I have a new Nucleus Plus. I just set it up. It is connected to my stereo via HDMI to a Marantz 8805 pre/pro.
The source files are in FLAC on an older WD my book duo in a RAID 0 array which is connected directly to the Nucleus Plus via USB. The Nucleus Plus is connected to my network via an ORBI extension unit.
The setup went fine, however during playback every few minute I experience dropouts. The dropouts only last a second or two and usually occur in pairs that are about 5 seconds apart.
I control Roon through my iPad via the app. This looks like a wonderful product if I can eliminate the dropouts.
I have to use the ORBI satellite to link to the network. I had the dropout issue both when I linked to the AV8805 pre/pro via the network and then when I linked via the HDMI connection directly from the nucleus plus to the Marantz unit. I have also tried a different HDMI cable but still experience occasional brief dropouts. The nucleus plus unit is a brand new one, labeled rev. A. The unit works great if I could eliminate the dropouts. The drop outs occur with both cd resolution flac files and higher resolution files. I can’t help but think it is either the nucleus plus with the roon software or the older western digital duo book providing the files to the nucleus unit over USB. I just hope I can fix the problem, would love to keep both the nucleus plus unit and the roon software as otherwise it is a great improvement to what I had.
Hi @Robert_Middaugh ----- Thank you for the report and the continued feedback! The insight is very appreciated!
Moving forward, if you are a TIDAL user have you been able to verify what the experience is like when streaming TIDAL based content? My assumption is that it would be the same behavior but please do confirm Additionally, from your words, it sounds like you may have some concerns with the health of the “older western digital duo book” currently hosting your music collection. During your troubleshooting of this issue have you tried testing with another external storage device to verify what the experience is like?
Furthermore, our knowledge base has good documentation on the best approaches for dealing with audio dropouts. If you haven’t already, I would recommend giving it a read.
I do not have a tidal subscription so I cannot help with that. I substituted in my newer, current model western digital duo book that is set up with a raid 1 array and the problem remains unchanged. Based on the fact I have tried two sources, and connected to the AV8805 two different ways I am concerned the problem is with my new nucleus plus or the roon software. I have tried several suggestions in your knowledge base for dealing with dropouts, so far unsuccessful. This looks like a great product (nucleus plus and roon software) but I need to be able to listen without the dropouts. I did think it was interesting that the dropouts are almost always 2-3 secs long and occur in pairs about 10 seconds apart. Thank you for the help, I really would like to get this working with my library.
Hi @Robert_Middaugh ----- Thank you for touching base with me and taking the time to answer my questions. The continued feedback is very appreciated!
Continuing forward, before we start looking into gathering diagnostics and time stamps, I would like to recommend trying to test with another device mounter to the Nucleus+ in order to try and isolate this behavior a bit further. This test will provide us with a good data point because if the issues occurs again this would suggests a more general issue occurring, but if the issue does not present itself again this also suggests that this behavior may be isolated to the 8805.
Today I took my nucleus plus over to a friend to show him what Roon was all about. I connected it to his Yamaha receiver via HDMI and everything worked perfectly. He will be buying a unit in the next few months for his library. When I came home I reconnected the unit to my new Marantz pre/pro, the AV8805 and the unit seemed to have trouble reestablishing a connection to my home network and the Marantz unit, but after several reboots that seemed to smooth out. Unfortunately the occasional brief dropouts that occur in pairs a few seconds apart and every couple of tracks is now recurring. This is the issue I had when I initially setup the unit. The nucleus plus is connected to my AV8805 via HDMI also. When you opened a ticket with support last time they corrected something and the problem was completely fixed until I connected the unit to my friends receiver. Please correct it again and let me know if I should not use it to demo for anyone else. Thank you very much.
Thanks for contacting support, I’d be happy to take a look over this issue with you. Starting off, I should mention that I have merged your new thread with your old thread and have re-opened it since it appears to be the same issue, I do apologize that it was automatically closed.
We did not correct anything on our end when you previously opened the support ticket, it is possible that something in your environment has changed that allowed the dropouts to be temporarily suppressed, but the underlying issue appears to still exist. I offer the following suggestions:
• Have you ever performed a firmware update on the AV8805? I have previously used the AV8805 and if you navigate to the front-panel settings menu on the unit itself, there is an option to update firmware over the Network. I would try this step first to see if it yields any change in behavior.
• Is it possible to test the exact same setup temporarily with another Amplifier other than the AV8805? With this test in mind I want to confirm if the issue is a networking/processing one or if it’s related directly to the AV8805’s ability to process the audio stream.
• If you temporarily disable the DSP options for the audio stream going to the AV8805, do you still see dropouts occur?
• Can you please provide the approximate number of tracks in your library and a screenshot of your Signal Path information while there is music playing? (Refer to screenshot directly under “Enhanced Signal Path Example” that shows what processing speed tab looks like). I am curious here as to what the reported “Processing Speed” is while there is music playing, and if there is a bottleneck in the processing speed.
Please let me know after you have had a chance to perform the steps above and let me know if it helps resolve your issue.
I guess it was just a coincidence, however, when the last roon update came out, the issue disappeared, and my thread was closed which is why I assumed you believed you had corrected the issue. Thank you very much for helping me eliminate this issue I really like both the Nucleus+ and the Roon software.
I logged the Marantz AV8805 in and checked. The firmware is up to date. The problem does not occur when I link to my ipad and use it for playback. The DSP engine has always been disabled. The signal Path: is Lossless. There is a lavender star at each component in the path. The source is flac 44.1khz 16bit 2ch; the nucleus+ is roon advanced audio transport; the nucleus HDMI Output is ALSA. I checked and currently have 60,972 tracks.
Thank you for your reply and providing the additional information. We are trying to see if we can replicate the issue you are experiencing on our end and possibly provide an explanation as to what could be going on here and what steps to take to remedy it.
Moving forward, I have enabled diagnostics on your account so our technical staff can get some more insight into what’s going. What this action will do is the next time the application is active on your core device a diagnostics report containing a set of your Roon logs will automatically be generated and uploaded directly to our servers. These logs will provide more information to our QA team who will be taking a closer look at your case. I will be sure to update you once our servers have received the logs and then we can get them added to our QA team’s queue for review.
I kindly ask for your patience while our system processes the logs and the QA team gets a chance to review them.
Additionally, from your words, it sounds like you may have some concerns with the health of the “older western digital duo book” currently hosting your music collection. During your troubleshooting of this issue have you tried testing with another external storage device to verify what the experience is like?