What is the best sound setting Kef LSX & Roon MQA : no MQA support or render MQA or Decoder and Render MQA?

Hello,

Could you help me please ?
The question is on the title of this topic :slight_smile:
What is the best setting Kef LSX & Roon MQA : no MQA support or render MQA or Decoder and Render MQA ? I see 4 differents options.
thank a lot.

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Hi Norman,

seems there is nobody owning a pair of LSX plus Roon - or MQA is a no-brainer to everybody out there :innocent:

Well, the LSX is definitely not able to support MQA, neither rendering nor decoding - this is one of the many deficiencies of this device nobody would suspect when lulled by the “Roon tested” label. Turns out “Roon tested” is just a cross-marketing advantage for both companies


Hi Geefes

Thank’s for your answer :slight_smile:
It seems you dont recommanded Kef LSX for a good expérience which would deserve to use Roon labs ?
What is your setup ? For same price of Kef LSX ?

Just as a personal experience, I will say that the stream that Roon partially unfolds and sends to the LSX (I feed my LSXs by Ethernet, BTW) is pretty great sounding. You can also access Tidal/MQA via the KEF Stream app and I can’t hear the difference between what Roon is sending and what the Stream app is (and I assume that the Stream app is doing all necessary decoding/rendering). Others may be in a better position to speak to this, but I wouldn’t let the MQA issue stop you from getting the speakers.

Roon is streaming the Tidal feed to me via “KEF Streaming,” a proprietary protocol different than AirPlay.

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I was thinking to get a pair of LSX for the bedroom, with a Raspberry PI to group it with my other gear. Annoyed it does not have USB though, many mixed feeback on the Spdif hats 


Now
 if Kef would come with new LSX Meta soon :wink: 


Well, actually I own a pair of these - because there is nothing comparable on the market now. But I would limit “nothing comparable” to the easiness a pair of active wireless speakers supporting different mainstream protocols attracts some of us :innocent:

My biggest complaint to KEF vs. Roon regarding multi-channel capabilities of Roon vs. active speakers propagating “Roon tested” or even “Roon ready” is their missing functionality to setup just this: an active multi-channel system.

So, it is nothing more than a cross marketing strategy of two companies with key beneficiaries like Tidal and Quobuz, giving them an easy (no more efforts necessary to structure their libraries) and versatile distribution channel for their 2-channel music libraries.

I’m wondering - if my LSXs are connected by Ethernet, not via wi-fi, then is it possible that the MQA files partially-unfolded by Roon are fully rendered by the LSX (as they would, I assume, via Tidal Connect)? Roon wouldn’t know what happens inside the LSX - the signal path ends at the front door of the LSX. So is it possible I’m getting a fully decoded and rendered performance by the LSX?

LSX has no MQA rendering (or decoding). Also, Tidal only goes as far as decoding. Rendering is a hardware thing, due to the requirement for DAC compensation (the ‘authenticated’ part of MQA).

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Hi all, I was just reading this stream. I purchased a pair of KEF LSX speakers to help get me through our latest lockdown. I have them either side of my iMac and I have to say I’m pretty amazed by the sound. Actually better than I’d ever thought it would be.

I also own a pair of KEF LS50 W (first generation) which sit up the other end of the apartment. They are great too but I had to crank up the volume so much to hear it decently in my office that the neighbours complained!

Anyway
 I was just curious to know what settings other people have used in ROON? I don’t really know if the speakers can be tweaked to sound just that little bit better. Mine are basically straight out of the box, the settings in the KEF app adjusted for my small room and to set be near the wall. I do have both speakers connected by the cable which is hidden behind the desk so it looks neat.

Anyway, short answer long
 I’d recommend these speakers to anyone plus Roon/Tidal combo turns the whole listening experience into more of a learning one as you can bounce off one artist into a similar style or, say, find out about the bass player in the band, you never know where you’ll end up. Really enjoyable.

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I have a pair in my bedroom where they do double duty for TV/music. Love them. Other than (if I remember correctly) using the wall setting and adding a small KUBE 8b sub, I’m using and loving them with factory settings.

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