New user here. I am having Audio dropouts. I did read the Audio dropout article on Roon website. I am getting pauses in audio for 3 seconds or so (sometimes longer) on a living room speaker. Briefly, my server is on a desktop computer (32 GB RAM, Intel Core i7 9700K, etc.), and there are zero audio dropouts on the desktop. When playing Roon on my phone (Samsung S24 ultra) in the home, there are no audio dropouts. However, in the living room, there are audio dropouts, even with Qobuz streaming music. I have a Samsung Q90R speaker, connected to an LG TV via ARC, and connecting Roon via an Nvidia Shield through built in Chromecast. I first thought it might be the Nvidia shield or the Q90R, however, when I play Qobuz or Spotify from the app on my phone and connect via Chromecast on the same system, there are zero audio dropouts! Flawless. As an aside, have random issues with connecting to Roon server at home, and similarly with Roon Arc. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Describe your network setup
Orbi 960 with 2 satellites, very high speeds throughout home. 1 GBPS internet speed.
@roon.twine803 welcome to the Community. What you are experiencing typically is related to your network. Roon has more demands on your network than other services, and does not buffer or cache data in the same manner as other audio and video applications such as Spotify and Qobuz.
Is your Shield connected via WiFi or Ethernet? If WiFi, can you force the Shield to connect via the 5 GHz WiFi band? How is your Roon Server computer connected to your network? If via WiFi, is it possible to connect to the 5 GHz band also or with an Ethernet cable?
I don’t have an ethernet wired house unfortunately.
I couldn’t force 5 Ghz, as I have other 2.4 Ghz devices in the house, and it would be difficult to do with my Orbi.
I was able to connect my Nvidia Shield to one of my Orbi satellites directly with an ethernet cable. The Orbi Router connects to the Orbi Satellite via a 5 Ghz dedicated “backhaul”. It seemed to help somewhat with no dropouts yesterday, but noted today some audio dropouts.
I did the same with my server (connect computer to Orbi satellite directly with an ethernet cable), but because my computer has an old ethernet port / “card”, it is about half the speed (500 mbps) vs 1 gbps when I use Wifi, and I noted more issues when I did this.
Could there be other causes of dropouts? Any other suggestions?
I see the Orbi cannot create separate SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Your networks may be dealing with interference with other WiFi networks nearby, which may be a possible reason why you did not have any drops one day when connecting your Shield with an Ethenet csble to an Orbi satellite and the having drops the next day (the Orbi mesh itself may be seeing interference itself rather than the Shield).
Roon itself does not send a lot of network traffic when streaming (~<10 Mbps for very high resolution files), so you don’t need an extremely fast connection. However, you need a reliable connection because of how Roon sends and synchronizes its streams across your network. Is it possible temporarily to connect both your PC and the Shield via Ethernet cables to your primary Orbi router and see what happens with Roon? You will need to turn off WiFi on both devices to ensure your network is using only the cabled Ethernet connections for this test.
I am using a W11 PC running an i7, so your Roon Server should be more than adequate. Roon staff will probably need to look at your logs for additional insights into what you are experiencing.
We can see in diagnostics that the RoonServer in question has multiple active network interfaces beyond that in use by the Roon GUI on the same machine.
Diagnostic log reports, however, are unable to reach our server.
Do you have a VPN installed on this machine that you use intermittently?
When multiple external network interfaces are available, RoonServer may intermittently connect to one serving a different network or subnetwork than that in use by the rest of the Roon ecosystem.
In the event that logs don’t reach our server, we’ll need to kindly request you manually upload them for us to take a closer look. At your convenience, please use the directions found here and send over a set of logs to our File Uploader. Thanks!
Not sure if this observation will help you that I tested out today:
When I run Roon remote app on my phone (Samsung S24 ultra) and use the Audio on my phone, I do NOT get any audio dropouts. I have WiFi 6E on my phone. My Orbi is a Wifi 6E router.
When I run Roon Audio on My Nvidia Shield as discussed above (which has the older Wifi 5) through Chromecast, I am getting audio dropouts fairly frequently. I also ran Roon Audio on my LG TV which has Chromecast built in and Wifi 6 and I get much less dropouts.
