Intermittent gaps during playback, suspected prebuffering issue (ref#L6AOOX)

Support
1

What best describes your playback issue?

· I hear A Gap when I'm playing music

What type of Zone is affected by this problem?

· All Zones are affected.

Does the issue affect all file formats?

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

Does the issue still occur with all Digital Signal Processing (DSP) disabled in MUSE?

· Removing DSP has no effect. I'm still having the same problem.

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

· *Only streaming* music is affected.

Please select the streaming service(s) with which you're encountering playback problems.

· TIDAL

Have you tried logging out and back in again to your streaming service in Roon Settings?

· Logging out and back in had no impact, the issue remains

Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?

· 07/03 22:20:45, 07/03 22:23:28, 07/03 22:29:34, 07/03 22:33:31, 07/03 22:35:39, 07/03 22:53:42, 07/03 23:05:11, 07/03 23:28:06, see log clips below

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

· described below

Describe the issue

I have small gaps in playback mid song, about 1/8 to 1/4 of a second. Its a gap not distortion, I have noted times when this occurs and looked into the logs and it seems to be lining up with prebuffer short reads. My chain is roon server running in docker on Unraid, connected via 10gb link to my switch which is connected via a 25gb link to my router which has a 1gb wan link so speed is not the issue here. My networking gear is all unifi, I've attempted various QOS rules nothing helped so i started thinking it was server resources. However my the roon server has 128gb of ram available 16 core cpu and all data is running on SSD's, so I don't believe that's the issue either. From my roon server my endpoint is an iFi Zen Stream linked to my Audiolab 7000a via Coax, I've tried optical and usb but same behaviour persists. the Ifi is linked via ethernet back to the switch. Its a dedicated line that goes directly from the switch to the ifi so no extra switches or hubs in the route. The only other networking potential is VLAN's I run multiple VLANS, the server and endpoint however are on the same VLAN so no inter vlan routing is occurring there.

Describe your network setup

described above

I have pasted some clips of the times I've noticed a gap, the pattern is always the same.

==== CLIP 1 (around line 30) ====
07/03 22:20:14 [Local 07/03 22:20:14] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:58/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:19 [Local 07/03 22:20:19] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:03/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:24 [Local 07/03 22:20:24] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:08/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:27 [Local 07/03 22:20:27] Info: [stats] 21000mb Virtual, 3116mb Physical, 1030mb Managed, 2086mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 89 Threads
07/03 22:20:29 [Local 07/03 22:20:29] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:13/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:34 [Local 07/03 22:20:34] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:18/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:38 [Local 07/03 22:20:38] Trace: [Stereo] [zoneplayer/raat] sync iFi ZEN Stream (SPDIF): realtime=20090694619209 rtt=500us offset=-211533950380us delta=282us drift=45504us in 2503.653s (18.175ppm, 65.430ms/hr)
07/03 22:20:39 [Local 07/03 22:20:39] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:23/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:42 [Local 07/03 22:20:42] Info: [stats] 21021mb Virtual, 3116mb Physical, 969mb Managed, 2147mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 118 Threads
07/03 22:20:44 [Local 07/03 22:20:44] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:28/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:45 [Local 07/03 22:20:45] Trace: [prebuffer] short read: 0 / 19200 fill=956489
07/03 22:20:49 [Local 07/03 22:20:49] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [67% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:33/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:54 [Local 07/03 22:20:54] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [19% buf] [PLAYING @ 3:38/3:45] Hazey Jane II - Nick Drake
07/03 22:20:55 [Local 07/03 22:20:55] Trace: [prebuffer] ready 326400/960000 (34%) @ 0/162 sec
07/03 22:20:57 [Local 07/03 22:20:57] Info: [stats] 21021mb Virtual, 3116mb Physical, 977mb Managed, 2139mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 114 Threads
07/03 22:20:58 [Local 07/03 22:20:58] Debug: [easyhttp] [52477] GET to https://api.roonlabs.net/metadata/1/albums/166:0:313954106/credits?c=tidal-ng&tidal=max returned after 313 ms, status code: 304, request body size: 0 B
07/03 22:20:58 [Local 07/03 22:20:58] Debug: [easyhttp] [52479] GET to https://api.roonlabs.net/metadata/1/works/174:1:70ad4141-2840-3aa4-940b-70d7155eff1c/parts?c=tidal-ng&tidal=max returned after 339 ms, status code: 200, request body size: 0 B
07/03 22:20:58 [Local 07/03 22:20:58] Debug: [easyhttp] [52474] GET to https://api.roonlabs.net/metadata/1/tracks/168:0:313954108/lyrics?tidal=max returned after 347 ms, status code: 304, request body size: 0 B
07/03 22:20:58 [Local 07/03 22:20:58] Debug: [easyhttp] [52475] GET to https://api.roonlabs.net/metadata/1/albums/166:0:313954106?c=tidal-ng&tidal=max returned after 358 ms, status code: 304, request body size: 0 B
07/03 22:20:58 [Local 07/03 22:20:58] Debug: [easyhttp] [52478] GET to https://api.roonlabs.net/metadata/1/works/174:1:70ad4141-2840-3aa4-940b-70d7155eff1c?c=tidal-ng&tidal=max returned after 354 ms, status code: 200, request body size: 0 B
07/03 22:20:58 [Local 07/03 22:20:58] Debug: [easyhttp] [52476] GET to https://api.roonlabs.net/metadata/1/albums/166:0:313954106/tracks?c=tidal-ng&tidal=max returned after 326 ms, status code: 304, request body size: 0 B


