Homepod Stereo Pair Not Working in Roon (ref#5DEEDA) [Ticket in]

[optimaxi]

What’s happening?

· Other

How can we help?

· None of the above

Other options

· Other

Describe the issue

Homepod stereo pair (2nd gen) not working. Sometimes the icon may flash very quickly as a pair, but otherwise they appear as separate endpoints, which also keep missing. Homepods do work if they are not paired. And stereo pair works fine via iPhone, e.g. with Apple Music.

Describe your network setup

Core on i7 Windows 11 laptop connected by 5Ghz wireless. Bluesound Node 2i is hard wired to the router, which is tp-link deco BE22 wifi 7 mesh.

Have tried few things:

-Mac Mini M4 as core, stereo pair still didn't work plus couldn't adjust volume of Homepods.

- Hardresets of Homepods

- Couple other routers

[noris]

Hello @optimaxi ,

Thanks for reaching out. Can you please confirm how you are grouping the homepods, are you using Homekit? If you group them from within Roon, does that work as expected?

[optimaxi]

Thanks for the answer! I have grouped the homepods using homekit and with iPhone the stereo pair works just fine. In roon in audio settings all my homepods keep appearing and disappearing. I can group the stereo in roon as individuals but the stream cuts quickly after starting.

EDIT: if I enable only one of the homepods then the stream works quite well

[Mr.Flibble]

@optimaxi

tp-link deco BE22 wifi 7 mesh

Are the HomePods connecting to one of the mesh nodes in the Deco set?

Are the nodes hardwired for backhaul, back to the primary node?

[optimaxi]

Node is connected by cable to the Deco unit where both of the homepods are assigned to connect.

[alex_h (Alex)]

Good day @optimaxi !

Have you tried to toggle the compatibility mode in the settings of the HomePods in Roon ?

If not please try to toggle this mode and try again.

Let us know please whether it makes any effect.

Thanks!

Regards.

[optimaxi]

Hi Alex,

Both are in compatibility mode, but unfortunately it hasn’t solved the problem.

[benjamin]

Hi @optimaxi,

Thanks for the additional information!

If you first set the grouped homepods as the system output of your remote device, and then set up that same system output as your zone in Roon, are you able to get playback?

[optimaxi]

Yes, I get playback when I set the HomePod stereo pair as MacBook Air’s default audio output and set MacBook as Roon audio output device.

[alex_h (Alex)]

Hi @optimaxi,

Thank you for confirming the details.

It appears that the behavior you’re experiencing is related to a known issue, which our R&D team is already investigating under an active bug ticket. A fix is expected to be included in one of the upcoming Roon releases.

In the meantime, we recommend using your HomePod stereo pair as the system output of your MacBook and selecting the MacBook as the playback zone in Roon - this setup should work reliably until the issue is resolved.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience and truly appreciate your patience and understanding while we work on a permanent fix.

Have a great day!

Best regards!

[optimaxi]

Thanks for the information! I’ll look forward for the fix in upcoming releases.