Airplay starts but no sound: Elac Discovery to Macbook Pro

[Mabo_Hai (Martin Botteck)]

Hi,
I have just unpacked and set up my first Roon (Essential) device - Elac Discovery DS-S101-G. Unfortunately, there seem to be several problems with it.
One of them is connected to streaming audio via Airplay to my Macbook or other Airplay devices:
The RoonEssentials Remote App (on an iPad) shows me my Macbook as Endpoint.
I set the Airplay pw and got across that bridge.
I set a track located on a USB stick on the ELAC to stream to my Macbook
The stream can be controlled (play, pause, skip, … volume etc) from the remote app as well as from my Macbook.
But: the indicator on the track itself does not move forward nor do I get any audio.
A similar problem (but with a non-Apple device) was reported here:

No audio from Sennheiser Ambeo Soundbar via Airplay

I have encountered a bit of issue with Ambeo Soundbar as end point using airplay. No problem with Chromecast but airplay. I enabled the soundbar airplay as end point but no sound coming out! I can see the music is playing on my roon remote though. I have no problem stream music to Ambeo using my iphone via airplay, just roon. The reason I need to stream via airplay is because I need to group other endpoints together as Sonos do not support Chromecast. So I need to stream music using airplay to …

an could be solved using the Apple Home App which I do not use.
Is there another way?
Thanks for your help and understanding!
Martin

[Eddie_Hsu]

Hi Martin, Home app is the only way I found to solve this issue. Why dont you just download the Home App to fix it?

[Marin_Weigel (Bram Stoker's Cappuccino)]

@Mabo_Hai

Roon (Essential) device - Elac Discovery DS-S101-G

As a side note, Roon essentials is a reduced functionality fork of Roon, maintained by Elac, so if you need further assistance than what other users may be able to suggest, you’ve got to turn to their support.

[Mabo_Hai (Martin Botteck)]

Hi Eddie,
which “Home App” do you refer to - the Apple Home App? That one is installed on my devices (came with it right out of the box) but I never used it.
I tried but got stuck with it since it requires me to activate some sort of iCloud service which I am not using at all…
Nonetheless, it should not be required (looking at what the ads about the Discovery server say) AirPlay should be supported. And I´m trying to stream to Apple products so …
However, my unit seems to have other faults too so I hope the dealership will replace it and we will try again.
BR
Martin

[Mabo_Hai (Martin Botteck)]

Hi Marin,
well … there seems to be some confusion going on between ELAC and Roon (probably after them being acquired by Harman, a Samsung subsidiary):
Yes, RoonEssentials is a release fork of the Roon SW product which was provided to ELAC and no further partners after that. However, all release notes in the Remote App list Roon as the copyright owner and creator, in the Apple Store it lists Roon as the creator and owner, and operating the Essentials Remote App required me to create an account with Roon. Not with ELAC.
Hence, I have access to this forum using that same Roon account. Not an “Essentials” Account. So far I have not found any hint to such an account even existing.

Bouncing customers around between several organisations is a popular experience - sometimes this is done intentional, sometimes not. I would consider the latter in this case due to debates between Roon and ELAC about a continuation of their license agreement from earlier days.

Anyhow - it seems me (and others with similar issues) might remain stuck between the chairs of ELAC and Harman for a while …
BR
Martin

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

The situation with Roon Essentials and Elac has nothing to do with Harman and Samsung and has been like this forever. E.g., here’s a post by RoonLabs from 2022:

Slowly getting mad of Roon (Essentials)

Hey @Kokobadu, Our moderator @Geoff_Coupe has pointed you in the right direction. Roon Essentials and Roon are two entirely different products. Roon Essentials is bundled in some ELAC Discovery products, support for both the software and hardware is provided by ELAC. You can contact them directly at https://www.elac.com/contact-us/ Thanks!

It’s unfortunate and my personal guess is that if RoonLabs could go back in time, Roon Essentials would not exist.

Note that using Essentials as an endpoint in a Roon system seems to be supported by Roon, but using it as a Roon Essentials server is in the responsibility of Elac.

Also note that the link in the above post for Elac support might not reliably get you through to Elac support and this more recent one might be the better way:

Error message when trying to access server and unable to access library and internet radio (ref#KSFVBJ)

@thomas.4211 - you say that you are using an ELAC Roon Essentials server. Roon Essentials and Roon are different products, and Essentials customers are entitled to direct support from Elac. https://elac.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

[Eddie_Hsu]

Hi Martin, the issue you are facing has nothing to do with hardware I believe. You need to go into Apple Home app and check your Mac is listed inside the speaker and tv tab. If not, add your Mac and that should solve your issue. I think this issue has nothing to do with Roon. It is how Apple airplay works. Try it!

[Mabo_Hai (Martin Botteck)]

I have contacted ELAC on this issue meanwhile - Thanks for the link!

As reported on other places in this forum their answering is not world record speed … let´s hope there will come some info or solution.

[Mabo_Hai (Martin Botteck)]

Hi Eddie,

well, I tried to execute Apple Home app on my Mac but it wants me to enable some sort of iCloud Service that I have failed to find on my computer.
Did you have this issue just with the Essentials Core or also with the full version of Roon Core?

BR
Martin

[Eddie_Hsu]

Just enable iCloud under your name and Apple ID in the Settings. It wont cost you unless you want large storage in the cloud. I built my own Roon ROCK. It does not matter what server you use. Its just a protocol to use Airplay or Chromecast. You should seek an IT friend’s help if you stuck.