Ok. The first thing that comes up on their web site is drone detection. So I guess this device can detect very feint RF signatures from considerable distances. What do the car manufacturers use it for?
Things just keep getting better. This thread is now eclipsing the world famous Do router and ethernet cables affect sound quality? thread. Which by the way leads me to believe that the OP isnāt using audiophile quality ethernet cables and routers, which is a BIG mistake and most likely accounts for all the sound quality issues.
5 Likes
You forget the audiophile SATA cables 
5 Likes
In all fairness, a $20ā000 upcharge and the always classy āIām too busy for you lowlives, because so many people want thisā sockpuppetry does tend to make people hear things.
3 Likes
When a fool and his money are separated to the tune of EUR24,000 (or 38,000 Canadian pesos - ouch!) for a PC, confirmation bias is right round the corner.
7 Likes
Iām still unclear how the additional RF generated by the CPU from faster album loading impacts the sound quality. Are you saying this RF causes the CPU to produce errors while processing the bits of the audio file? Since the CPU operates with binary data - it should be immune to minor (or even major) RF changes, or else medical and financial software wouldnāt have any kind of predictable operation
Or is the RF causing interference in the āanalogā part of the music playback. In that case I would expect minimal shielding and physical separation should easily fix that. Indicates a completely broken implementation with zero shielding of the analog section if simply charging your phone, or running a software operation on the CPU can affect the analog performance.
Also the first bullet on Roonās recommendations is to use an endpoint thatās physically separated from the server by an Ethernet cable. Seems like a much easier fix than spending thousands of dollars on RF analysers and days inside a faraday cage trying to optimize the server.
Or is it the USB buffers that are somehow impacting the SQ? Again how? what is in those buffers and how does it translate to poor SQ? Also see previous point about using a networked endpoint to avoid the issue altogetherā¦
3 Likes
I stream via Wi-Fi to my main audio system and have a state of the art air filtration system that purifies the air and also has an ionization system which properly aligns the air molecules to ensure that the Wif-Fi signal maintains the correct polarity throughout. The overall sound quality improvements from a unfiltered and un-ionizied Wi-fi system cannot be over stated. There is not just more air around each instrument and performer but more pure air. So good in fact that mp3 becomes mp3-D! Absolutely stunning!
8 Likes
This is not strictly correct. Electrical noise, whatever the source, comes along with the bit perfect data that is transferred to the DAC. This noise is worst when directly connecting the DAC to the Roon Core. It is significantly mitigated when using a well designed and electrically quiet Roon Endpoint.
Anyway, that electrical noise interacts with the USB receiver hardware in the DAC and CAN changed the sound coming out of the DAC. Itās possible that a change Roon made in the Roon software could change the type or level of electrical noise the Roon Core puts out on USB along with the bit perfect data.
But, as @danny has pointed out, that is a server hardware problem as that should not be audibly noticeable. If it is, and Emile can fix it on his end, it probably isnāt Roonās faultā¦
4 Likes
Of course. But IMO this is a shibboleth used to frighten the ignorant and buttress nonsensical claims. Properly built hardware will neither emit such noise nor be affected by it.
As I read these endless evidence-free threads, I am wondering if thereās a āmore is lessā thing going on here. These enormously overpriced systems must be relatively rare, and Iām sure the manufacturers arenāt keen to enter them in various comparison tests that might reveal their shortcomings. A low production count might also mean that factory-level quality control measures are not properly undertaken. Independent testers may have difficulty procuring them, simply because of the high price and limited availability. Competent engineers may avoid working for the manufacturers due to perceived ethical issues. As a result, engineering competence may be restricted to only some of the areas that need to be carefully engineered.
So Iām wondering if some of these wildly expensive boutique audio systems actually perform less well than more mass-produced market-priced systems? Could it be that more is less?
4 Likes
I canāt agree with that. Most companies use off the shelf USB implementations I am unaware of any commercially available chip set that is unaffected by changes in electrical noise reaching the receiver. Now, how the DAC deals with that electrical noise and how that electrical noise affects there sound are another issue.
I have yet to find a DAC that does not sound better using the Roon Core/Roon Endpoint model than the direct connect model. I have also found using higher quality and lower noise Roon Endpoints sound better than less expensive and noisier Roon Endpoints. So electrical noise getting to the DAC makes a difference.
1 Like
Many quality DACs these days have galvanically isolated inputs.
3 Likes
If that were true, nothing outside of the DAC would make one little bit of difference in sound quality as long as the data sent to it was bit perfect. In my experience, that has not been the caseā¦
1 Like
In mine it has.
I would expect an engineer to design a box that can survive in the real world.
4 Likes
I hope that TotalDac D1-12 is better than thisā¦
3 Likes
I have a Taiko Extreme and I also noticed a nosedive in SQ with Build 537. The issue turned out to be an issue with running JPLAY once this was removed and I went back to using the MSB ASIO driver with Emileās modās al was better than before, so it might have had nothing to do with Build 537 sounding worse it could be just an incompatibility between build 537 and JPLAY.
Yes - ASIO driver buffer sizes do make a difference in general the tighter they are the thinner the sound. I have mine set to standard now instead of running the tightest setting instead of the minimum latency.
Do music servers make a difference - yes they do. I also have an Aurender W20 I dearly wanted that to work with Roon - it would not and the SQ of the Taiko Extreme is far superior and I really did not want it to be due to the money involved with purchasing the Taiko Extreme.
4 Likes
A sensible āI hear this, so I did thatā post.
2 Likes
I bet a $100 Squeezebox Touch is quieter than a $24,000 Taiko Audio SGM Extreme.
No matter how little noise the disc drives in the SGM Extreme produce, the Squeezebox Touch must be quieter, for it has no disc drives.
No matter how quiet the dual multi core CPUs are in the SGM Extreme are when running Roon Core using selected Windows 10 components, the Squeezebox Touch must be quieter, because it doesnāt run the resource heavy Roon Core, it just sits there doing a negligible amount of CPU activity as a Roon endpoint.
If you believe all the voodoo about such products as the Taiko - that processor noise is a deal, that disc noise is a deal - then it follows that their architecture and/or implementation is fundamentally and profoundly flawed and you are way better off using a dumb, low energy, disc drive free Roon endpoint. Why spend a fortune quietening a disc drive, when you can just not have one? Why spend a fortune trying to make the processors running Roon core quieter in some way when there is no need to run it on anything connected to your hi-fi?
Boxes like this are just exercises in pointless expenditure. If you want a golf cart, get a golf cart. Donāt start with a tank.
16 Likes
I completely agree
This has been a thoroughly entertaing read.
Just one question, why do these āaudiophilesā with ā¬24K servers buy Roon in the first place? After all, they donāt seem to be listening to any music.
Maybe better to leave all software and music files out of the mix, connect up all the equipment, turn the volume on the amp to max and listen and debate what one is hearing and how to āfixā it.
But then again, most of us here would miss the entertainement.
6 Likes
You must be feeling the pressure Danny. Never mindā¦ Youāll get over it 
1 Like