==== CLIP 2 (around line 197) ====
07/03 22:22:57 [Local 07/03 22:22:57] Info: [stats] 21021mb Virtual, 3115mb Physical, 1073mb Managed, 2042mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 118 Threads
07/03 22:23:02 [Local 07/03 22:23:02] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:00/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:07 [Local 07/03 22:23:07] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:06/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:09 [Local 07/03 22:23:09] Trace: [Stereo] [zoneplayer/raat] sync iFi ZEN Stream (SPDIF): realtime=20241642185126 rtt=500us offset=-211533945814us delta=815us drift=50070us in 2654.596s (18.862ppm, 67.902ms/hr)
07/03 22:23:12 [Local 07/03 22:23:12] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:11/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:12 [Local 07/03 22:23:12] Info: [stats] 21045mb Virtual, 3115mb Physical, 1050mb Managed, 2065mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 130 Threads
07/03 22:23:17 [Local 07/03 22:23:17] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:16/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:22 [Local 07/03 22:23:22] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:21/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:27 [Local 07/03 22:23:27] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:26/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:27 [Local 07/03 22:23:27] Info: [stats] 20996mb Virtual, 3115mb Physical, 996mb Managed, 2119mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 87 Threads
07/03 22:23:28 [Local 07/03 22:23:28] Trace: [prebuffer] short read: 0 / 19200 fill=943698
07/03 22:23:32 [Local 07/03 22:23:32] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [66% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:31/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:37 [Local 07/03 22:23:37] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [18% buf] [PLAYING @ 2:36/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:38 [Local 07/03 22:23:38] Trace: [prebuffer] ready 326400/960000 (34%) @ 0/366 sec
07/03 22:23:39 [Local 07/03 22:23:39] Trace: [Stereo] [zoneplayer/raat] sync iFi ZEN Stream (SPDIF): realtime=20271739628959 rtt=500us offset=-211533945371us delta=154us drift=50513us in 2684.693s (18.816ppm, 67.736ms/hr)
07/03 22:23:42 [Local 07/03 22:23:42] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [PLAYING @ 2:41/2:43] Place To Be - Nick Drake
07/03 22:23:42 [Local 07/03 22:23:42] Info: [stats] 20970mb Virtual, 3115mb Physical, 1045mb Managed, 2070mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 93 Threads
07/03 22:23:43 [Local 07/03 22:23:43] Debug: FTMSI-B closed file for ti/5D382C54; open files:0
07/03 22:23:43 [Local 07/03 22:23:43] Debug: FTMSI-B ti/5D382C54 download status: AllBlocksDownloaded accessTimeout:True openFiles:0 prev:(AllBlocksDownloaded,False,1)
07/03 22:23:43 [Local 07/03 22:23:43] Info: 
--[ SignalPath ]---------------------------------------------

