Way back in 2021 @Mitch_Barnett submitted this topic
Mitch has a cool app, that for $20 will allow Roon users to easily make use of any VST or AU plug-ins. This app needs to be used in combination with a software audio device such as BlackHole.
Full support of this by Roon would allow Roon to tacitly support VST/AU plug-ins without having to get embroiled in the possible nightmare of support issues that users might encounter with particular VST/AU plug-ins.
There are a couple of Audio Music apps that might be considered competitors to Roon, which do support VST/AU plug-ins; but within these apps some plug-ins don’t work at all and others may not work as they should.
Most notably these competitor apps do not support plug-ins where the resulting number of input channels differs from the number of output channels.
This is the case where a two channel signal is decoded to quad or 5.1 channel output for example.
Mitch’s app does support these scenarios. There are a large number of QS and SQ encoded Quad titles from the 70’s available on Qobuz and Tidal that can be decoded to true Quad in this way, just to take one example. I could include others.
The two screenshots I’ve uploaded here show Mitch’s app with, in one case, the use of a cross talk cancellation plug-in, where the number of inputs and output are both two.
In the other case a decoding of Quad QS, whereby two input channels result in 4 output channels. In this case the input device is BlackHole (where Roon is set up to send its output). The output device is a multi-channel DAC.
This all works fine except for just one problem… you cannot use BlackHole (or similar) in Exclusive access mode in Roon, because Mitch’s app also needs to make use of it.
… and sadly Roon is unable to auto switch sample rates in line with the music being played, unless the audio output device chosen in Roon is placed in exclusive access mode.
I am requesting you to please fix this as soon as possible. If you are serious in supporting audiophiles, as you mentioned you would be, in your note from the founders following the Harmon takeover.
It can be done, I’m sure, quite easily. The Qobuz desktop app can do it without having to be in exclusive access mode, and Mitch included some sample code in his original post.
So please, once agan, I’m asking you to take this one seriously.