I’m considering using Volume Leveling in Roon, but I’m a bit confused about the settings. Should I choose Album or Auto, and what LUFS target is recommended?
I mostly listen to complete albums and local music files.
Does Volume Leveling have any audible negative effect on sound quality?
volume leveling affects bit perfect replay
I’m a bit of a Luddite, in that I rail against volume leveling as I feel it compromises the intentions of the artist/producer.
I also don’t listen to playlists for serious listening because they are often in need of leveling which is frustrating (see above) and makes me feel slightly trashy.
So, I’m basically a Luddite and a music snob!
No. Simply put.
Because volume levelling is applied at 64bit and then bit converted to whatever the renderer/DAC prefers, there will be no negative affects.
Depends if you listen to playlists and albums. If so, auto is the correct choice.
Roon default is -14LUFS. I tend to use -18LUFS.
If you only listen to albums, then choose albums.
Try a week with volume levelling enabled and then a week with it disabled.
See what you prefer. Sometimes the varying volume levels with it disabled can be a bit fatiguing over a long periods of listening.
I don’t worry about bit perfect playback too much. That music files can vary wildly in how loud they are precisely shows why bit perfect is a little bit over emphasised as a desirable thing.
So use volume levelling if your music service or files seem to vary a lot in volume. For my own FLAC files I apply Replaygain to everything before I add it to Roon. Though this is relatively unnecessary because Roon has great volume levelling capabilities, it means my files will sound great everywhere I decide to use them (not just in Roon).
I tend to keep volume levelling on ‘Auto’, and I also add 2db of headroom, mainly because Roon then shows whether tracks clip or not - a problem that can affect even well mastered music sometimes.
Don’t worry too much, is basically my answer. What works best for your setup?
It does, but done correctly like Roon does it, it will not affect its sound quality.
With VL enabled you don’t actually need headroom. You can set HR to 0 and still use the clipping indicator.
VL adjusts accordingly.
Only when using track leveling while listening to an album.
Album leveling preserves the loudness relationships between different tracks within an album, so it doesn’t change anything about the intentions.
I think it was shown in research that most people also prefer album leveling when listening to a playlist, at least in an environment that isn’t noisy. I certainly do.
Track leveling tends to make the more silent tracks in a playlist too loud, which can be jarring. Album leveling for playlists isn’t perfect but IMHO better.
So, I set it to album leveling for everything.
(If playing a playlist in a noisy environment, like a car or a noisy bar, then track leveling / Auto might be preferable).
Ah, I never said that I was rational! Or, that I am not influenced by age/HiFi theories or coming of age in the seventies.
Ok. In this sense, using the volume knob also goes against the artist’s intentions because the volume is always too low 
I’ve only recently added subwoofers to my systems, and wow! I am now a convert, so I am open to change!! Just not too much too quickly!!
Yes, I have to trust my own ears. It will be the album I choose, and Roon’s default setting is -14 LUFS. I have looked in several places on the internet and found multiple sources mentioning both -14 LUFS and -23 LUFS.
Personally, I never use volume leveling. I often listen to my entire library on shuffle, especially while working, and I find volume leveling becomes tiring over time because everything starts to sound a bit like elevator music or like listening to a compressed radio station
Different artists and genres are meant to have different perceived loudness levels. For example, Rammstein is supposed to hit much harder and sound louder than Kings of Convenience. That contrast is part of the artistic intent and contributes to the character of the music.
When volume leveling is enabled, those differences are reduced. While it can make listening more convenient, to me it removes an important part of what distinguishes one genre, album, or artist from another.
I have found that very occasionally there are still some tracks that clip, and that 2db seems to solve this.
I don’t usually use volume levelling, as I mostly listen to albums, not tracks from various different albums.