DSD files play poorly--slow loading

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1

My system: Synology DS213 NAS hardwired to router in room 1. Roon core on a MacPro 2013, also ethernet hardwired in room 2. One Eero extender hardwired in MacPro room 2. One Eero extender wired to a Lumin D2 streamer in room 3. The hardwired Eero in room 2 and the D2 Eero in room 3 are 20 ft apart with a clear line of sight between them.

Roon has been streaming non-DSD files fine, but when I stream DSD files, there are multiple instances of interruption in each song with a message about slow loading. I have no problems streaming the DSD files when I use the Lumin app instead of Roon. When I test wireless internet speed in the three rooms, it is always between 150-250 Mbps, so I believe the network is fast enough.

My questions:

  1. What kinds of things can I do to remedy the situation ? I would much rather use Roon than the Lumin app ?

  2. Would my situation be remedied if I put my music on a hard disk mounted to the Roon core MacPro as opposed to the NAS ?

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If that’s not difficult to achieve, this is worth a try.

Please check whether every router, switch and Eero and see whether they have an option called “flow control”. Toggle it and retry.

4

Thanks for the detailed report, @dan_baldwin!

Can you share a screenshot of the signal path when playing DSD content?

Does this type of behavior occur with all endpoints, or just the one? If you play to a device connected directly to the MacPro or to the system output of the MacPro do you have a different experience?

This would definitely be a good test as it sounds like there may be some networking difficulties when playing this type of content. If you put a couple DSD tracks locally on the MacPro and add that folder as a watched folder and try to play that content do you experience the same issue?

Another test to try would be to connect your endpoint and Core machine directly to the main router via Ethernet. Do you still experience the same behavior in that configuration?

Thanks,
Dylan

5

Thank you Peter and Dylan-- I will follow up when I have a chance to do tests and gather info.

Dan

6

Hello Dylan–

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Screen Shot 2018-09-19 at 9.01.21 AM.jpg1614Ă—1444 264 KB

I’ve attached a screen shot of the signal path when experiencing the slow loading DSD files. I also experience the issue when I play the DSD files to the system output of the MacPro, so I think that pretty much narrows it down to either:

  1. problems with the Roon core manipulating DSD files on the MacPro or
  2. Problems with the path between the Synology and the MacPro. I have not had a chance to mount a hard disk on my MacPro yet, but that will probably determine between 1) and 2) … correct ?
    At this point all the internet connections between the Synology, MacPro and D2 are hardwired with no Eero repeaters involved.

I am wondering if a Nucleus+ or a similar dedicated Roon box will alleviate my problems ? Its a lot of $$ to find out !

7

I think your MacPro does not have to be upgraded. Please do these:

  1. Either turn off volume leveling or uncheck “Enable Native DSD Processing” in Roon DSP Engine
  2. Disable “Enable Opportunistic Locking” in SMB Advanced Options on Synology NAS
  3. Move a DSD128 album from Synology to MacPro internal storage - see if it now plays DSD128 album perfectly that is stored in the MacPro instead of Synology.
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I will give those a try Peter
Thanks

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  1. Neither of those helped.

  2. I could not find the setting anywhere in the Synology, I’m sure its there but I couldn’t find it even with the Synology documentation. Says its under:
    Control Panel->File Sharing->File Services, but I couldn’t find File Services

  3. I hooked up an SSD to the MacPro and can play DSD files with no problems.

So, I think since 3) works I am just going to abandon the Synology at this point and put all of my music on the SSD

Thanks all for your help !!

10

This confirms there is something suboptimal with the Synology setup in your environment. If you would like to try it further, check this out:
https://www.synology.com/en-global/knowledgebase/DSM/help/DSM/AdminCenter/file_winmacnfs_win

It’s fine (and is probably better) to keep all the music files directly on the MacPro, if you don’t need to access the files via other Synology services for other purposes.

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