Crackling background noise persists after pausing music on Roon with Nucleus and Meridian system (ref#JVBP4P)

Support
1

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· None of the above quite fits

None of the above quite fits

· None of these quite match

Tell us what's going on

· I am experiencing really annoying background noise on any track I play. It's a 'crackling' sound and when I press the pause button the sound continues for a second or two then stops and all is quiet. This only happens when I play roon music. Other hardware, e.g. DVD player, Satellite TV, Record Player, are all perfect. This is ruining my listening to my music collection and cannot guess what the problem might be. I have a Nucleus which is connected to a Meridian system.

Tell us about your home network

· The router is a Sky product. I can't see any model number

2

Hi @Peter_Goodman,

Thanks for the details. The next thing we need is a recording of the crackling, including what you’re hearing when you press pause and it continues for a second or two before stopping.

Please upload that here and let us know once uploaded:
https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/collection/nocvrfc5b2ddab55140af8640f1d7ce13291e/external

3

Hi Noris
I have uploaded a 2.5 minute sample of the end of a Moody Blues song which has quiet, spoken passages so you can, I think, clearly hear the distortion/crackling going on. I have also uploaded a small passage which I have paused so you can hear the noise goes on after the song stops.

The weird thing about this is that I have roon also playing in several other audio zones and it sounds absolutely fine! Also everything else I play through my Meridian equipment sounds fine too, from TV, DVD player, Record Deck, etc. It is only when playing roon I get this problem. So could this be something to do with the settings I’m using in my main audio zone? As you can hear, it makes listening to roon music in my main room impossible.

Thanks for your help.

Peter

4

Hey @Peter_Goodman,

Thanks for the additional information and for sending a sample of the issue over!

For some next steps in troubleshooting:

Step 1: Check the Roon signal path and DSP settings for the Cinema zone specifically

Go to Roon → Settings → Audio → click the gear icon next to the Cinema/ID40 zone. Check:

  • Is "Volume levelling" enabled? If so, disable it. This applies gain adjustments that can cause clipping artifacts with certain content.
  • Is any DSP (EQ, convolution, sample rate conversion) active? Try disabling all DSP for this zone as a test.
  • Check what sample rate and bit depth the signal path shows when playing.
Step 2: Give the Cinema zone's ID40 a static IP address

The logs show the ID40 reconnecting and being rediscovered frequently. Each reconnect risks a brief audio interruption. Log into your Sky Hub (at 192.168.0.1), find the DHCP client list, and assign a permanent/reserved IP to the MAC address 00:24:C5:00:01:4E (the Cinema ID40’s MAC). This stops the device being rediscovered mid-session.

Step 3: Ensure the Nucleus and ID40 are on the same network switch (wired)

Meridian’s clock synchronisation protocol is sensitive to jitter. Confirm both devices are connected via ethernet cables, ideally to the same physical switch rather than daisy-chained through the router.

Step 4: Reboot the ID40 / power-cycle the Cinema Meridian system

Power off the ID40 and any Meridian components in the Cinema zone completely (unplug from mains) for 30 seconds, then bring them back up. The logs show the ID40 reporting inconsistent firmware states across sessions, which can sometimes be resolved by a clean restart.

Step 5: Test with a different audio format

In Roon, when playing to the Cinema zone, check the signal path light (the coloured dot near the volume control). If it’s purple (DSP active) or yellow (some processing), try a track that plays bit-perfect (green light). If the crackling only happens with certain sample rates or when DSP is engaged, that narrows it down further.

Step 6: Check for firmware updates on the ID40

The ID40 is an older Meridian network module. Log into the Meridian app or check Meridian’s support site for any available firmware updates for the ID40. Older firmware versions have known compatibility issues with current Roon versions.

Step 7: If none the above don’t help, swap the Ethernet cable to the ID40

A marginal cable causing occasional packet errors won’t show up as a complete connection failure but can absolutely cause the kind of crackling described, especially since it continues for a second or two after pause (the buffer draining). Swap the cable between the ID40 and your switch.

We’ll be monitoring for your reply and results! :raising_hands:

5

Thanks for that. I’ll start on that tomorrow when I get back from a short trip and get back to you ASAP.

6

Sounds good @Peter_Goodman! We’ll be monitoring for your reply and results. Thank you :+1: