Intermittent dropouts and zone not found error with RoPieee endpoint (ref#662PMU)

[benjamin]

Hey @David_Herzberg,

Thanks for the update and we’re sorry to hear your issues persist!

@David_Herzberg

They have continued to happen, with the same pattern of signs and symptoms that I described previously in this thread.

From a fresh diagnostic report we reviewed, we didn’t see any obvious signs of audio dropouts - would you be able to reproduce and share the specific track name?

@David_Herzberg

Now we’ll see whether that change stops the dropouts. If it does, I’ll needs some other way to display “now playing” and album art, since that was the point of having the RoPieee connected in the first place.

Certainly keep us posted on how the above goes!

[David_Herzberg]

I’m experiencing a dropout right now. I attached a screenshot of showing the track where it occured. And this is now with the RoPieee disconnected from the network, and with a hardwire ethernet connection all the way to the Roon server.

[David_Herzberg]

The dropout are happening every 30 secs or so. I’m going to reboot the Roon server, but this problem has gotten to the point where it’s preventing me from enjoying music.

[David_Herzberg]

I should also note, if I haven’t before, that the dropouts occur both on music streaming from Qobuz, and on music stored locally on my Roon server.

[benjamin]

Hey @David_Herzberg,

Based on a fresh diagnostic report, it looks like you’re using Convolution during playback:

Elements:
    Source Format=Flac 192000/24/2  Quality=Lossless
    UpgradeBitDepth FromBitsPerSample=24 ToBitsPerSample=64 Quality=Lossless
    Convolution
    Truncate FromBitsPerSample=64 ToBitsPerSample=32 Quality=Lossless
    Raat Device=PS Audio USB Audio 2.0
    Output OutputType=Local_Alsa Quality=Lossless SubType= Model=PS Audio USB Audio 2.0

This can be quite taxing on a system during playback, do you experience dropouts without Convolution active?

We see the dropouts occurring during playback:

Trace: [.NET ThreadPool Worker] [PS Audio USB Audio 2.0] [raatclient] GOT [24] {"samples":38128,"status":"Dropout"}

Followed by the PS Audio Stellar Strata completely losing connection with Roon - potentially indicating an issue with USB communication between the Mac and the DAC. Are you using any sort of USB hub? It may be worth testing a different cable and port if possible.

Can you also test out:

• Go to Roon Device Setup for Stellar Strata.

• Set Max Sample Rate to 96 kHz (or lower).

• Disable upsampling in DSP.

Let me know if any of the above help, thank you!

[David_Herzberg]

I’ve tested two different USB cables, including an expensive “audiophile” grade cable, with dropouts on both.

The RoonServer hardware is a Streamplayer made by Jim Salk, not a Mac.

Yes, I’m using convolution filters for room connection, and that’s a good hypothesis to test. I wanted to start with the simpler fixes and see what happens. I was able to change max sample rate to 96 kHz. But I’m not seeing where in settings would be able disable upsampling in DSP.

[David_Herzberg]

The screenshot shows my MUSE settings, sample rate conversion is not enabled. I’m using convolution, but not in a way that requires upsampling. I have a separate impluse response file for each sample rate. How big of a processing load is that?

In terms of the USB connection, the Streamplayer (Roon server) has two USB output ports, and I switched the cable to the other port, and made sure the cable was securely seated at both ends (Roon server and DAC).

[David_Herzberg]

If the problem was in the USB cable connection at the Roon server, or at the DAC, you would think that jiggling the connector would produce a dropout. But I tried that, and it did not cause the audio to drop.

[David_Herzberg]

When I disconnect the Stellar Strata DAC from its USB connection to the Roonserver, it disappears completely from the list of devices in Roon settings, as shown here.

[David_Herzberg]

In constrast, here’s what that same device screen looks like during an audio dropout:

[David_Herzberg]

Roon sees the PS Audio Stellar Strata DAC, but somehow the device has become disenabled (and unnamed), and Roon is working to re-enable the device, but during this process, of course, the audio signal drops out.

The last two pieces of evidence suggest to me that the cause of the dropout is not a physical disconnection of the USB link. If it were, the Roon settings screen would look like it does when I simply pull the USB plug out of the hole.

Instead the problem seems to be caused by momentary “dis-enabling” of a previously enabled device.

[benjamin]

Hey @David_Herzberg,

Thanks for the additional information! From another diagnostic report, we’re still seeing poor connection errors, leading to dropouts and stoppages.

As a next step, could you please test out using a different machine to run Roon Server, like your Mac?

We’re also still seeing upsampling taking place, to which it would be good to disable any DSP.

Thank you!

[David_Herzberg]

I’ve now disabled convolution in Muse, which was the only DSP I had enabled. Can you think of any other source of upsampling in any of the settings?

I’ve attached the current signal path during playback, you can see that the signal is being downsampled to 96 kHz, per your earlier instruction. Why is there a step of bit depth conversion here - could that be causing the problem?

Also, can you explain more what “poor connection errors” means - what are the possible causes of that.

Thanks!

[David_Herzberg]

The dropouts continue even with all DSP and upsampling disabled. I’m working on switching my Roon server to a different machine.

Could it be meaningful that the dropouts almost always occur during the middle hours of a weekday, and almost never in the early morning, late night, or on weekends?

[benjamin]

Hi @David_Herzberg,

@David_Herzberg

I’ve attached the current signal path during playback, you can see that the signal is being downsampled to 96 kHz, per your earlier instruction. Why is there a step of bit depth conversion here - could that be causing the problem?

What are the device setup max sample and bit rate settings set to? From our prior conversation, I believe you set the Max Sample rate to 96kHz, which would explain the downsampling.

@David_Herzberg

Could it be meaningful that the dropouts almost always occur during the middle hours of a weekday, and almost never in the early morning, late night, or on weekends?

Potentially - the log repeatedly shows “accessTimeout:True,” indicating that the system is struggling to retrieve data consistently, possibly due to network congestion or weak connectivity:

• Debug: [138] FTMSI-B-OE qo/14AADBA5 interrupted req 1; missing block 25

• Debug: [95] FTMSI-B qo/14AADBA5 download status: FirstBlockRetrieved accessTimeout:True

Do you see any issues when playing a lower resolution file?

@David_Herzberg

I’m working on switching my Roon server to a different machine.

Definitely let us know how that goes!

[David_Herzberg]

@benjamin

Potentially - the log repeatedly shows “accessTimeout:True,” indicating that the system is struggling to retrieve data consistently, possibly due to network congestion or weak connectivity:

But - dropouts also occur when playing material stored locally on the Roonserver. This would seem to indicate a cause other than network congestion, which presumably would cause dropouts only on audio streamed from Qobuz - correct?