Roon 1.6 ... with Qobuz

[Sailor4W]

I must say, I’m really impressed with quboz and Roon. Roon seems to integrate very easily with the devialet. I never used Roon before, so 1.6 is the only version I have used. I am still awaiting my final streaming solution (lumin u1 mini), but I have been pleased with the integration from Roon to the devialet via AIR. I thought I would have  to airplay from my Roon/quboz app via my Apple TV and be limited to 16/44.1 but according to Roon, I’m connecting to the devialet via AIR over WiFi up to 24/192. And it will even power on my devialet from the Roon app; Bonus!

I understand there is a Roon Air(Roon RAAT) option that is preferred over Devialet Air? Is that even available? If so where do you select it?

Yes indeed, Roon AIR is GREAT!!! 

You can download Roon AIR from Devialet's configuration page (https://www.devialet.com/en-eu/configuratorapp, see screenshot below). Once downloaded, Roon will automatically detect the app. The only thing is you have to quit Devialet's AIR app should you have it on.

Then in Roon, go to Settings -> Audio -> and activate the Ethernet input (first of course, in the configuration setup page of Devialet, see screenshot  attached).

[Sailor4W]

The integration of Qobuz with Roon has exceeded my expectations.  You get the full deal, including access to the Qobuz PDFs through Roon.  Roon Radio which also accesses the Qobuz catalogue has already uncovered some wonderful performances unknown to me before (I was “semi-listening” when I had to sit up and take notice of Byron Janis playing Prokofiev PC no 3). My “pop” friends were very impressed with my newly acquired catalogue of 1960s music.  I am tempted to upgrade to the Qobuz Sublime + option when my subscription comes up for renewal later this year.

Qobuz integration is the best thing that happened to Roon! It made my Aurender N100H completely obsolete, which I sold in the meantime.

I have Qobuz sublime for the moment, but I might switch to the less expensive Qobuz HiFi that also allows HiRes streaming up to 192/24. As Qobuz is so nicely integrated into Roon, I am not sure if I'll ever download music from Qobuz anymore, so the download discount you get with Sublime might become needless for me. I have to think about it next time when my abs is up for renewal.

[thumb5]

@Sailor4W, you don't need to download or install any Devialet software to use Roon AIR - Roon includes everything it needs to talk directly to your amplifier.

[Will]

The integration of Qobuz with Roon has exceeded my expectations.  You get the full deal, including access to the Qobuz PDFs through Roon.  Roon Radio which also accesses the Qobuz catalogue has already uncovered some wonderful performances unknown to me before (I was “semi-listening” when I had to sit up and take notice of Byron Janis playing Prokofiev PC no 3). My “pop” friends were very impressed with my newly acquired catalogue of 1960s music.  I am tempted to upgrade to the Qobuz Sublime + option when my subscription comes up for renewal later this year.

Qobuz integration is the best thing that happened to Roon! It made my Aurender N100H completely obsolete, which I sold in the meantime.

I have Qobuz sublime for the moment, but I might switch to the less expensive Qobuz HiFi that also allows HiRes streaming up to 192/24. As Qobuz is so nicely integrated into Roon, I am not sure if I'll ever download music from Qobuz anymore, so the download discount you get with Sublime might become needless for me. I have to think about it next time when my abs is up for renewal.

The monthly hi res streaming subscription is the same as the annual sublime +.

[Will]

I must doing something wrong, when I run a search on the Qobuz app I get more results than running same search using Roon .
Any thoughts?


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The search results are certainly different - using my example of Byron Janis, the Qobuz search yields mostly correct matches to the artist whereas the Roon search yields a number of “false” matches (in terms of what I am looking for) - such as Janis Joplin and Janis Ian and Byron.  (There are also differences between the Qobuz app search and Qobuz search through the web page).  It is an area for improvement that Roon/Qobuz should address, but far from being a show stopper.

There are other oddities - a came across a multi disc set of Wilhelm Kempf, through Roon/Qobuz, which I thought I might purchase.  I could not find it in either the Qobuz app or website - whatever I did.  I added it to my library through Roon/Qobuz and noticed that it now appears in my Qobuz app.  However, while I am able to stream it using Roon/Qobuz, I get an error message when I attempt to do the same using the Qobuz app.

From what I understand, Roon needs some time to update its library with new additions in Tidal/Qobuz. So with Qobuz only just added, it might be better in a couple of weeks.

