Arc Crashes when using USB C dongle DAC [Investigation ticket in]

Roon Server Machine

ROCK 8i3

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Nighthawk Router
Unmanaged Switch
Core wired via ethernet

Connected Audio Devices

Apple TV
IPhone 14 Pro Max
IPad Mini
Samsung 24 Ultra

Number of Tracks in Library

22712

Description of Issue

Connecting a Samsung USB C dongle dac to my phone causes Arc to crash.

If the app is running and I plug it in, the app freezes. If I plug it in and try to launch the app it just stays on a black screen.

If I disable USB driver, I can play audio through the dac.

Arc build 230

I am experiencing this as well on an Samsung S21, Android version 14, RoonARC 1.0 (226).

To be clear though, I don’t see a proper crash, which usually involves a pop-up from the android os. Rather the app just freezes with no more rendering updates. If I swipe the app away and restart it then the app just freezes with the roon arc splash logo showing.

Hi, @crowlem, @Casey_Link, thank you for your reports. Could you, please, specify your DAC model?

Thanks!

–
Ivan

I have the THC Onyx

…this is also happening with my Schiit Modi Multibit 2

Thank you, @Casey_Link, I am going to pass this info to our dev team. Am I getting it right that with previous Early Access build these DACs were working as expected with the same phone?

Thanks!

–
Ivan

It’s the samsung official USB C to 3.5 dongle

Thank you for the reply, @crowlem, am I getting it right that the previous EA build was working fine for you?

Thanks!

–
Ivan

I haven’t had this phone or DAC on previous builds, the phone just got released and I got the dongle with it.

So I’m not sure if it was working before or not, apologies.

No worries, @crowlem, thank you for the reply. I passed this info to the dev team.

–
Ivan

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Hello,

I am still hoping to use Roon ARC with a Schiit Modi Multibit 2, but same issues persist. Playback doesn’t work if the “Enable USB DAC” option is selected. Behavior wise, there is no error message when attempting to play a track, but no audio is generated and in the Roon Arc app playback is shown to be happening at an extremely slow rate (but no sound).

No issues if playing without the USB DAC option enabled or getting bit perfect playback with the Modi using other apps (such as Tidal).

Playing from a Samsung Galaxy S21.

I asked about this a year ago but never received an official response, so I am following up.

Judd

Well, the Enable USB DAC function is still in BETA, so, I would expect potential issues. It doesn’t work for several of my USB DAC dongles either.

Hi Dan, is there any way to confirm what DACs are supported / the development team is working on supporting? It would be helpful to establish the definitive cause of the issue and confirm if there’s a way it can be resolved.

Not that I know. I imagine that they want to support ALL DACs (at least I hope so). BTW, I’m a fellow user like yourself, so I am not privy to any of the inside information.

I understand. Would be great to hear more from someone at Roon who has concrete feedback.

Hi @lostinsummer,
Thanks for writing in to let us know about this issue. We’ve been working on ironing out a few issues that affected the Schiit Modi Multibit 2 among other DACs. We will be releasing an update soon that should address this issue.

1 Like

Hi @lostinsummer,

Thank you for your patience.

The long “arc” of the story (excuse the pun) is that we’re releasing bit-perfect support for USB DACs in ARC in batches, as the implementation varies by manufacturer or even by device. It’s taken some time for us to identify the root causes and affected Android variants for each issue.

This particular DAC is high on the list for our QA team, but there are ongoing issues on Samsung Android phones. We’ve been testing a blind fix in Early Access but can’t confirm that it’s resolved the issue on all affected devices.

Please allow me some time to sync with development internally. If you have a recent timestamp of when you experienced odd behavior, freezing, or crashing with “Enable USB DAC” toggled, I will pass it along to development.

1 Like

Hi everyone,

A fix for USB-C crashing issues with the following DACs has already been merged:

  • AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2 and above
  • FiiO KA3
  • FiiO Q3

Samsung Android phones might have issues in ARC when connecting USB-C Astell & Kern HC-series devices. The team has a ticket to address this issue, but since it involves a separate fix, we’ll be tracking it here: ARC: Issue connecting Astell & Kern HC-Series via USB-C to Samsung Phone [Ticket In]

If you have ongoing issues with USB-C connected devices in ARC, please create a new support ticket. This thread will be closing. Thank you!