to the same SQ level as Audirvana. In my case (playing directly from Mac Mini USB out into Classé CP-800mkII, bypassing Mac Core Audio) I hear a difference in sound. I have not figured out what causes that difference. Anyhow, glad you got it sorted now!
BR,
Richard
I did the same exact thing for my Windows 11 away-from-home setup. Using USB from my Dell XPS 15 to Mojo 2 was not a good experience. So, I now use WIFI from my Dell to a RPi4 running RoPieeeXL and USB from the RPi to my Mojo 2. I am letting my Audirvana Studio expire and rarely use Audirvana 3.5.
My biggest downer on Audirvana is the lack of Remote App local playback.
For 8 weeks I have been wearing a neck collar and simply cannot fit my HD800’s over my ears so I have been relegated to Sony WF - 1000MX4 IEM’s running via BT on Roon Remote on my iPad or Phone
Audirvana’s remote app is simply that a remote so playback on the controlling deice ie iPad is not supported . Audirvana to me would hav been useless during this period.
I have survived on Roon and JRiver JRemote occasionally
2 day to go …
2 Likes
I tried Audirvana a while back. This week I’m checking it out again to see if it has improved enough to switch over from Roon. The short answer is “no”. I’m using the “Origin” version (playback from local library files). For me, Roon’s UI makes it the winner, despite a higher cost. Admittedly the Roon UI is more familiar to me.
By the way I’m using Audirvana on a Mac Mini with Minimserver, together with an SGC ultraRendu in DLNA/UPnP mode. With Roon, I have the option of using a network-attached connection to my Roon-Ready streamer/DAC/preamp (in addition to the USB-attached connection via the ultraRendu). My endpoint device (Matrix Element X) apparently does support DLNA but I have not tried using it for Audirvana.
A contrarian view. I have held a Roon annual subscription for two years but am letting it lapse and sticking with Audirvana Studio. Why?
Primarily sound quality from my perception is better with Studio, both are very good but AS has a distinct edge in clarity and an open soundstage.
Secondly, the Roon UI whilst wonderful from a content point of view is marred by an awful design. Way too large fonts resulting in endless scrolling. Unnecessarily large toolbars and sidebars with acres of space. Looks totally out of place on a 32” Apple Pro XDR 6k display set at 4k alongside other open apps. Again a personal perception and yes everyone’s taste is different……however the rulebook on Ui design and consistency seems to have been ignored in Roons case to an extreme level.
Studios reliance on a loose UPnP standard results in varying reliability across the broad spectrum of manufacturer implementations but with my equipment (KEF LS60’s and 50’s via wireless UPnP and Chord Hugo2 and TT DAC’s via USB connected to Focal Utopia headphones) the results have been both reliable and flawless in reliability/SQ respectively.
As always, everyone’s perception is different. Just enjoy listening to music on your platform of choice!
6 Likes
Thank you for your thoughts and goodbye, but always remember that returning is always an option.
1 Like
Got both, plus jriver. No audible difference to me. If there was, the worse sounding would have to be a lousy product.
I wasn’t a big fan of Roon after a first trial and in fact, I had a one-year license with Audirvana. But I found the interface very dull and the sound was tiring in the long run. After two hours, I just didn’t want to listen anymore.
I took a new trial version of Roon and frankly the sound is not better than AV, but Roon allows you not to have listening fatigue after many hours. And that’s where I discovered converting to maximum PCM frequency in Roon. I was stunned.
Nothing to do with Audirvana oversampling. The sound is wider, more detailed and I have the impression of having reached a higher level of listening, on my system which is nevertheless very good: Macbook Air M2, Chord Qutest, Naim Supernait2 and ProAC studio 148… as a result I decided to stay with Roon
4 Likes
I tried Audirvana and hated the UI. As I recall (it’s been a while), the default font sizes were too small and the contrast between text and background not strong enough. I love Roon’s UI (at least, as it appears on a 16" MacBook Pro). I find the text clearly legible, the controls appropriately sized (as if mirroring the size of physical controls on a keyboard or hand-held remote.) The display has a nice balance of text, graphics, controls, and white space.
I’m mostly an Audirvana user, but I like some aspects of Roon. Why I PREFER Audirvana is because of their superior (and portable) playlists.
If interested, you can watch my rant / Audirvana playlist demo here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC1QEQIllBU
2 Likes
i don’t expect any difference in sound quality with both playing local flac files.
main differences for me:
- volume and mute are always available on the audirvana screen which is handy i.e. not another click away like roon
- the navigation menu can be customised although not enough. roon menu cant be customised at all
- audirvana will work fine without internet so its a good backup option
2 Likes
AS Remote app doesn’t allow playback on the control device , Big downer for me. Also changing the Artist view to show by Composer is a mess
Even if it did sound better (to me it doesn’t) the UI is such a downer , if I needed a back up it would be JRiver server with JRemote , that way you can customize what you display , the beats even Roon
1 Like
I now use AV after trying roon for several months. I honestly think we should all be expecting more from both platforms. If I hand either platform my entire catalog of local music files they both should be able to go out and retrieve from tidal and qobuz music queues thousands of songs deep of similar music we might like. then we should be able to thumbs up and thumbs down or a 1 to 5 star rating to train the system on what music we like. listening to music on either platform should be a deep dive into hours upon hours of new music selected for us based on our preferences. the fact that neither platform makes this their primary reason for using it shows a laziness or lack of programming resources that leaves them both vulnerable for some new player to come in and put them both out of business.
They both should have on the main screen a “you might also like” and with a click there are thousands of songs ready to play. JMO
Lee
2 Likes
There’s definately a SQ difference between them if you are running them from a Windows PC. But maybe this can be mitigated by using a Roon networked endpoint which may be why you’re not hearing a difference.
I’m thinking of using a WiiM Pro Plus as a Roon endpoint rather than what I’m doing now running Roon from a PC via USB to a DAC. I wonder how much of a bump in sound quality I will get.
Just a heads up but I use my phone as a volume control if I want to change the volume right away. I just use the volume buttons on the side of the phone, it works with the Roon remote app.