Jriver sounds better than Roon on Denon X6400H (airplay/upnp or HDMI)

[PHD]

Hi

I have a lifetime Roon subscription which I use to play music using my HTPC as an endpoint connected via HDMI to Denon X6400H. I never liked using HEOS for Roon because it uses Airplay 2 which is 48kHz limited. But recently I've installed Jriver and unlike Roon, it does identify the Denon AVR as a DLNA UPnP device and it plays bit-perfect up to 96kHz/24bit (push playback).

But, even when comparing Jriverwith Roon using HDMI connection, Jriver sounds better to me w/o any added DSP. It sounds richer and more dynamic using WASAPI. Not sure really why, because Roon is considered superior to all other solutions. The difference is so obvious that I haven't used Roon for three days.

 

[Keith_W]

In some ways, Roon and JRiver are polar opposites.

Roon thinks it knows best and forces you to live with its interface choices. Their claim to fame is a new way to organize your music, but what if you don't like way they have organized it? They make a complete mess of Classical. If I listen to a Beethoven Symphony, I don't want Wagner to play next the moment the first movement finishes. I want to listen to the whole symphony! And there is still no browse by folder after all these years. They have said they will never implement it.

JRiver is my favourite. Its customization options seem almost endless, and I keep finding new ways to do things even though I have been using JRiver for 10 years (that's longer than ASR has been in existence!). And it's cheap! $60, vs. $800 (or whatever it is) for a Roon lifetime subscription. You only upgrade your JRiver whenever you feel like it, and it continues to work with no problems.

 

[Haskil]

In some ways, Roon and JRiver are polar opposites.

Roon thinks it knows best and forces you to live with its interface choices. Their claim to fame is a new way to organize your music, but what if you don't like way they have organized it? They make a complete mess of Classical. If I listen to a Beethoven Symphony, I don't want Wagner to play next the moment the first movement finishes. I want to listen to the whole symphony! And there is still no browse by folder after all these years. They have said they will never implement it.

JRiver is my favourite. Its customization options seem almost endless, and I keep finding new ways to do things even though I have been using JRiver for 10 years (that's longer than ASR has been in existence!). And it's cheap! $60, vs. $800 (or whatever it is) for a Roon lifetime subscription. You only upgrade your JRiver whenever you feel like it, and it continues to work with no problems.

Vrai : je suis un amateur de musique classique et même un spécialiste de la chose (c'est mon métier) et le caractère intrusif de Roon est insupportable : en fait, Roon a tous les défauts qu'on prête à Apple et impose ses choix dont vous ne pouvez pas vous débarraser totalement quoi qu'ils disent : leurs métadonnées sont terriblement pédantes et en plus de quoi tous les disques ne sont pas reconnus... Et cette façon de choisir pour l'utilisateur : quand je me connecte à QObuz je veux TOUTES les nouveautés et pas le choix de Roon qui reponse on ne sait sur quoi... BOn, passé cet agacement, la qualité est excellente... mais pas meilleure que chez les autres... JRiver a un défaut : son ergonomie est pénible, mais il est bien plus rapide que Roon

Translation by Moderator:

“True: I am a fan of classical music and even a specialist in it (it's my job) and the intrusive nature of Roon is unbearable: in fact, Roon has all the faults that we attribute to Apple and imposes its choices which you cannot completely get rid of no matter what they say: their metadata is terribly pedantic and on top of which not all disks are recognized... And this way of choosing for the user: when I connect to QObuz I want ALL the new features and not the choice of Roon who answers who knows what... OK, past this annoyance, the quality is excellent... but not better than the others... JRiver has a fault: its ergonomics is painful, but it is much faster than Roon”

Please post in English going forward. Thank you.

 

[Julf]

I never liked using HEOS for Roon because it uses Airplay 2 which is 48kHz limited.

Do you believe you can hear a difference between 48 and 96k?