Core Machine
MacBook Air. 1.6 GHz dual core intel core i5. 4gb memory. Running Mac OS 11.4.
Network Details
Orbi 03 mesh system router.
Audio Devices
Gold Note DS 10. Connected wirelessly to core.
Library Size
About 5800 tracks.
Description of Issue
Right channel drops out after about 30 minutes of playing.
Hi,
With just one channel dropping I suspect it’s a problem with the Gold Note DS 10 DAC or analogue section after it. Is there anyway to isolate the Gold Note from Roon and drive it with a different source to confirm?
The problem began with the update of Roon. It is definitely not the analog section after it, which is a new McIntosh MA12000 and works fine with all other sources. The DS10 worked fine before the Roon upgrade. How do I check problem source? Thanks.
The Gold Note DS 10 DAC supports UPnP and DLNA, you could try stopping the Roon Core and use either of these options to see if the right hand channel is stable or not.
If the dropouts continue you know it’s the Gold Note, if all is well then it suggests it might be a Roon issue.
It’s really a bit of self-diagnose and would add an extra data-point for when Roon’s @support team follow this up with after the weekend.
I would be happy to try this but I am a tech lightweight. How do I try the UPnP or DLNA options. Sorry for the dumb/naive questions. This terminology is quite new to me. Thanks for your assistance.
Digital audio is unlike analog audio. The two channels get transported together over a single connection. A separation into two distinct channels, from which one might fail while the other still works, is usually present after the digital to analog conversion of the audio signal (unless you use very exotic single channel DSPs in your setup).
As a test, if you have another Roon endpoint with stereo speakers, the built-in speakers from the MacBook Air for example (I just assume here that it has those), you can switch to that zone when the issue occurs or group the MacBook with the Gold Note maybe. If the stream from Roon is flawed, you will miss the same channel in the other zone too. If not, check your downstream equipment.
Note: There is currently no way I can think of, that Roon is the source of your issue. Either the source is already flawed or the problem is somewhere downstream. But I’m always curious to learn about new things.
Thanks. I’ll give this a try.
I think you nailed it. The same stream that is dropped from the right channel from the DS 10 played both channels from my Mac. I also noticed some lf hum from the right channel after it was dropped, suggesting the connection between the DS 10 and my pre-amp may be the problem. Thanks for the help.
Hey @Nick_Winslow,
Thanks a lot for engaging on our community forum and finding a solution with @BlackJack and @Carl . Thank you both 
We appreciatew you 