Audio Analysis
What is Audio Analysis and how is it used?
During Audio Analysis, your Roon Server scans each audio file in your library to extract waveform and loudness information. This data underpins several core Roon features:
Volume Leveling
Volume Leveling keeps playback loudness consistent when tracks in a queue are mastered at different levels. Audio Analysis measures perceived loudness and peak values in advance so Roon can apply precise, non-destructive gain adjustments during playback.
Crossfade
Crossfade skips silence at the beginning and end of song, permitting smoother track transitions when you listen to music. Audio Analysis identifies these silent regions ahead of time to allow fades to occur at musically appropriate points.
Waveform displays
The waveform graphics shown in Roon’s playbar are generated from the waveform data captured during Audio Analysis:
Dynamic Range
Audio Analysis gathers information about the dynamic range of each track, which Roon uses to display dynamic range values and related metadata in the user interface.
Detecting corrupt media
Because Audio Analysis reads through every file in your library, it can also detect certain file-level issues, such as corrupted or unreadable media.
When does Roon do audio analysis?
Roon performs audio analysis both on-demand and in the background.
On-demand audio analysis occurs automatically when you play a track that Roon hasn't yet analyzed. This helps ensure that the content you play has the most accurate data from the waveform.
Beginning with Build 1625, background audio analysis will default to "Scheduled" in Roon. This means Roon will analyze as many tracks as possible during the hours you’re not using the product (1-5am by default). Note that if you previously configured background audio analysis to "off", it will remain unscheduled.
What is Throttling for Audio Analysis?
Users have the option in Settings -> Library to limit the available system resources Roon Server devotes to audio analysis. Throttling audio analysis frees up system resources, but means it will take longer to fully analyze your library.
On-demand audio analysis will default to the Fast setting. Users have the option to throttle this instead in Settings -> Library.
The throttle setting for background audio analysis depends on whether you've scheduled audio analysis to take place during background work.
If set to Scheduled, Roon will analyze your library as quickly as possible during background work hours (1:00-5:00 am by default). If background audio analysis is set to Unscheduled, users can still configure a speed setting in Settings -> Library → Background Audio Analysis.
Finally, keep in mind: analysis performance is almost totally dependent on the performance of the hardware that's serving as your Roon Server. If you have audio devices connected directly to the machine that's performing audio analysis, it's worth considering the recommendations in Sound Quality in One Computer when choosing your analysis settings during listening sessions.
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