Wanted to check if use of VPN would have any audio degradation as opposed to Roon ARC . With VPN , I can use the “primary Roon App “ as opposed to Roon ARC.
Why would you think this?
I find the Roon app more interactive and cooler than Roon ARC , you lose some features like lyrics on roon arc
Yes, but I was asking specifically why you thought you’d get sound quality degradation.
The answer is that the Roon Remote (or Roon Desktop, full Roon) will use RAAT which is not optimized for cellular, high propagation delay, high latency networks. But, it’s always lossless. If it works, you get the same quality you would at home.
ARC has various quality streaming modes and is built to better handle slower / higher latency networks. ARC, depending on configuration can be lossless or it can use a lossy streaming protocol to better handle slower / higher latency networks or just reduce the burden on your data plan.
Use what works. If Roon is working for you and you like that interface better then its lossless and you’re golden.
If Roon skips or doesn’t work because of network then give ARC a try as it will work where Roon over VPN will not. But, know some ARC configs can be lossy and your ability to hear that depends on your gear.
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This really gets into the “do you believe bits is bits” argument, which I think many people here 1have tired of, but there are threads where you can argue that. ARC can degrade the digital signal through compression, but always does so in a transparently described way (eg, the signal path tells you what’s going on)/. RAAT was not designed to run over the internet, but if it works it’s probably doing what it says on the tin / signal path.
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