If everything is connected directly to (or is even inside) the PC; DAC or soundcard or whatever, then maybe. With any kind of sensible separation of source and endpoint then not so much IMO.
And even then it could only impact the analogue portions of PC audio reproduction in any detrimental way. If digital pathways were affected then data would be corrupted during normal operation, and clearly it isn’t because digital data moves around PCs and associated devices without being corrupted.
Some time ago my windows PC was getting pretty hot. It was because of a windows update that was pending and wanted a system reboot…I didn’t notice it untill the music started throttling at some moments. CPU usage was around 80 - 100% for an unknown period of time. All that time Roon was running and playing music but guess what I didn’t hear any degradation in sound, completely none. The difference between 80 - 100% processor use and the usual 1-2% after reboot was completely none. Had I known the sysyem was running out of steam would I have heard a difference then?
Funny how an expensive hdmi cable makes no difference to the actual pq, . I never here anyone saying wow those colours are more vibrant and the contrast is improved with this cable compared to the free one I got with the device. Yet an expensive digital interconnect is perceived to improve sq tremendously between devices. Personally I noticed no difference with using Roon or Lms nor the pi or squeezebox touch using the same DAC and source from either. I can understand the analogue part of chain effecting sq but I really struggle to see how sending digits can affect this other than errors so not bit perfect which would pop or click.
Unfortunately, I sometimes meet people (home cinema hobbyists) who’re trying to tell me that their ultra-expensive HDMI cable actually improves what they see on the screen. I won’t buy it (pun intended!)…
Very resolving video system? 
Much like the ‘audiophile’ LAN cables one finds on unscrupulous websites to improve SQ.
Honest assessment of roon to date.
One is the better the server the better it is period.
For the novice enjoy it for what it is for you an amazing GUI filled with info and ease of operation. Don’t comment on sound quality as there is much more to sound inprovemt that has little to do with roon it’s self overall.
Tidal desktop is no where near roon tidal alone what ever roon is doing makes it very good compared to the desktop app. I use both.
Complete unfolding for me is not needed in mqa files in fact I have yet to hear a song I preferred in complete unfold over partial.
Maybe it’s just me or the two mqa ready dacs just stink compared to what I own.
Best sound quality so far is achieved with roon into HQ player
The complex settings in hq player are well worth the effort once found leave alone and let roon control hq player and enjoy the improvment overall.
Lastly iso and when lol. Remember an iso is pure rip of the sacd as such once ripped into tracks the sound changes and no longer can we play multichannel in one folder of music.
Don’t take my comment on iso as being mean and I love your product best money I ever spent ona player gui and organizer.
What ever hq player is doing should be wnat you want in sound inprovemt to go towards. If it’s more demanding on cpu for the novice I get it. But allow us hi end users the opportunity for better sound in one Shop shopping.
Overall roon rocks and thanks for all you have done.
For me I use a two pc setup win 2016 AO BETA and FID pro
This and about 10 seperate linaer psu,s is the absolute best sound in digtal playback on what ever dac you own.
Thanks roon support
Hi. Try this; remove your NAS and just put some of your music files you know well on an absolutly simple portable hard drive which gets its power from USB port and not from extrrnal power suply and listen again. Let us have your feedback here please. I am on trial version and have been comparing Roon and doing so just now with Audirvana, which was my favorite software and with Tidal own app and Unfortunately I find Room better! Unfortunatly because I have to pay a lot of money and buy Roon! Let us know…
Hi Brian, I probably missed this in the how Roon works section but this really helps me understand an extra element of what the core is doing over other platforms so many thanks for posting such an informative reply.
Out of interest, is the output from Roon similar to how Meridian Speaker-link works (which also appears to be PCM over Ethernet) and therefore one could assume that using Meridian’s chosen Speaker-link cabling could maximise SQ and maybe something for your suggested hardware?
Taking this a step further, do you see a future possibility of being able to connect directly into a Meridian speaker or processor with a speaker-link input without the need for an endpoint altogether - maybe even incorporating Meridian’s comms protocols to allow for volume control?
Apologies for going off-topic (feel free to move the question) but this thread sparked the thinking…
SpeakerLink is not PCM over Ethernet. It’s balanced AES/EBU PCM + comms + RS232.
Are you confusing the Sooloos network protocol with SpeakerLink?
Hi Joel, not confusing the two, just clearly oversimplifying what speakerlink is and now I understand that the Roon output over Ethernet is not the same as Meridian’s audio output over Ethernet.
I assume the fact that Meridian found differences in Ethernet cables in their speakerlink applications could still apply though (and perhaps more so) in Roon’s application - ie is unbalanced PCM more susceptible to interference than balanced? Maybe it’s just snake oil though when it comes to Ethernet cabling…!
If you have a Macbook with A+ , a Chord Hugo2 and Sennheiser HD800S cans I would love for you to see/hear if you can notice the difference that I can.
@brian this is actually very close to my initial assessment in December 2017 when I moved from tidal to self hosting flacs (link below). I trialed Audirvana and Roon. Roon i have gone with for the amazing UX but it still niggles that the Audirvana SQ seemed clearly better to me. I got closer by turning off the DSP fully but it still sounded more veiled and less spacious than Audirvana. (sorry this is not a pro audirvana post but that is the reference i had a the time).
Just for completeness from my end, only because an older post of mine was quoted.
The Roon v1.4 update (released Dec 19th) improved things (to my ears, my system) to the point where I now care significantly less about any difference with Audirvana.
It may (or not) have had something to do with the below in the v1.4 update. I haven’t got a clue but there was an improvement after this update to my ears, in my system.
"Performance Improvements
We’ve also optimized the RAAT implementation in the Core to minimize CPU usage and context switching during streaming. On the endpoint side, there some optimizations in Roon, Roon Server and Roon Bridge that reduce timing variability when passing audio buffers to device drivers."