Coreaudio related dropouts/crashes on MacOS Big Sur

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)
Core is a Mac Mini (Macmini7,1 - i5 2.6GHz - Late 2014) running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and Roon 1.7 build 667.

Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

Core is connected directly to a switch and connects to Roon endpoints via WiFi (a NetGear Orbi 802.11ac network) or a cabled (ethernet) connection that passes through a Netgear gigabit switch and a TP-Link AV1200 powerline kit to reach the endpoint, which reports a sync speed of around 700-900mbps.

Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

Endpoint 1 (Living Room) is a wifi connected Bluesound Node 2i
Endpoint 2 (Study) is a cabled (via powerline) 13" MacBook Pro (MacBookPro12,1 - i5 2.7GHz - Early 2015, Retina) running macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 and Roon 1.7 build 667 with an AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt connected via a powered USB 3 switchable hub/KM switch (switchable between to 2 machines) - the hub otherwise has only a keyboard and mouse connected (which remain fully functional throughout)

Description Of Issue

Endpoint 2 (MacBook Pro) works fine most of the time and I did not have this issue prior to using Roon.

Relatively infrequently (perhaps once a day, last occurrence was today at 12:00 midday) I see the following:

  • The zone hosted by Roon endpoint 2 can no longer be selected from remotes/core
  • Mac no longer outputs any sound
  • Mac Roon app is still functional/responsive, but preferences shows no local audio output devices
  • macOS audio player menu bar widget shows audio is still playing, but does not respond to any input (cannot be paused, skipped, etc)
  • Trying to open Sound preference pane hangs System Preferences.app
  • Typically if I have a Microsoft Remote Desktop session open for my work, this becomes very unstable and freezes (remote device audio forwarding is enabled)

I have found that a reliable fix is to kill coreaudiod via Activity Monitor or terminal, at this point all of the above issues immediately resolve, however there is no error message or runaway CPU usage to indicate a problem - often the first I notice of the issue is that my remote desktop session becomes unstable if no music is playing.

The core and endpoint 1 meanwhile are unaffected.

Hi @Gabriele_Rizzetto,

Is this the common pattern, does the issue always occur at noon or at midnight?
I wonder if this could be your IP address expiring and the router assigning a new one.
If you try to set up a Reserved IP in the router for the affected PC, does that help?

Thank you, I did think the time was suspicious. I’ve set my machine to have a static IP outside of the DHCP pool and I’ll come back if the issue recurs.

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