The albums that I am searching for were released some time ago - so currency of updates for new releases should not be an issue in this case.

[mdconnelly]

@Sailor4W, you don't need to download or install any Devialet software to use Roon AIR - Roon includes everything it needs to talk directly to your amplifier.

I want to echo this... do NOT download the Devialet AIR app if all you want to do is stream via Roon AIR.   Roon Labs developed their own AIR integration within Roon to circumvent the many problems and bugs that existed with the Devialet AIR app.   It just works - no drivers or software needed from Devialet.  If you do install the Devialet AIR app, it will more than likely interfere with use of Roon AIR.   

In my opinion,  Roon + Devialet is an awesome combination.   While we all wait tentatively for Roon RAAT,  Roon AIR already works great.

[arcam]

I have been playing with Roon + Quobuz for a week or so, but I must say I am quite disappointed with the results. I don't quite like the UI, in particular the horizontal-scrolling (instead of vertical) that scrolls screen by screen (instead of infinite scrolling) and the popups that don't quite act like popup windows and cannot be closed with ESC. I find Focus search difficult to use (for example, I cannot say 'everything NOT classical' or 'NOT in Qobuz" i.e. local). My 20k track iTunes library was poorly imported; switching to import using File tags instead of Roon helped only marginally. Using French tags in iTunes did not help. I find searching in Qobuz is not quite effective to say the least. Overall, I prefer Qobuz's UI which I think is more effective. And Roon's front argument that you can browse by composer and find a nicely displayed bios with a list of major compositions may work well with non-classical music, but I don't think it does with classical music because: 1/ you know the composers already; 2/ there are just so many recordings of the same piece that they are just a mess to search, in Qobuz... or in Roon... YMMV

But I must say Roon's implementation of Devialet AIR is excellent once setup and never had any glitches or network cuts, contrarily to the original implementation of AIR by Devialet. And it's quite comforting to know that you are in bit-perfect mode (would be a nice, although probably futile, extension to Qobuz player).

Most important, the sound produced by Roon seems somewhat mellower and more detailed, compared to Qobuz Player or Audirvana+Qobuz, both streaming through Devialet AIR. The latter two producing the same, somewhat harsh sound on this particular recording:

Kissin/DG, Beethoven, Appasionata sonata, 16/44.1

But is this the true sound of the recording, and due to Roon's better audio processing or implementation of Devialet AIR, or an artifact added by Roon's internal sound processing, which would then not be bit-perfect, despite no DSP processing being selected?

Note: This is a repost from another thread in News, but seems more appropriate here.

[Hifi_swlon]

...I find Focus search difficult to use (for example, I cannot say 'everything NOT classical' or 'NOT in Qobuz" i.e. local).

I won’t get into the UI - especial 1.6 which I think has got messier and more incoherrent - but focus can definitely do what you outlined above. Select classical as a focus, and then tap it again and it inverts (goes red and -). This will now show everything that’s not classical. You can invert all filters the same way - ie to find everything that isn’t 44.1 sample rate, select 44.1 and tap to invert it.

Unless you’re enabling DSP (volume levelling, convolution, EQ, upsampling etc) then it’s bit perfect. It shows in the signal path exactly what it’s doing so you can confirm if your playback setup is bit perfect or not.

[mdconnelly]

Roon Labs has stated that they are in process of reworking the UI so I have high confidence that we'll see further improvements in UI implementation and consistency ahead. They've already stated that they will switch to vertical scrolling in the redesign. When that will be is unknown, but I'm certain their lead times are far shorter than, say, what we have come to expect from another company we all know and love.

I've been using Roon for over 3 years now. To be honest, Roon AIR saved my love for my Devialet (I had nothing but headaches and frustration with Devialet AIR). With Qobuz implemented and an improved Radio, I'm quite happy with the latest 1.6 update. I agree the UI is in need of some work, but that's a minor issue for me. And there's also the fact that Roon Labs actively and willingly engages with the customer in their forums.

[thumb5]

Good post, @mdconnelly, that summarises my feelings too. Even though the 1.6 release has had some mixed feedback on the UI changes, and is definitely a little less responsive and "snappy" (e.g. when searching), not using Roon is now unthinkable for me. The convenience of being able to use the Roon UI to switch on the Devialet and set volume is such an improvement over the remote control software Devialet have produced, it almost makes the Roon subscription worthwhile on its own.