==== CLIP 3 (around line 401) ====
07/03 22:29:03 [Local 07/03 22:29:03] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:20/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:08 [Local 07/03 22:29:08] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:25/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:11 [Local 07/03 22:29:11] Trace: [Stereo] [zoneplayer/raat] sync iFi ZEN Stream (SPDIF): realtime=20604200812959 rtt=0us offset=-211533959187us delta=-118us drift=36697us in 3017.168s (12.163ppm, 43.787ms/hr)
07/03 22:29:13 [Local 07/03 22:29:13] Info: [stats] 20993mb Virtual, 3115mb Physical, 1045mb Managed, 2070mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 104 Threads
07/03 22:29:13 [Local 07/03 22:29:13] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:30/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:18 [Local 07/03 22:29:18] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:35/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:23 [Local 07/03 22:29:23] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:40/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:28 [Local 07/03 22:29:28] Info: [stats] 20997mb Virtual, 3115mb Physical, 1051mb Managed, 2064mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 106 Threads
07/03 22:29:28 [Local 07/03 22:29:28] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:45/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:33 [Local 07/03 22:29:33] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:49/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:34 [Local 07/03 22:29:34] Trace: [prebuffer] short read: 0 / 19200 fill=941848
07/03 22:29:38 [Local 07/03 22:29:38] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [60% buf] [PLAYING @ 5:55/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:41 [Local 07/03 22:29:41] Trace: [Stereo] [zoneplayer/raat] sync iFi ZEN Stream (SPDIF): realtime=20634328646500 rtt=500us offset=-211533958353us delta=238us drift=37531us in 3047.295s (12.316ppm, 44.339ms/hr)
07/03 22:29:43 [Local 07/03 22:29:43] Info: [stats] 21013mb Virtual, 3115mb Physical, 992mb Managed, 2123mb estimated Unmanaged, 862 Handles, 114 Threads
07/03 22:29:43 [Local 07/03 22:29:43] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [12% buf] [PLAYING @ 6:00/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:44 [Local 07/03 22:29:44] Trace: [prebuffer] ready 326400/960000 (34%) @ 0/237 sec
07/03 22:29:45 [Local 07/03 22:29:45] Trace: [broker/accounts] [heartbeat] now=07/03/2025 22:29:45 nextauthrefresh=07/03/2025 22:34:46 nextmachineallocate=07/04/2025 01:34:45
07/03 22:29:48 [Local 07/03 22:29:48] Trace: [Stereo] [Lossless, 24/96 TIDAL FLAC => 24/96] [PLAYING @ 6:05/6:06] Poor Boy - Nick Drake
07/03 22:29:50 [Local 07/03 22:29:50] Debug: FTMSI-B closed file for ti/ABDC9901; open files:0
07/03 22:29:50 [Local 07/03 22:29:50] Debug: FTMSI-B ti/ABDC9901 download status: AllBlocksDownloaded accessTimeout:True openFiles:0 prev:(AllBlocksDownloaded,False,1)
07/03 22:29:50 [Local 07/03 22:29:50] Info:
2

Your problem is the Zen Stream, unfortunately. I struggled with those gaps on my Zen Stream for too long, tried many different things, including installing different firmware versions, USB vs S/PDIF, ethernet vs WiFi, nothing solved the issue. UnifFi network. I have multiple other Roon endpoints on three different locations, the Zen Stream is the only one that exhibited that behavior.

Several others have complained about the same Zen Stream issue, there’s even a whole thread on it on this forum.

I gave up, replaced the Zen Stream with a Raspberry Pi running Ropieee, problem solved. Life is too short.

3

So how is the Zen Stream certified Roon Ready then. I thought the whole point of the certification was to ensure it played nice with Roon.

That’s disappointing to hear, what’s this other thread called? Because the Zen Stream didn’t always do this. I suspect it may be firmware related if that’s the case.

4

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/all-is-not-well-with-the-ifi-zen-stream-dropouts-since-august-2023-firmware-update-s/

You are correct on this being the result of a firmware change. Mine also worked without hiccups originally, although it had other issues, like disappearing from the network occasionally. I tried to go back to earlier firmware but the device kept getting confused about the updates and I was never able to get it to a good state.

Roon may have certified it when it had the non-hiccup-y firmware. They can’t keep retesting devices for each new firmware update.

5

Thanks, and yes you make a good point. I’ll give a rollback a go if that fails I suppose I’ll have to move on from the Zen Stream like you. Appreciate the succinct and quick replies.

6

Hello @Greg_Bobbery,

Thank you for reaching Roon support. Please let us know if the software rollback resolves the issue with the Zen streamer.

7

I’ve done a decent amount of listening over the past few days and I’m happy to report I haven’t noticed any of these gaps. To be sure it’s only been a short while so further listening is required to see if it is really resolved.

@Fernando_Pereira The firmware rollback process was super straightforward and I’m having no noticeable reintroduction of bugs. Might be worth a revisit. Noting that my ZS is hardwired with a dedicated run to my switch and given a static IP.

8

My ZS was also wired to a UniFi switch, with static IP. The problem is that it kept getting wedged when reinstalling firmware and I could never get it back to a functional state. I’ll try again when I have time, but TBH my current setup (Pi 5 in Flicr case, Ropieee software, Topping HS02 USB isolator) works perfectly for my use case, so my ZS debugging motivation is low.

10

Hi @Greg_Bobbery,

Thank you again for the report. As others have mentioned, this is not the first report associated with this particular Zone’s firmware release; we’ve escalated internally to the Partners team so they can reach out to the manufacturer.

If playback remains stable after the rollback, we’ll mark your above post as a Solution for public visibility and allow this thread to auto-close. It will remain open for a day or two in case symptoms return. Thanks again!

12

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