DSF Playback Dropouts from NAS and SSD with WASAPI (ref#NFXVBN)

Support
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What best describes your playback issue?

· Music stops playing unexpectedly

What type of Zone is affected by this problem?

· *Network Zones* are affected.

Is the affected network Zone connected with Ethernet or WiFi?

· Ethernet

Does the issue affect all file formats?

· The issue affects *multiple/all* file formats.

Does the issue happen with local library music, streaming service music, or both?

· *Only local library *music is affected.

Where is your local content stored?

· Somewhere else on the local network (NAS)

If you move the content from your NAS to a local storage location, do you still experience issues with playback?

· The issue happens for both the NAS storage location and on the secondary storage location

Please try playing content of a lower sample rate (44.1kHz or 48kHz), does this work as expected?

· No, lower sample rates are still affected

What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?

· Chord Hugo TT, Curious Cable/UpTone Regen, Focal Solo ST6

Describe the issue

Playing DSF drops out then continues from NAS and from local SSD. Tried WASAPI same result but cannot play next album in queue (Device In Use). Other apps works (JRiver and Foobar).

Describe your network setup

Upgraded PC from 6700K/16GB DDR4/GTX1060/Win10 to 14700K/32GB DDR5/RTX4070s/Win11. Connected to Chord Hugo TT (their W10 drivers), and Curious Cable/UpTone USB regen. QNAP HS-251+ and local SSD (Samsung QVO 870 8TB)

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Hello @Hedwig_Poon1 ,

Thanks for reaching out with your message. Can you please confirm if this issue also happens when using the ASIO driver, or does it only occur with just the WASAPI one? You can try to perform to perform a RAATServer refresh to see if this helps.

You can generate a new RAATServer instance on your device by following these instructions, but please be aware that this will reset your Roon Settings → Audio Tab to factory settings and I would advise making a backup of any custom DSP settings you have:

  • Create a Backup of your current Roon database
  • Exit out of Roon
  • Navigate to your Roon’s Database Location
  • Find the folder that says “RAATServer”
  • Rename the “RAATServer” folder to “RAATServer_old”
  • Restart the Roon App to generate a new RAATServer folder
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Worked last night but this morning, it’s hiccuping pretty badly. :frowning:

Also, using WASAPI, I get Device In Use going from album to album. ASIO plays through. Both drops out.

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Hey @Hedwig_Poon1,

Thanks for following up! From a recent diagnostic report, were seeing repeated "status": "DeviceInitFailed" which suggests that your server could not properly initialize the Chord device.

To confirm, have you enabled exclusive mode when selected as a zone? I’d also test using other cables and ports just to be safe, if possible.

What are the buffer settings on the Chord zone?

As a next step, I would re-install your ASIO drivers, as well as check for any firmware/driver updates to the Chord Hugo.

Thank you!

5

Hi Benjamin,

Tried rebooting and now even a new launch of Roon results in Device In Use when trying the WASAPI driver. Transferring zone to the ASIO driver works. Also, swapped USB port…same result.

Don’t see where I can set/check buffers in the ASIO settings. Currently, this is set.

Chord Hugo TT (ASIO)

Private zone: No

DSD playback strategy: DSP over PCM v1.0 (DoP)

MSQ capabilities: No MQA support

Volume control: Fixed volume

Resync delay: 0ms

Max sample rate (PCM): Up to 384KHz

Max bits per sample (PCM): 32

Max sample rate (DSD): Up to DSD128

Zone grouping delay (ms): 0.00

Clock master priority: Default

Enable MQA core decoder: No

Use maximum Buffer size: Yes

Use power-of-2 Buffer sizes: Yes

Channel layout: 2.0

Multichannel mixing: Downmix as needed

Chord Hugo TT (WASAPI)

Private zone: No

Exclusive mode: Yes

DSD playback strategy: DSP over PCM v1.0 (DoP)

MSQ capabilities: No MQA support

Volume control: Fixed volume

Resync delay: 0ms

Max sample rate (PCM): Up to 384KHz

Max bits per sample (PCM): 32

Max sample rate (DSD): Up to DSD128

Zone grouping delay (ms): 0.00

Clock master priority: Default

Enable MQA core decoder: No

Enable event mode: Yes

Force max volume at playback start: No

Work around devices that misreport capabilities: No

Buffer size: Default

Multichannel mixing: Downmix as needed

Tried uninstalling drivers, rebooting, and reinstalling Chord drivers (also contacted Chord and they said try reinstalling).

Deleted RAATServer folder and recreated it.

As mentioned, it’s dropouts are more frequent with DSD than with FLAC. I tried to capture it but it seems if I rewind the dropped section, it will play fine. So it may be a buffering issue. Having said that, I also copied an album from the NAS to a local SSD and it’s still drops.

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Here’s a video from my phone (snippet of DSD w/ dropout).
Roon Dropout Video

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If you remove the Regen from the chain does it make a difference? Alternatively, you could just have the Roon Server feed PCM since that Chord DAC doesn’t actually play DSD. Even if you give it DSD (either native or DoP), the Chord Dac will turn it into PCM first.

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Removing the Regen made no difference. For the record, I don’t experience the dropouts with other apps (Foobar and JRiver). Also, I am playing via DoP (as mentioned above).

I didn’t have dropouts in my old W10 setup and with lower power gear (i7 6700K, 16GB DDR4, GTX1060 - 3GB).

Weird.

9

You may also try to increase re-sync time in roon to 2 to 5 seconds. Start with a higher value and listen for a while, if dropouts reduce.
I remember I had a very similar issue. And increasing re-sync time solved it for me.

10

And not sure if in this case you can see the processing factor in the signal path. If you can, which value is shown during dropouts?

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Hi @Hedwig_Poon1 ,

Thanks for the video, it is strange that the dropouts are happening with a full buffer and no playback interruptions. Do you have another USB cable you can try to use to connect to the Hugo? Does the issue happen in Roon Ready mode or just USB?

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Thx…it’s DSD so just DoP.

13

Sadly, I don’t have a spare USB-B cable…just the Curious Cable. As mentioned, the same setup is working with other apps (JRiver and Foobar 2000).

14

Have you by any chance tried to turn these settings off and are still reproducing the issue?

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Aren’t those only for PCM playback? Does it do anything for DSD files?

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Hi @Hedwig_Poon1,

Thank you for following up! After reviewing a new diagnostic report, we noticed that RAATServer is trying to connect to a Sonic Studio Virtual Mixer. This virtual mixer might be interfering with Wasapi playback and causing the issues you’re experiencing.

Could you try temporarily uninstalling or disabling the virtual mixer to see if the problem persists? Let us know how it goes!

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