Roon 1.6 ... with Qobuz

[Sailor4W]

I upgraded Roon as soon 1.6 got released and I am listening to Qobuz via my Innuos Zenith II and I am very happy with the sound and UI. The Zenith/Roon allows 2 different connections to my D250: USB or ethernet via AIR.It sounds little different but I have not any preference. It is great to have so much more music available through Qobuz and it is a nice Roon feature that one can see what is available on one owns selection and what is available on Qobuz. I see that quite a lot of my weird albums are not in the Qobuz catalog but obviously the reverse is much more true. Comparing the the same album from local storage or streamed via Qobuz I find the local sounds better (more resolution , better decay). I wonder wether a better ethernet cable (cat7 already) would make a difference or should I obsess about my ethernet router?

Initially, when looking for a new streamer, I was very much attracted by the Innuos Zenith! I must say I liked it and I was about to order one, till I got a chance to audition a Nucleus. It not only sounded good, it was the most streamlined solution I could get. The inbuilt Roon AIR protocol is rock solid and I don‘t need the remote control anymore.

Roon‘s version 1.6 with Qobuz is GREAT! Interestin that the locally stored albums should sound better than the streamed ones. I do not doubt that you hear a difference but when reading through the force, people say there‘s no difference. Whatever, you trust your own ears!

With the version 1.6 I find myself streaming a lot via Qobuz. It might change once I get used to seeing it integrated, but I essentially replaced all my Tidal library albums with Qobuz albums, except one.

I don‘t know about Ethernet cables: there are many saying that Cat 5a is perfectly well suited for even high res streaming. I wouldn’t worry too much about cables!

I feed my Devialet Expert 120 exclusively through the Ethernet port. Initially, I had the Nucleus connected via USB, but once switching to Ethernet, I heard a bit better channel separation. Also the sound is alittle smoother via Ethernet. Not by much, but noticeable. So I stick to Ethernet.

Do you really think that the Nucleus through ethernet sounds better than the INNUOS by USB without any network traffic ?

Hard to believe that Rock by ethernet with a Nucleus/NUC without any power supply improvement should be better than a especially constructed streamer connected by USB.  Yes. for computer power [nneded for DSP]  the NUcleus\NUC is the better choice but in regard of SQ ?

This is not what I said. I have never heard an INNUOS, so I can't judge at all. All I am saying that my Nucleus sounds a tiny bit better through Ethernet than via USB.