Aggregate device doesn't work properly

Support
1

Hi.
I’ve got the Roon v1.6 installed in a Mac mini i5. During my quest on having the best integration between my stereo (PSAudio Direcstream) and multichannel (Oppo BDP105) dacs, I’ve tried to create an aggregate audio device using the USB input of the first and the HDMI input of the second. The aggregate device is seeing by Roon but when I play a multichannel file all I get is the stereo sound.
Any hint on how to make it work properly?
Thanks in advance.

2

What should that be? Something like e.g. connect three stereo DACs and just group them to get a 5.1 zone? I guess that wouldn’t work that way.

Full speculation follows: A grouped zone in Roon serves the purpose to deliver a (one, the same) stream to all grouped output devices. If you group a 2-channel and 5.1-channel device into a zone, a 2-channel stream is the lowest common denominator. Maybe that’s why?

4

Hi, BlackJack.
I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. But if so, it’d be a Roon’s limitation. I could group them together in Roon but in this case I’d lose the possibility to use them apart. The aggregate mode available in MacOS would provide a workaround for this.

5

Now I understand the term. You use the capability of MacOS’s CoreAudio to setup a virtual audio device. This makes me believe that all depends on the correct setup of your virtual audio device.

This has become a non Roon related question/problem. As I don’t have/use MacOS computers I’m out. Maybe others want to chime in and share their knowledge.

6

Hello @Joao_Lins,

Thanks for the report here. I am going to discuss with the hardware team to see if the kind of configuration you wish to have is possible in Roon. I appreciate your patience while we take a look at this on our end.

Thanks,
Noris

1 Like
9

I have a similar question… I set up an aggregate device (MacOS) using two USB stereo dacs in the hope of getting 4 channel multichannel sound. In the device settings I don’t get the option to choose a surround format, just, under multi-channel mixing, the options Downmix As Needed which mixes multichannel to stereo or Channel Mapping Only which in my case just plays left and right channels. No choice of 5.1 etc. As the aggregate device is not a proprietary product I can’t choose it from the “Find your device” list.
Is this possible in Roon?

10

bump. +1 for supporting MCH over aggregate device. Please.

1 Like
11

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