Hi, I put this topic also in as feature request. But maybe I am wrong and it is possible. I found out that the Roon DSP VC sounds much better than the internal Linn volume. It would be very nice if we could use Roon for vc and could disable the internal VC. I don’t see any reason why this is not allowed?
Which Linn DS are you using? I wasn’t impressed with the internal volume control on my KDS until I updated to Katalyst some years ago. I’m now on Organik and to my knackered old ears the internal volume control sounds fine.
Michael
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Hi it is a Katalyst.
Just compare:
Roon Headroom Management on -20dB / Linn on 83
with
Linn on Headroom Management off / Linn on 63
You will likely get a wider sound stage and more flow in the music with the first proposal.
Regards
Sebastian
I’d not go on those numbers as the definitive indication of volume level. Have you tried to volume match more accurately with an external volume meter? Reason I’m asking is that even relatively small differences in actual volume can be perceived as differences in staging. Having said this, I’d also note that in my experience lower-volume Katalyst is a but muffled relative to Organik, which has better stage and dynamics even at lower volumes (experience with two different systems: Organik Klimax DSM with ATC SCM40A active speakers; Organik Klimax System Hub with Organik Klimax 350 actives, upgraded from Katalyst).
Let’s not discuss the Organic Dac here. Even if you are right, it does not bring us forward here. I am quite sure that it would be for the majority of Linn users a benefit to use Roon DSP volume instead of the internal one. It should be easy to enable that in Roon. I don’t know why it is deactivated for Linn devices… everybody should be free to use what he wants.
Regards
Roon>Linn does not use Roon’s normal RAAT connection. Without knowing the agreement between Roon Labs and Linn, and the actual code at both ends, it’s impossible to know whether something like that would be easy, hard, or impossible. I’ve supervised or contributed to software projects for decades, I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard “it should be easy to …” when in fact it would be definitely not easy for technical or contractual reasons.
The short answer is that this is how Roon works.
Longer answer (also true for RAAT):
In Roon design, volume info is passed to the endpoint, which has the responsibility to do the volume processing in its best manner depending on the technology it has. Hypothetically it could even do analog volume control if the hardware is designed in a suitable way.
Very interesting that you all have ideas why it is not possible. The function works with “Headroom Management”, here is just no slider. Functionality is there. The Roon manual has examples where you can choose between internal, Roon DSP, and fixed volume. They recommend to use the internal one. Thats fine - just for Linn there is no option for DSP.
It can be that there is an agreement between Linn and Roon. But thats something I want to hear from Roon. We don’t need to guess here.