Hello, I sometimes notice that when playing music (regardless of the quality), playback stops intermittently on my Samsung HW-810D (Google Cast). I have to restart playback, which can sometimes be difficult, and the soundbar even seems to disconnect. Roon is running on my NAS (Docker, version 2.73), connected via Ethernet to my router, and then via Wi-Fi 5 to the soundbar (software: SAT-MT8532D24WWC-1072.1, submodule software: 107).
Thank you for your help, Alex
Describe your network setup
The NAS is connected to the router via a wired connection, and the soundbar is connected via Wi-Fi
We pulled the Roon Server logs from your NAS and checked the playback on your soundbar between October 2 and October 4.
We found two different kinds of stops, and both come from the soundbar side, not from your NAS or your music files:
The soundbar’s Google Cast receiver reports an error in the middle of a track and stops. Roon was sending the stream normally with a full buffer each time (for example on October 4 at 12:19, about 40 seconds into a 24/48 FLAC track).
The soundbar drops off the network. On October 4 at 12:53, playback froze at 1:58, and about a minute later the soundbar disconnected from Roon. Over the past five weeks the soundbar disconnected and reconnected about 48 times, and its IP address changed twice.
There were no errors reading your files, so moving content off the NAS is not needed.
To narrow this down, please try the following:
Please set a DHCP reservation (fixed IP address) for the soundbar in your router, and make sure it is connected to the 5 GHz band.
Please check that the router and the soundbar both have the latest firmware.
Please enable the soundbar’s AirPlay zone in Roon (Settings > Audio) and use it for a few days instead of the Google Cast zone, with the same kind of music.
If AirPlay plays without stopping, the problem is in the soundbar’s Google Cast receiver, and we will tell you what to report to Samsung. If AirPlay also stops, the Wi-Fi connection is the more likely cause.
If it happens again, please note the time and the zone you used and let us know, so we can look at that exact moment.
Following up on our last exchange, have you had a chance to try the DHCP reservation and 5 GHz connection for the soundbar, and to switch over to its AirPlay zone for a few days? If you have not already, our Networking Best Practices and same subnet/IP range guides may help while you check the router side as well. If anything still cuts out, send us the time it happened and which zone you were using, and we can compare it against the logs again.
Please note, if we don’t hear back from you this thread may close automatically soon. If the thread auto-closes and you need further assistance, please submit a reopen support request via the technical support help form below and specify that the issue should be reopened. Thank you.
Thank you for the links. By following the recommendations, I enabled IGMP snooping and flow control (symmetric) on my Netgear MS510TXM switch.
A few days ago, I reconnected my sound bar to my Wi-Fi and fixed its IP address.
Despite this, playback via Chromecast seems to fail, but via Airplay it seems to work properly.
However, I noticed a Wi-Fi connection issue today before starting my music tests, because the sound bar was not detected on Roon, and detecting my Wi-Fi from the sound bar took a long time.
I would like to be able to take advantage of the broadcast via Chromecast, as it normally offers more possibilities in terms of throughput.
Thank you for testing all of that, it gives us a clear answer. Since AirPlay plays without stopping on the same network, the problem is in the soundbar’s Google Cast receiver, not in Roon, your NAS or your network. The latest logs show the same pattern: on October 27 around 21:40, Roon was streaming normally with a full buffer, and the soundbar’s Cast receiver rejected the stream (“LOAD_FAILED”). Earlier, on October 4, it reported a decoding error in the middle of a track.
About quality: Google Cast on the soundbar can play up to 48 kHz, so your 24-bit/48 kHz files go through as they are. AirPlay is limited to CD quality (16-bit/44.1 kHz), so Roon converts them. More here: Google Cast and AirPlay Setup
To get Google Cast working reliably, please contact Samsung support and tell them:
HW-Q810D, software SAT-MT8532D24WWC-1072.1, connected over 5 GHz Wi-Fi with a fixed IP address
The Google Cast receiver stops mid-track with a media decode error (Cast error code 102), and rejects new streams with “LOAD_FAILED”, for example after seeking within a track
AirPlay on the same network plays without problems
The soundbar also sometimes takes a long time to rejoin Wi-Fi