A further update with not so good news unfortunately. I have attempted to introduce a second Bluesound device alongside my Flex 2i and this seems to exacerbate the situation.
Despite the reported problems when my Roon Core was on the Windows 10 pc, all was working well when I was using the Mac book pro instead. This was the case while I was using a single Bluesound speaker (Flex 2i). I just introduced a Bluesound Soundbar 2i and things deteriorated.
Using my MacBook Pro 13 to run my Roon core, I can see the two Bluesound speakers but the playback delay problems are back with a vengeance. When the two are grouped (Flex 2i + Soundbar 2i) a lot of issues occur:
Playback takes 10+ seconds to initiate.
Fast forward or skipping results in the Flex 2i starting first (after 5 seconds of delay) with the Soundbar taking an additional 5-10 seconds before audio starts.
A second / third track skip results in no audio. The playbar shows the track is playing (seconds count as normal) but there is no audio. I have to stop playback and skip to another track in order to get audio back.
Sometimes playback just hangs right at the end of a track. ‘Play’ is still active but the playbar is just not moving.
I tried the usual things: Ensure Bluesound units are running the latest firmware, Roon core quit and restart. The Soundbar is located 15ft away from the router (signal shows as good to excellent).
Outside Roon everything works well: Spotify, airplay2 and Bluesound internet radio all work fine and without delays (both on individual speakers but also when they are grouped either via airplay or via Bluesound app)
From my perspective and experience, while things work really well when RPi endpoints are used, it appears that Bluesound devices remain problematic when used with Roon (especially when grouped in multiroom playback).
I will of course monitor the situation to see if anything changes. My current living situation (very small apartment) means I have to stick to the ‘space saving’ Bluesound speakers so unfortunately I will have to pause using Roon for a while and revert to the more stable Airplay 2 / Spotify etc. At least for a while.
Sorry for the multitude of emails, I hope the input can be helpful for Roon going forward.
Thank you for the update here and for clarifying the different delay types and for testing the additional Soundbar 2i. I have updated your internal ticket with this information and have passed this ticket over to the technical team for closer inspection. I will be sure to let you know once I have any further information to share. I appreciate your patience in the meantime, thanks!
Hi Noris, I wanted to provide an update on the situation I reported a while back. I am still using the bluesound Flex 2i (Wireless, excellent signal strength) and the Bluesound Soundbar 2i (ethernet adapter wired). I initially reported some significant problems when running the Roon Core on my Windows 10 PC. We tried a few things as per your suggestinons but we could not find a cause. I subsequently moved the Roon Core to my macbook pro 13 and the situation improved. I still got the truncation problem Bluesound Playback Truncation Problem but the situation was greatly improved.
I will soon have to move the macbook pro to a different location so I tried migrating the Roon Core back to the windows PC. Unfortuantely the problems returned and some new issues also appeared. The delays, freezes etc are back as initially reported. In addition to these I am also now encountering the problem where playback becomes ‘stuck’ at the end of tracks as reported here: What causes a track to get "stuck" at the end? and here: Roon Radio hangs at last second of a track. In my case this happens almost once every 3 or 4 tracks.
In addition to that, I find that I occasionally initiate playback with the Flex 2i and the soundbar 2i as a grouped zone. While roon shows playback has started, I only hear sound from the soundbar. I have to stop and start playback once or twice in order to get both to play music.
As in the original tests, the PC is located at the same spot as the macbook pro and they both have excellent wireless connection (speedtest confirmed) to the router 10 ft away.
Returning the core to the macbook pro partially improves the situation (although some problems remain as reported above) but unfortunately I will soon have to move the macbook pro elsewhere. Roon is unfortunately effectively unusable with the Windows 10 PC.
I fully appreciate this is a difficult set of issues to diagnose and rectify. Probably too many variables at play, especially with the super buggy bluesound devices in the picture. I am realistic and I do not anticipate a resolution but I still wanted to provide an update that may perhaps be helpful to Roon in the long term.
Not sure if you use the computer for other tasks, but, there maybe some weird software interaction happening with Roon and another softawre or driver. For example, Realtek drivers can cause issues. I always remove them and us the basic MS HD Audio driver if I need to on a PC.
That may indeed play a role in the issues I encounter. I have also been using the macbook pro for other tasks (stats analysis, excel, email, etc) alongside the Roon Core without issues. Both machines are loaded with multiple work apps, multimedia apps etc. This does not say much though other than raising the suspicion of Windows 10 being bad
It is very interesting that the Win 10 PC (with Roon Core on it) works perfectly with my Allo Digi streamers. All problems happen when the Bluesound devices are introduced.
Looks like we were able to reproduce this and the report has been send to Bluesound.
Can you let me know the exact local time + date + track this behavior occurs next on? After, can you please send the Roon logs + Bluesound logs after you have done before? I’d like to add these to the investigation ticket.
Timestamps + Roon logs + Bluesound logs are appreciated for this issue as well, and I can forward them to the hardware team for closer inspection.
Hi Noris
Thank you very much for getting back to me. I know you are looking into this and communicating with Bluesound as things progress. I am currently travelling with work and will be away for a while so I am able to take advantage of the Macbook pro as the home for my Roon Core :-). It may be a while before I get back to my PC but I will update then. In the meantime I am enjoying hassle free operation with Roon Core residing on the Mac
Cheers
