Questions & Comments about Roon

So many rabbit holes…so little time…and even less $$$

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Tell me about it. I hate my credit card, but my bank loves me . . .

Roon on Android, Tidal MQA

Tonight I tried to find out a bit more how the Roon software and Android interact. I was unable to get Roon to show MQA quality through Tidal with it’s large star in the audio chain. It will show high-quality.

I used the Android 8 HiPro9 phablet, both with and without the xDSD DAC. Although it sounded better with the DAC, that was probably the amplifier stage. Selecting a Tidal MASTER for streaming, Roon showed a High Quality sound chain, and did show MQA 44.1 khz, but there was no choice where I could select an output for the 2nd unfold. It was happy to play either through the USB-3 port and xDSD, or directly though the headphone jack.

At no time did the xDSD show the LED that shows it is doing the MQA second unfold, either with Roon/Tidal or Tidal alone. This is a bit disappointing, as I’ve been hoping to have a fully mobile MQA chain available.

Tried everything I could press or poke on the Roon DSD and Device Setup screens.

Android audio output is such a mess it’s not surprising this is confusing.

Under the Device Setup options for your xDSD do you see the “MQA Capabilities” option? If so, set it to “Renderer Only”. Make sure volume is “fixed” (and/or set at 100%). Make sure the xDSD is what’s selected for output.

If that doesn’t work, and Roon is showing internally that it’s processing MQA, then either your Android device is using a generic USB UAC2 driver and forced ASRC or there’s something else up.

Can’t test it directly for you as I don’t use Android.

Thanks, @Torq. The problem is that Roon (Roon Remote) on the Android is not showing the xDSD connected to the Android at all. The output is going through he System Output for the device, if I unplug the xDSD it goes to device speakers or headphone; if I plug in the xDSD with a ToGo cable, then it outputs to the xDSD, but it’s not recognized except, as you indicate, generically.

Maybe this will eventually be fixed.

In that case, it won’t be fixed in Roon … as what you describe means the Android device in question is treating it as a generic UAC2 output - Roon won’t even be able to enumerate it specifically.

UAPP may work in this case, as it uses it’s own USB DAC driver(s), but that’s a separate app and won’t work within Roon. It will give you TIDAL MQA in a mobile form, but without Roon as the interface/core.

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That’s pretty much what I thought. I tried the Roon remote because it is very clear in enumerating, as you say, the different possible zones. Tidal is much less so. I may look into UAPP.

Note: Looked at UAPP, it seems like a winner, thank’s @Torq.

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Roon 1.6 is now live (as of yesterday, actually), and has some major updates:

  • All new Roon Radio
  • Qobuz Support
  • Redesigned Search
  • Now Playing & Queue redesigned
  • “Up Next” notifications
  • DSP redesigned

Very nice for me to have my local library, TIDAL and Qobuz content all available in a single place, presented as a single library (while retaining the ability to deal with them separately if/as/when I desire). And having Roon Radio now go out to both TIDAL and Qobuz (as opposed to being limited to one’s local library) is a real treat.

And this finally kills my interest in/use-for Spotify - tired of the lossy source material (in my least desired format for it to boot), inconvenient client (can only talk to the default audio device), and no longer need it for music/genre coverage. They can call me back when they have lossless support and Roon integration.

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Did Qobuz hit the states today?..goes to the internet…nope…sad face…

There’s lots of press saying “Qobuz now available in the US”, but the reality is that it’s only on a closed-beta basis. You can register for beta access, and at some point you’ll get invited to actually sign-up for it.

I did that when the option first came up.

Doing it now seems to have about a 14-21 day wait-period, based on people I know who’ve done so recently.

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Thank you, I think I signed up for it when you told me about it…but I went ahead and submitted it again =)

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Just did the same. Thanks for the heads up.

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I just gave Roon 1.6 the Whoopie Goldberg test. And it passed. With flying colors. If Whoopie had had Roon 1.6, she never would have uttered one of her best lines.

As some of you may recall, Whoopie starred in the 1986 movie Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

There is a wonderful scene in which Whoopie and her co-star are trying to find a clue to the central mystery that is buried in the Stone’s song, Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Playing back on a rather poor rig, and listening over and over to Jagger’s delivery, Whoopie complains, “Speak ENGLISH, Mick!”

Well, Roon 1.6’s Real Time Lyrics, FLAC streaming of Hot Rocks, and my 1984 vintage STAX headphones made short work of deciphering the lyrics. What Mick actually means is perhaps another question.

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Roon upped its lifetime subscription fee to $699…and eventually will phase it out in favor of a $10 a month subscription fee…

Schiis.

The $10 a month (or at least $120 annually) has always been a thing (though you probably knew that).

Those involved early, if they spent any time on the Roon forums, would be aware that the monthly/annual subscription was Roon’s preferred way for people to get access to the product. The Lifetime subscription was frequently discussed as being something temporary and not really the way Roon wanted people to go.

Danny (COO at Roon) details it all here, including a couple of limited options for some trial users/recent subscribers to still get the $499 lifetime pricing.

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The new release 1.7 with the Roon Radio is really nice. I have only listened about an hour but already found a jazz station out of Glasgow that I like. Amazing offering. It will be fun to explore.

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Roon now has a referral program for their subscribers:

https://roonlabs.com/referralterms

Time to hustle. If you are not a Lifetime subscriber that is :smiley:

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I love roon and everything it can do. But I get a drop in sound quality vs using qobuz or tidal natively through their apps. Anyone else experience this?

No.

There are many possible reasons, however, most notably how each of those clients is configured and what OS they’re running on.

What I can tell you is that, when all are configured correctly (e.g. direct/exclusive, and all settings for “bit perfect”) that the sample data arriving at the interface is identical.

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