Since it came up, I can mention that I recently bought a FiiO K13 R2R (headphone DAC/amp) along with FiiO headphones, and I’m honestly very satisfied with the sound — I’ve been enjoying it a lot.
However, after installing Roon, I noticed that the sound via Roon is significantly weaker compared to listening directly through the native TIDAL app. The quality itself is still good, but the output level feels much lower and less engaging. I suspect this might be due to some setting I’ve missed (but it can also be a fundamental issue)
I’ve tried adjusting various options, but so far without success, so I’d really appreciate any recommendations or setup tips.
For now, I’m limited to headphone listening (can’t play speakers loudly in my current situation), but I’m definitely open to future upgrade suggestions.
And finally — best regards to Lothar, a genuinely nice and very helpful person.
Nope, checked it, it’s off. Thanks for the help though. If you can think of anything else it would be great. I like the program it would be a pity not to use it, if it’s merely a simple setting
P. S chat gpt suggested this:
R2R DAC behavior (important insight)
Your FiiO K13 R2R:
Has lower output voltage than many delta-sigma DACs
Sounds less “loud” but more natural
Roon outputs true reference level
Tidal often pushes closer to 0 dBFS
This is not a flaw — it’s a calibration difference.
Many audiophiles mistake:
louder = better
Your ears are used to the louder app.“
But honestly it’s quite weaker and to my understanding it should be the same as the tidal…
That’s true. Well known psychoacoustic phenomena louder = better. When I was back in college and hi-fi was a thing with shops everywhere, sales people would A-B speakers for the uninitiated turning the one they wanted to sell up a db or two.
Worked like a charm. Flip flip flip. Us wise fool sophomores would laugh and do comparisons based on 10 minutes per speaker with our own vinyl.
I am such a noob.. I have million files (downloaded millennia ago), I forgot that Roon shows them first problem solved thank you. This was actually a local file nothing to do with tidal
