To Roon or Not to Roon?

[Juiced]

I have tested Audirvana on a Windows laptop, and it sounded the same as the Tidal program.

With a Macbook M1, Mac Mini 2019 (intel), Audirvana, it sounded significantly better than running it on a Windows computer.
On the same Mac computers, comparing Audirvana to the Tidal program. Audirvana was clearly the winner.

So now I've purchased a Mac Mini m2 Pro, and I think it sounds the best from the bunch.
Maybe the DDR5 has something to do with it.

 

[kamen56]

I have Weiss 501-4ch as well and Melco N100 too. And Tidal is my only source for streaming.
Through Melco the best sound for me is by using BubbleUPNP. Roon,Audirvana sound broken with Melco.
But Weiss/Roon kills Melco streaming and kills all UPNP options through Weiss as well - Audirvana included.
It's incredible implementation of Roon streaming-I don't use anything else...

 

[Juiced]

I have Weiss 501-4ch as well and Melco N100 too. And Tidal is my only source for streaming.
Through Melco the best sound for me is by using BubbleUPNP. Roon,Audirvana sound broken with Melco.
But Weiss/Roon kills Melco streaming and all UPNP options thorough Weiss too.
It's incredible implementation of Roon streaming-I don't use anything else...

I've tried BubbleUPNP + Tidal and i can confidently say the Weiss 501 connected to a Mac via USB with Audirvana + Tidal is another level.

 

[mtemur]

I’m not a fan of the sound of DACs connected to a computer via USB, but Audirvana makes the experience enjoyable and handles it better than Roon. I own Audirvana 3.50 (the last version before it switched to a subscription-based model). In my experience, Audirvana performs best on a Mac, especially on M1 or other Apple Silicon devices. Its performance improves significantly when using the system optimizer, a minimum phase filter setup, and 2X, 4X, or higher upsampling.

 

[antigrunge]

Roon is a heavy CPU load requiring large capacity CPUs. Those are inherently noisy. Going low power CPU with no plug ins is inherently quiter

 

[Juiced]

minimum phase filter setup, and 2X, 4X, or higher upsampling.

gave it a shot and it sounds a bit less refined, at least on the weiss 501.

i wonder how Audirvana+Mac compares to a high-end streamer or server.

cause for a couple hundred dollars it’s a bargain!

 

[mtemur]

i wonder how Audirvana+Mac compares to a high-end streamer or server.

I did that test and Audirvana+Mac cannot beat a high-end streamer. Audirvana+Mac is unbeatable only when usb connection is mandatory. At least that's my experience.

 

[OrigTweaker]

I did that test and Audirvana+Mac cannot beat a high-end streamer. Audirvana+Mac is unbeatable only when usb connection is mandatory. At least that's my experience.

Another variable here is running through a DDC. My Singxer SU-6 cleans up usb as it converts to AES.

 

[mtemur]

Another variable here is running through a DDC. My Singxer SU-6 cleans up usb as it converts to AES.

As far as I heard SPEC DDC does clean up too from usb to ethernet.