So, for me it is only the three-way combo which gives problems. Of course, that is the one which I want/need.I would add that I have tried this on 2 different iMacs with the same result. The current one is a top-end iMac with 32GB of RAM. Both are running El Capitan 10.11.5. Incidentally, browsing or other tasks on the iMac do not appear to have any impact on the performance. Everything is via wired connections. My network is otherwise normally very stable (based on Apple Airport Extreme, with a couple of Gigabit switches between the NAS, the NUC, the iMac and the Dev)
OK, reverted to Ver 1.1 and I now have no problems at all, too bad for the radio but I’m going to stay with this version for a long time… surely until I upgrade my Imac. Thanks Cantodea!
I still have the same problem as described in this thread. Roon 1.2 with either Dirac 1.2 or with HQPlayer 3.13. The signal goes from Mac mini USB to a Mutec 3+ USB for reclocking, then to a DAC by sp/dif coax (at first a Wyred4Sound DAC 2, now a Chord 2Qute).
Sometimes the noise stays away for several hours, or it could pop up in minutes after starting playback. Some songs seem to be more prone to the noise than other from the same album. No obvious relationship with loudness of the song and the noise.
I don’t know if I should buy the Dirac license if Roon is not fully compatible.
Interesting finding: I removed my AQ Jitterbug that was in between the Mac mini and the Mutec 3+ USB. Now all up to 96 kHz is playing well with HQP and Dirac. 192 kHz is working 98% which is not acceptable for pleasant listening but a lot better than with the Jitterbug.
I wonder if the noise has something to do with the timing or handshake of the USB bus. I can not test 192 kHz via optical since there seems to be no clocking signal that the Mutec receives from optical, so in that case I am stuck with either 44 kHz or with the OSX mixer.
As per above, I have had this issue ever since Roon 1.2 was released. I have been able to mitigate it for the most part by:
a) setting power-of-2 buffer size. this is mandatory - without it it’s terrible static for me. have you done this? I am assuming that this prevents byte/word overruns or something.
b) reducing system resources/cpu as much as possible. I am not sure which specific thing it was but something in this process really helped - turning off wifi or bluetooth.
For me the frequency of the problem strongly correlates with the resolution of the material - 24/192 is worse than 24/96. Redbook seems ok.
All of this seems to indicate a load/buffer issue between Roon 1.2 and Dirac. My theory is that if your cpu is powerful enough, data flows through the buffer fast enough that it doesn’t overflow or cause buffer issues (resulting in the seen ticks/static). If the cpu can’t keep up with a brief microsecond, then the buffer is overflowing. Obviously 192 material will induce this much more frequently.
So other than getting a more powerful computer/cpu, the best thing to do is remove all unnecessary processes to keep system load at a minimum.
As to why this only started happening with Roon 1.2 + Dirac 1.2 is still a mystery.
Oh, I also have an Audioquest Jitterbug and aside from feeling that I does it little in general, I find it unlikely that it could have an impact on this issue. It’s a piece of circuitry external to the computer and doesn’t have an interface with Dirac (or your Mutec) - it’s invisible to them. I suppose somehow it is causing the timing of Dirac out to be changed which in turn is affecting inbound data/buffering to Dirac but it seems unlikely to me. As far as your computer is concerned, there is no extra process/buffering/anything involved with the JB.
The occasional problem between Dirac and Roon also occurs when using connections other than USB (e.g. Devialet AIR) so I don’t imagine that the Jitterbug is involved in this.
HQPlayer 3.14.1 was released yesterday, I will test it at 192 kHz upsampling.
In the HQP preferences on OSX, the buffer size drop down box is greyed out, sets at “default”.
Surely HQP must have a value somewhere to set some memory aside for buffer. Does anybody know if the HQP buffer allocation can be done under the hood?
Or does it rely on a fixed OSX buffer?
Still having problems with Roon and Dirac 1.2 especially whilst playing hi-Rez files.I hope that Roon resolves this as Dirac is important to my system as my room is not the most audio friendly.I don’t seem to have any problems with Audirvana plus or Pure Music and Dirac.I really like the Roon interface and its metadata handling but the distortion is just not acceptable to my ears and I find myself going back to Pure Music/ Audirvana despite preferring Roon for its overall capabilities.