@Robert_F
Thank you. I could technically create an “IOT” network and select either dedicated 2.5 or 5 ghz only, but it makes it difficult to connect all my devices in my home, as I need to put my Roon remotes (computer, tablets, phones) on the same network as server.
I can try to get a long ethernet cable if deemed necessary for diagnosis of the issue. I’d need 35 feet from server to router. And 65 feet from router to the Nvidia shield. I’ll wait until I get more info from this support forum, before I purchase cable.
@connor
Thank you for your response. I uploaded the logs. I do use VPN, but only intermittently. I note that even with VPN off, I am still having audio dropouts.
Thanks for the update and additional information. Please note that the use of VPNs unfortunately falls outside the scope of Roon support - we’d be happy to continue troubleshooting, but you’ll need to disable the VPN while we continue to investigate. Thank you for your understanding here!
This would be an ideal next step in troubleshooting, as the logs you’ve sent over do indicate network-related issues:
Hello, I purchased Ethernet cables ($$) and connected both the computer that my server is on as well as my Nvidia shield, directly to my router and I am still getting frequent pauses in audio. Please advise.
We can see two dropouts in diagnostics, both related to a separate underlying cause.
First, the Nvidia Shield disconnects from Roon after a manual track advance fails. Do you notice that dropouts occur during track transitions, or in between tracks?
The second dropout is related to sample loss in the network - in this case, the System Output of the RoonServer itself did not receive the complete audio stream through the network from streaming services, and accumulated sample loss caused the audio stream to terminate mid-track.
Since you’ve now hardwired with ethernet, we can rule out WiFi interference as a potential cause.
Please provide a timestamp or the name of a track that was playing when the Nvidia Shield last dropped out. Please also indicate if this was mid-track or in between tracks, during a track transition.
We’ll proceed from there to pinpoint the actual cause. Thank you for your patience!
This may be of help — please note in my testing:
— I have found that when using my mobile phone (Samsung S24 Ultra) and Roon remote installed (Android app), with audio playing on my phone, there are no dropouts. Similarly, if I use my phone and connect to a speaker via Bluetooth, I don’t get dropouts.
— I only get dropouts when using my LG OLED TVs and connected speakers via HDMI. It happens both with the Nvidia shield (Chromecast) and LG TV (built in Chromecast). I think there is an issue with this set up. I wonder if it has to do with eARC or ARC? If you look up Samsung Soundbars and ARC/eARC audio dropout, this appears to be common issue. I have a Samsung Q90R connected to an LG B6 (connecting to Roon via Nvidia Shield Chromecast), and it happens with this set up. I also have a newer version Samsung Q990C connected to a 2023 LG G3 and it happens with this set up (connecting to Roon with either Nvidia shield, or LG Chromecast built in).
— If I connect my S24 Ultra (Roon Remote) to either of the Samsung Soundbars via Bluetooth, I get no audio dropouts.
To answer your questions:
First, the Nvidia Shield disconnects from Roon after a manual track advance fails. Do you notice that dropouts occur during track transitions, or in between tracks?
I notice dropouts throughout the track
Please provide a timestamp or the name of a track that was playing when the Nvidia Shield last dropped out. Please also indicate if this was mid-track or in between tracks, during a track transition.
I posted my issue 17 days ago. I do appreciate the responses, although it is taking a while to respond which led to me forgetting which tracks they were. Can I do this prospectively? Can I play some tracks and when they pause, I can make a note, and then upload new logs?
Here are time stamps for audio dropouts / audio pauses that I noted:
6:51 pm: Something There - Disney Peaceful Guitar, paused at 0:49
6:52 pm: Something There - Disney Peaceful Guitar, paused at 1:25
6:53 pm: Something There - Disney Peaceful Guitar, paused at 1:53
6:56 pm: Sunrise - Norah Jones, paused at 1:41
6:58 pm: Sunrise - Norah Jones, paused at 3:11
7:01 pm: The Devil Went Down to Georgia, paused at 1:14
I looked, but I do not think that Netgear Orbi has the capacity to allocate network priority. Of note, I had the same audio pauses even when all devices were connected via ethernet.
An additional question after you review above: If I get a device like a Wiim or BlueSound, would that potentially fix above problem? Not that I want to spend more money, but I might consider trying a device like that.
