Personally i found the cisco switch more involving vs the melco direct, on the nds. The melco direct was just a bit softer.
The cisco switch costs 700 GBP new. I really doubt that the switch inside the melco is better. Quieter and better isolated vs a common switch, certainly. But perhaps not so sophisticated as the cisco.
Anyway, trying roon with a connection to a good quality switch should be interesting to try, as pointed CrystalGypsy.
Melco describe what they are doing as filtering (like a firewall).
I use a Melco N1A with a 272. We are possibly describing the same effect but to my ears it is a reduction of harsness.
Hi, there is a lot of confused discussion and over complication associated with Roon (in my opinion). The Roon Server (Core) is a proprietary equivalent of a UPnP media server with some key enhancements such as parallel streaming and integrated Airplay streaming. The Roon product provides a service aggregation point as well for two web music services; Qobuz and Tidal. Roon offers a powerful music library function and information service. UPnP doesn’t typically off this per se other than with some specialist applications.
As far as the media transport to the streamer, then UPnP and Roon are pretty similar, and in fact I’m some circumstances are identical… so there is no necessarily specific SQ variance between the platforms.
Roon offers various sample modification functions should you need them like parametric filtering (parametric tone control), speaker phase timing, peak management (to stop DAC interpolation clipping), transcoding to LPCM etc. Some UPnP solutions offer similar things, but are more for the enthusiast as in my experience are not as straightforward to use as Roon.
Of course with Roon you don’t ‘need’ to use any of this… it’s there should you need it, or for specific end points, like your wireless speaker in the kitchen. I subscribe that for best SQ less tampering is better.
Finally Roon Server can run on various operating systems and architectures including Linux, OSX, Windows as well as a few special build for particular NAS platforms.
I run my Roon Server on OSX as a background service.
I’ve certainly got lost with the Room threads. I thought it was to simplify integration, but it seems anything but simple…
I use a Core and Nova, with a NDX2 arriving soon, and also have an iMac. I also use Tidal, but are pretty happy with the Naim App for using Tidal. So, I’m not sure what Roon gives for the price other than a more information about the albums and the potential to shaft the SQ?
Well Roon is exceedingly simple, that’s its appeal… however it also offers huge scope for optional tweaking and general fiddling around … and there lies the path to madness and complexities…
2 Likes
Where to start. One unified library for you own media and streaming services they become one, no one else offers this level of integration, streaming services sound as good as local media, amazing multiroom that just works and supports many manufacturers and eco systems, great UI, great support and community, constant development and features added. SQ is not compromised they take sq as seriously as any high end manufacturer.
2 Likes
People just like to make things complicated. Roon is very simple, pretty much plug’n’play stuff. I use mine with DSP completely turned off. It just outputs bitperfect signal to my Roon ready device and that’s it. My PC works as server and storage while it also works for gaming, movies and other stuff. I’ve never really thought about dedicated solutions (NAS etc.) since when I’m home, the PC is always on anyway.
2 Likes
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.