Innuos vs Roon

Which is the best? Have heard very positive about Innuos and their sound. I’m using Roon at the moment, but would like to hear if there are any that have switched from Roon to Innuos?

I think OP meant InnuOS vs Roon Nucleus/Nucleus+.

Innuos 2.0 vs Roon 1.8. Which one prefers people?

Very much depends on your needs and your hardware. Using Innuos boxes I’d say there’s little doubt that Innuos 2.10 and the Sense app are ahead in terms of sound. However, even then I think it’s possible to envisage some people trading sound quality for the functionality of Roon.

On the other hand if you have Naim boxes then likely Roon all the way unless you’re not a fan of the functionality.

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This is my system.
Naim Nova, ZEN MK.II STD, Dynaudio Heritage Special

Yes this is the main point that people often confuse when making comparison. In my Zenith/PhoenixNet/PhoenixUSB set up Innuos sound quality will be better than Roon, although Innuos can operate a Roon core function it is not the optimum solution. If however you deliver Roon through something like their Nucleus route you will achieve better sound quality. The relevant question would be out of these two set ups which do you think delivers best sound quality. Personally I would favour Innuos.

I no longer use Roon, sound quality is better, easily, via sense in my system

I am a bit confused about the question. You are currently using Roon but also have an Innuos Zen server at home and I assume you can compare both platforms in terms of functionality and sound quality. Or am I missing something?
Personally, I would make a decision based on your specific use case. If ripping and listening to a local library is the focus, I would probably choose Innuos. If you already have all your music ripped and integration of a local library with streaming services is the focus, I would go for Roon.

Why would you go for Roon ? what difference does ripping, local library and streaming make ? The system the op has will not get the optimum Roon experience due to the limitations of using the Innuos as a Roon core.

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I think I prefer the sound of the new Innuos Sense.

Roon and Innuos are two different products with a different focus and different functionalities. My point was that I would make my decision based on what product suits my use case better.

If you choose based on functionality Roon would be the obvious choice, however in the ops system if you select on sound quality Innuos will be ahead.

I’ve got a Roon Nucleus+ and Innuos Statement. The latter sounds better for everything including Roon.

I’ve kept both to see whether functionality occasionally wins over sound quality, including when guests are round who might want to select music from their own phones.

Result: although I occasionally miss discovering stuff with Roon radio, I simply never use Roon and will probably sell the Nucleus. Of course your mileage may vary.

Innuos do aim to implement something like Roon radio some time down the line, but that could be years, never mind months…

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Thanks @Michaelb, I have a Roon subscription but not a Nucleus so currently unable to compare but I have done in the past. I’m surprised that the Statement is outperforming the Nucleus, I’m guessing you’re not using any of the Roon heavy processing such as room correction.
I find the Innuos sound quality better and don’t feel inclined to change that out for more album/artist information, with my system anything else in Roon is not really achievable due to lack of processing power.
I like what Innuos are doing and it sounds great, they have a fair way to go in terms of the Sense app, from a functionality perspective currently I find the Naim app better to navigate my album collection.

Sorry, I should have clarified that: yes, you’re right I’m not using any DSP/room correction etc. so have no idea what effect that would have.

I have the last few days switching between Innuos and Roon and my verdict is that Innuos sounds best.

But I have problems that I do not understand.How to show a 3 disc set as one album with 3 disc on Innuos?

In Player Settings - Player Output the box is red and the message is Undefined (Disconnected). How to change that?

With regard to your first issue you have 2 choices. Check for discrepancies in the album meta data or just mark them as compilations. I found all my errors on this were down to my own meta data errors.

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I have been comparing Innuos Sense 2.0.10 with Roon and Naim apps to see if II can discern any real differences and the short answer is I can’t. Maybe it is my old ears (coming up to 70) but I find they all sound great in my modest system. Here is my setup: all files are streamed by ethernet either from Qobuz or local storage (on PC, on NAS, or on Innuos Zen Mini) via uPnP to my ND5XS2. Amplifier is Nait XS3 and speakers are Paradigm Prestige 75s. The Innuos zen Mini is connected via ethernet cable to router and to the ND5 XS2. I have compared identical files with these configuration:

  • using Innuos Sense with tracks from the Zen storage or streamed via Qobuz
  • using the Naim app with tracks from the Zen storage or my NAS via Asset or streamed via Qobuz
  • using Roon (with Core on my Mac, not the Zen) with tracks from my Mac SSD or streamed via Qobuz

I’ve used a variety of music I know well from a range of genres - rock, acoustic guitar, but classical mostly. I find it hard to identify much in the way of a difference in sound quality. If pushed, it may be that local files played via Innuos Sense or the Naim app are a bit ‘cleaner’ with notes relatively more delineated but the effect is very small. I’ve also done the comparison with Sennheiser HD660s cans connected to the Nait XS3 headphone output and hear no differences.

For general listening and browsing, I mainly stick with Roon as its interface and focus / tagging / bookmark functionality is very useful to me. I prefer to have the Roon Core on a dedicated MacBook rather than on the Zen as the latter setup gave me a lot of connection problems with iPad and MacBook which don’t happen with the Roon Core separated from the Zen.

My second setup is a Chord Mojo connected to my MacBook and the HD660s cans, playing music using Apple Music or Roon (or the Qobuz Mac app). Using this setup, Roon is a bit better than the Qobuz app for streamed files. Apple Music playing locally stored files, CD quality or HiRes, is surprisingly good.

Perhaps there are more discernible differences apparent on systems further up the Naim hierarchy, but not on my humble system (including ears!). It may be that connecting the Zen to my ND5 XS2 via spdif or optical rather than via ethernet pass-through would show an improvement, but I’ve not tried this.

As an aside, I would rate Innuos support (especially from Nuno and Joao) as exceptional and Roon as not great. After a Roon update last November, I had major problems with lost connection between my Roon Core on the Innuos Zen Mini and my control points (iPad, iPhone, and MacBook). I had no joy getting Roon to help (I’m sure it is a Roon Core on Unix issue), but Nuno spent several sessions over a period of two months trying to find a cause. While in the end we did not find a definitive cause or solution, his desire to help was a breath of fresh air. In the end the best course for me was to revert to having the Roon Core on a dedicated MacBook and I’ve had no issues with Roon since. My main music storage is kept on the Innuos Zen, with identical copies on a NAS and on the MacBook.

On metadata, I’ve found that it is best to sort this out before loading a file onto the Zen. My process:

download purchased album or upload CD to MacBook
use Songkong to check initial tags, then identify album and fix tags to suit my preferences (especially for classical work and composer)
import the file to Zen using auto-import
tidy up any issues with Sense
add album to Roon and add any tags / bookmarks I like

I hope this is of some use you you Keano16.

Cheers, Ian

That’s normal if you don’t have anything connected to the USB output, because you are, for example, connecting a Naim streamer by Ethernet.

Are you using Innuos Sense to play music (with the requisite LMS option enabled)?

Ok. Thanks. I don’t use LMS option enabled.