Bowers and Wilkins formation out of sync

[Chris_Burtis]

Roon Core Machine

Roon Rock
Intel NUC 10, Core i7, 8GB ram
Roon Version 1.8 (build 952) stable

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Cox Cable 1GB service
Arris Cable modem, PF sense firewall, Ubiquiti 24 port POE GE switch, Ubiquiti UniFi 6 Pro Access Point

Connected Audio Devices

1 x Cambridge Audio CXN V2 streamer (Wired)
1 x Bowers and Wilkins formation Duo (Wired)
2 x Bluesound PULSE FLEX 2i (WiFi)

Number of Tracks in Library

11167 Tracks
QoBuz music service

Description of Issue

The issue that I am having is that when I add the B&W formation Duo speakers to a group of speakers, they will consistently go out of sync when the song changes and there is a change in bit rate. If I play an album that is in the same bit rate no issues but when I play say a playlist local or through Qobuz the B&Ws will go out of sync as soon as there is a change in the bit rate of the source material. Very common when playing playlists.

So the groups I tested were
1 x Cambridge Audio CXN V2 streamer + 1 x Bowers and Wilkins formation Duo
1 x Cambridge Audio CXN V2 streamer + 1 x Bowers and Wilkins formation Duo + 1 x Bluesound PULSE FLEX 2i
Any combination of the above creates the issue. If I stop the music and then restart everything is in sync and once there is a song change with a bit rate change the B&Ws are out of sync.

Testing with this setup (no B&W) works fine.
1 x Cambridge Audio CXN V2 streamer + 2 x Bluesound PULSE FLEX 2i (WiFi)
In fact, I left it running for an hour without issue.

My sense is that the B&Ws do not deal with bit rate changes well and I am stuck which is disappointing as I really like the speakers. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

[ged_hickman1]

You could use roon DSP to convert to a single bitrate to the b&w so the change doesn’t throw them out.

[Chris_Burtis]

ged -
That is a great idea. I have not used the DSP function before but will give it a try.

[Chris_Burtis]

I wanted to follow up on this in case anyone else was having this issue. What I ultimately wound up doing was changing the DSP settings so that the speakers always receive a 96K bit rate no matter what the source is. This is the top bit rate for the B&W speakers. I’ve had a chance to test them quite a bit and this seems to have solved the problem. I can run a playlist for hours without the speakers coming out of sync. The one other thing I’ll also mention is that the B&W speakers Wi-Fi also has some issues. Hardwiring the speakers makes a huge difference in stability also.
Appreciate all the help!
Chris