I have an internet connection > 500 Mbps, Roon core a NUC in perfect working order, and I am experiencing constant sound dropouts.
Note: I play on a device with Google Chromecast Audio, but I also have Wi-Fi > 500 Mbps and have been playing under the same conditions for years without any problems.
This has been going on for several days now. Occasionally, everything works fine, but most of the time, after a while, the sound cuts out every 3-4 seconds.
Can you please reproduce this problem and share with us the time stamp of when it happened so we can look at the analytics report and find the issue precisely?
2:36 pm, 2:45 pm, then continuously… (French time)
Note: sometimes when I skip to the next track, it improves things for a while. But that’s quite rare.
Thanks a lot for coming back with the timestamps and for your patience here.
I’ve checked the RoonServer logs around 14:36, 14:45 and the period you mentioned. From Roon’s point of view, playback to your Chromecast Audio endpoint looks stable:
The zone is continuously reported as PLAYING with a 100% buffer, without any stream underruns or restarts.
Around 14:43 and 14:48 we only see a few warnings about a “poor connection” and one Chromecast device briefly disconnecting, but the playback stream itself stays buffered and does not show repeated dropouts.
The only clear disconnect we see later, around 14:55, is your Android device (SM-A366B) losing its control connection to the Core, not the audio stream itself.
So, the logs don’t yet match the symptom of “audio cutting out every 3–4 seconds”.
To move forward, could you please help us with a more targeted test?
Confirm the exact zone
Which zone are you using when you hear the dropouts (for example, “Marshall”, a specific Chromecast Audio, or a Cast group)?
Run a short test just on that zone
Play one specific track to that zone only (no grouped zones).
As soon as you notice the problem, note:
The exact local time (including seconds if possible)
The track name and album
The zone name you are playing to
Compare with another endpoint
If possible, please try the same track:
To System Output on the Core machine or
To your phone/tablet as a Roon endpoint
and let us know if the dropouts also happen there or only on Chromecast Audio.
With this information and fresh timestamps for a single, known zone, we should be able to see much more clearly in the diagnostics whether Roon is actually starving the stream, or if the interruption is happening further downstream (on the Chromecast or audio chain itself).
Thanks again for your help in tracking this down – we’ll stick with you until we understand what’s going on.
Where are your Chromecast endpoints connecting to the network relative to RoonServer? Are there multiple mesh nodes or access points in between?
In addition to the tests @vadim outlined in the post above, please ensure that:
The firmware is on the latest update across your Chromecast endpoints
Multicast forwarding is enabled in your router settings. Network speed isn’t as throughput, and speed tests don’t measure the performance of sustained TCP sessions upon which Roon relies. If the WiFi is dropping packets faster than the endpoints can re-request them, then Roon is forced to pause the audio stream. Device discovery and Roon remote connectivity also rely on multicast.
Hello,
Thanks to Vadim’s comments, I thought that maybe my Chromecast Audio was the cause (which I hadn’t considered until now).
Since I have a spare one, I tried it, and it has been working without any sound interruptions for almost three afternoons.
I think the problem is therefore solved. It was just my Chromecast Audio that was out of service.
Thank you for your quick response, which helped me identify the problem; without you, I would have gone in circles.