Thanks for the follow-up, to help narrow this down further, would you be able to simplify the setup for a more direct comparison? Specifically:
Remove the NVIDIA Shield and the second TV from the equation.
Hardwire the mesh nodes directly to the router that is serving RoonServer.
With the endpoints now on a wired connection, run a straightforward test:
Play audio via Chromecast to the LG TV.
Then, play the same audio via HDMI to the LG TV.
This will give us a more controlled test environment and help determine if the issue is related to network conditions, Chromecast behavior, or something else. Let us know how it goes!
I don’t see a thread tied to your account @C_T, for us to be able to better assist you, can we kindly ask that you resubmit a proper support ticket by filling out the questionnaire using the below link?
Please select the option that best matches your specific issue type instead of simply selecting “other”, as this form was created to help diagnose issues while gathering information and it will allow the support team to be able to best assist with your specific issue type.
It’s been 10 days and I have not received a response to my last response. I’m a new Roon customer but not yet long-term subscriber, as it’s difficult to commit without knowing if Roon works. It’s concerning that there’s no direct support such as email. I don’t mind the support forums, but when you have 7 to 10 days response time, this is not acceptable for a service that you have to pay for. On the other hand, when cancelling a trial, I get very prompt support from their team via email. I ended up purchasing a second Chromecast device (Google 4K streamer), and I still got audio dropouts fairly frequently. I also tried a Roon ready device but connecting with my digital system is not optimal. My conclusion is that I’m my case, Roon doesn’t work well with Chromecast audio, and Roon support staff are not able to figure out what is going on. I hope I do not have to, but I think I might have to resort back to usual streaming services via Chromecast, which work without audio dropouts.
I’ve already done all that. Hard wired from router and still pauses. Also, FYI, my Roon server is directly attached to Router, via wired connection.
The newer LG TV has WiFi6 and Chromecast built in, so bypassing Nvidia. Still get audio dropouts.
I wonder if it’s the Samsung soundbars. There are issues posted online about Audio dropouts, but I don’t get them except when I use Room.
Edit: to add to my previous message today, I was able to connect a Roon ready device (Cambridge AXN 10) to my Samsung q90r sound bar system (via optical connection), and I streamed via RAAT, and I was able to stream Roon for 2 to 3 hours without any dropouts at all. AXN10 was connected the same way my Nvidia shield is connected (wired to an Orbit satellite). Narrowing down to possibly the HDMI eArc connection process, or some issue with Chromecast vs something else I haven’t thought of.
Yes. I have the Google 4k Streamer connected to TV or to Sound Bar, and when I stream Roon via Chromecast, I get same audio drops, so made me think it wasn’t the Nvidia Shield in particular.
I also bought an HDMI Audio Extractor to try to take the “eARC” out of the equation, and I still get audio dropouts with Chromecast.
With RAAT (Cambridge Audio AXN10), continue to have zero dropouts. Just an expensive product to add - wish Chromecast would just work.
Hi @roon.twine803,
Thanks for getting back to us with that information. We were able to see some dropouts. on your Samsung and System Output endpoints. Does that issue only happen with local content?
We can also see that the buffer got to 100% when the dropouts occurred. This tells us we need to focus on the link between the server and the endpoints.
No. Occurs with both Local and Streaming (Qobuz, Tidal)
I think it’s interesting that I am able to connect via RAAT without any dropouts at all (via Roon Ready Cambridge Audio AXN10). It’s only when I connect via Chromecast (either through Nvidia Shield, or through built-in Chromecast in LG OLED TV) that I have dropouts.
Our team spent multiple hours testing chromecast playback late last week, and weren’t able to reproduce any dropouts.
As a next step, it may be good to simplify your network setup even more - to try and pinpoint the issue area. Are you able to test our unplugging one of the satellites? Any other network gear you’re able to temporarily turn off or disable would be helpful as well.
Would you be able to check your WiFi channels and see if there may be some outside interference causing network throttling? Perhaps checking a WiFi Analyzer App as well may provide further insight.
From your router settings:
Log into your router’s admin page
Look for the Wireless or WiFi Settings section.
You should see the current channel and the option to change it.
Let us know if that changes any of the dropout behavior!
