I am sorry to bother you again, this time I think there is a bit of an issue I could use some advice / help with:
I am experiencing clock drift or loss of syncronisation between two zones that I have grouped:
Naim Nova (roon ready with latest firmware)
Bluesound Pulse 2 (recently purchased).
The clock priority (highest) is with the Naim and Bluesound Pulse 2 has a ‘2’. Playback starts and the two play in perfect sync. Within 20 minutes or so there is a noticeable echo and the two are clearly out of sync.
Things I tried: Reboot router, restart roon core. No luck so far.
Just to add a bit more info regarding the above problem:
The loss of sync is more pronounced (happens quickly and is more severe) when I add Bluesound zones. I have a Pulse 2 and a pulse Flex and these two lose synchronisation within 10 - 15 mins. They are out of sync with each other. I have them placed in the same room and the echo is pretty bad.
The Naim Nova (Roon ready) and my windows PC (Roon bridge) stay in sync with each other but the blue sound zones are completely off in comparison (and with each other).
The problem is even worse when I try to play a radio station via Roon.
Just a final update:
I conducted further testing I have confirmed that the Bluesound Flex and Pulse 2 are the prime suspects.
Test 1: I created a simple group: Pulse Flex + Pulse 2. Just the two without the rest of my end points.
Started playback (Radio station) and initially the two played in perfect sync. 20 minutes later they are clearly way out of sync with the usual resulting echo.
Test 2: Tested the Flex and Pulse 2 using the Bluesound app (having first exited Roon). Same radio station and the two are in perfect sync no matter how long I wait (30+ mins playback).
Test 3: A further test with Roon. I grouped two non Bluesound endpoints alone: Naim Nova and Roon Bridge (on my Win 10 PC). I am playing the same radio station and they two stay in sync (30+ mins playback).
Test 4: Grouped Bluesound Flex and the Roon Bridge endpoint (Win 10 PC). These stay in sync so a single Bluesound endpoint seems to be ok when grouped.
In conclusion:
The problem appears when 2 Bluesound endpoints are grouped.
Roon keeps two zones in sync when there is only one Bluesound endpoint included.
No sync problems with non Bluesound end points.
Dear @support, I have been experimenting to try and find a solution to the problem above but I have ran out if ideas. Any advice or help would be super appreciated
The problems seem to be related to how Roon controls Bluesound zones. No problems when I use the Bluesound app but when I use Roon I quickly experience out of sync play.
I initially had the Bluesound speakers (Flex and Pulse 2) running wireless and the problems were certainly more pronounced then. I have a very strong wifi performance in the flat however. I temporarily ran ethernet cables from my router to test the Bluesound speakers that way. Situation slightly better that way but out of sync playback still happens.
@support, looks like I spoke too soon unfortunately. As soon as i tried skipping a few tracks and rewind another, synchronisation totally out. What is worse, one of the zones (Naim Nova) disappeared soon after and I had to reboot it for the zone to reappear in roon.
As I skipped a few tracks I could actually hear the music slow down for a few seconds which was really strange.
For the time being I am going to scale down my use of Roon as I am unable to achieve reliable multiroom playback. I realise this is probably a complex problem and that it might not be easily addressed.
Thanks for the feedback here – we’re aware of some improvements we could make in this area, but I can give you a little more detail about where we’re at.
Based on your reports, it sounds like you’re doing better when you make Bluesound devices the master, so that’s a good place to start right now, when possible. I realize there are times when you are trying to use 2 Bluesound devices, in which case this won’t be possible.
We did make some improvements in this area when we released a new verison of RAAT a little while back. Once we release a new version, it’s up to partners to include the new code in their own firmware updates, so you may see an improvement in this area once they include the latest RAAT code in their firmware.
As I mentioned, there are some other ways we believe we can achieve tighter sync across multiple rooms, but those changes are a bit more involved and I don’t have a firm timeline to share right now. Keep an eye on our release notes and when we mention changes to our syncing specifically or to RAAT in general, please let us know if things are getting better, or not.
We’ll also mention this to Bluesound, and see if there’s anything we can do to improve here. We appreciate the feedback!
@mike, thank you very much for the input. I understand a lot more now. Roon improves (and will continue improving) but it is up to other manufacturers to update and include these improvements. Roon does not control that part of the process.
I absolutely love Roon and it will continue being my main focus but as I also love reliable multi-room (in sync) with minimal fuss, I will have to reconsider how to achieve it at present. While Bluesound speakers sound great, I will probably have to consider alternative End points.
As I see it I have two options:
Go back to Sonos and use it for multiroom. Switch to direct Roon on my Naim when I sit down for critical listening
Set up Roon bridge end points (mini PC based, RoPie etc.)
The second option is definitely a lot more complex but ensures a unified experience and potentially higher quality all around.
The Sonos option is initially simpler but it means switching regularly.
Just sharing my thoughts and thank you again for the feedback.
Best
Yiannis
PS: I so wish that Roon produced its own speakers! One can dream
