I just installed Roon on my Windows 10 PC and everything works fine except I am able to stream Tidal music above 48kZ sampling rate even when the track is available in Tidal at higher rates, like 192kHZ. i am using a Roon Ready Cambridge Audio CXN100 as my music streamer. I researched this issue and found the following in Cambridge Audio’s technical support FAQ. Apparently this issue has been reported to Cambridge. No solution reported in the FAQ. This FAQ response is from 7 months ago so fairly recent. Bottom line is the issue appears to be within Cast 2.0, not the Roon Ready hardware (in this case, the CXN100). Any fixes or workarounds?
“We’ve received some recent reports of Chromecast streaming to EVO, CXN100, AXN10 and MXN10 devices running firmware version 133-b-010 or later being limited to a maximum of CD Quality (16 bit / 44.1 kHz) or 48 kHz. This firmware update upgraded these devices to Cast 2.0, as required and provided by Google and our Cast partners. Cast 2.0 has, however, limited Chromecast’s maximum streaming quality to 48 kHz. This is a limitation of Chromecast’s Cast 2.0 update, rather than an issue caused by our Network Players.” (End of Post)
It looks like Google build in a hard limit of 48 kHz with Cast 2.0. Probably not much you can do about it.
Personally I wouldn’t fret too much about it. Most devices with Chromecast max out well below 192 kHz. If the CXN100 is anything like my CXN V2 (its predecessor) it maxes out at 96 kHz. My TV for example is limited to 48 kHz.
Edit.
You should be using the Roon Ready version of your streamer. Select the audio settings for it.
Why does a ChromeCast limit affect you in using a Roon Ready streamer? Do you not use its Roon Ready RAAT implementation (which is expected to be not affected by the well known limits of the likes of AirPlay and ChromCast)? Do you use the Roon Ready connection but being limited unexpectedly?
I reckon the only limitation might be if he uses the optical digital output. If its the same as my CXN V2 then it maxes out at 24/96. Coax goes up to 24/192. If this is the issue then the OP should have Roon downsample to 96 kHz maximum. Otherwise he won’t be hearing music playing when he tries to play a 192 kHz track.
As I just began my journey with Roon yesterday I am versed in entire suite of Roon tools such as RAAT. Is RAAT another casting (streaming) tool to use, and if so, how do I use it? Sorry for the ignorance but just getting up to speed on Roon.
Should read in first sentence above “…except I am NOT able to stream Tidal or Qobuz music above 48kHZ…”.
Also, as additional info, I noticed when using Roon Signal Path both Cast 2.0 and Airplay 2 have this downsampling characteristic of limiting music files to 48kHZ (44 kHZ in the case of Airplay). I have now read Google and Airplay experienced technical issues when trying to maintain bitperfect (that is, not touching or modifying in any way the native streaming file) casting, therefore both have capped the sampling frequency. And just so there is no confusion my CXN100 is capable of streaming up to 32 bit/768kHZ.
Try the Roon Ready version of your streamer in the audio settings. Roon will use its RAAT protocol then which will play back the music at the correct bit depth/bit rate.
Check the screenshots that I’ve posted earlier where to find it. And also check the Tidal settings in Roon if it set to max.
RAAT is short for Roon Advanced Audio Transport. It’s Roon’s own network protocol. And if a device is Roon Ready, like your Cambridge, it is the preferred way to play music in Roon. As RAAT is only limited to what your streamer can handle.
32 bit/768 kHz when using an analog output (RCA or XLR)
24/192 kHz when using coax digital output
24/96 when using optical (toslink) digital output (if its optical output is the same as my CXN V2).
You will know when RAAT is working if you see this appearing in your signal path.
I have my Roon Ready CXN100 set for the max sampling frequency and rate (32 bit/768kHZ) in the Roon Audio settings. Roon setup these settings as “Default” as it recognized the CXN100 as a Roon Ready device when I enabled it. Is there anything else I need to do to enable RAAT as my audio transport instead of Cast 2.0 or Airplay?
Just select the CXN100 option that is listed under Roon Ready. And Roon will use RAAT. You don’t have to enable the Chromecast or AirPlay options for it to work. And with the Tidal settings set to max a 24 bit 192 kHz track will play as a 24 bit 192 kHz track.
Now I have another weird issue going on with Roon. I played music last night using Roon for the first time with no problem. When I tried playing today I opened Roon, selected Tidal and my CXN100 as the playing device and nothing will play. I also cannot access my CXN100 settings in the Audio menu. I searched in various Roon setup screens and nothing has changed. I clicked on the volume button on a track display and noticed in addition to the icons I saw yesterday (Signal Path, etc.) there is a red colored icon that looks like a “Power” icon. After further investigation it appears this is a standby icon. I am supposed to be able to just try to start playing something but nothing will play. Everything is greyed out on the play screen. I am able to play tracks from my Streammagic app and from the Tidal app, but not Roon. I cannot get it out of this “Standby” mode in Roon. How do I get my device out of Standby in Roon?
You only need to resort to AirPlay or Cast where the end point is not Roon Ready.
Roon Ready means that is only uses the RAAT protocol . Roon at the start did not want to use UPnP / DLNA so developed RAAT from ground up to get around the limitations of other protocols
The big advantage of CA is there long history with Roon , it’s only the very old CXN V1 (ie my one) that is not Roon Ready
