Anyone who has compared Roon vs the Naim app to stream Qobuz files to one of the 3 current Naim ND… streamers please say whether there is a SQ difference in your system.
Several people said when native Qobuz was added that they were considering ditching Roon as native Qobuz is so good.
I just wonder what the overall balance is in regard to SQ among those who have made the Roon vs native Qobuz comparison.
Thanks
Jim
Personally I can’t discern any significant difference.
My preference is the interface of Roon so that, generally, is what I use.
My streaming device is NDX2+XPSDR.
Thanks Alan - that’s useful information.
Jim
Not a direct answer to your question as I have the old NDX. In a recent thread I complained that I couldn’t get Qobuz onto my NDX successfully and was given various bits of advice. By far the best (and costliest!) was Roon. So I now have a Roon i7 server and raspberry pi with Hifiberry endpoint feeding my NDX. The improvement in sound quality is amazing, but it does need the separate server - using my Mac was nowhere near as good.(Also my own library was on a Synology NAS going to the NDX and that is sounding far better through the Roon set up) Interestingly it means that the NDX is only being used as a DAC now, so if you do go for Roon there is no point in buying the NDX2, just spend the money on the best DAC for £5000. Also there is no need for a NAS - the Roon server is sending the music round the local network so a USB hard drive is cheaper, easier to use and sounds just as good. With Roon I also have multi-room now with a second system put together with chromecast audio, old bits of hifi and a cheap Topping DAC that together sounds far better than it should. I am so grateful to this forum (especially Alan33) for pushing me in the right direction. So back to your original question - I wonder if those who didn’t get the Qobuz sound quality improvement with Roon, did they use computers as servers or have the proper stand alone core?
Thanks - very interesting tale.
Do you think Roon would have made less of a difference if you’d had a psu on the NDX?
I suppose that’s a hypothetical you can’t answer.
Maybe I should finally give in and get Roon?
What cables do you use to link the boxes?
Do you have web streaming too?
Yes I don’t know! I’m sure an external PSU would improve the NDX, but Roon would improve it again. I’ve only just put the system together so the ethernet cable is a standard cheap one and so is the usb cable from the Seagate hard drive - not sure if upgrades will make much difference but I’m sure I’ll try it.
Do you use a S/PDIF cable from your ‘Raspberry pi (with Hifiberry endpoint)’ to your NDX?
Yes - that’s why I got the raspberry pi with the hifiberry ‘hat’ for the improved sound quality through S/PDIF. I have a reasonable coaxial cable but need to spend a bit on a better one.
Jim the cheapest and easiest way to try this out is to first tryout Roon and use the free upnp bridge software that allows upnp devices to show up as squeezeboxs in Roon called LMS2UPnP. This will allow you to use the 272 without any additional boxes just your laptop. It does require some fiddling but help is on here as many use it. If it works and your happy you could then upgrade to a more robust hardware upnp bridge from Sonore you can get them for Audiostore or just trial one of these as its easier. If you have issues with setup eating into your trial period Roon are generally flexible of extending it or you can sign up and cancel within the first month and not be charged.
Thanks CG.
I think I’m finally going to take the Roon plunge very soon, so this is a useful reminder of the SW route.
cheers
Jim
It costs nothing to try. If you don’t like it nothing is lost.
Yes.
I tried Roon my old Asus laptop a while ago and my 4mb RAM was too small to run it at all.
So I’d need to find a better pc to test it with.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.