Issue with NUC ROCK causing slow and distorted music playback through Marantz receiver (ref#DG477J)

Support
1

What best describes your playback issue?

· I'm hearing clicks, pops, or unexpected noises

Is there a specific error message you see? If so, please select from the following options:

· Other

Please try to reboot your Roon Server and check to see if this helps.

· Rebooting my Server had no effect, the issue remains

Please try to reboot and unplug/replug in your affected audio device and check to see if this helps.

· Rebooting and unplugging/replugging my audio device, the issue remains

Please open your Roon Remote and select the "System Output" Zone and try to play to it. Do you encounter any playback errors with this Zone?

· I can play back music *without issue to System Output*, it is only the *other zone that has issues*

What method is the audio device connected with to the server (Roon Ready, HDMI, USB, AirPlay, Chromecast, etc.)?

· HDMI

Is the audio device on the latest firmware version, as per the manufacturer's app?

· Yes

Is there any change in behavior when using a different cable for the connection for the audio device?

· No, using a different cable didn't change anything

Have you reached out to the manufacturer of the audio device regarding this issue yet?

· No, I have not reached out

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

· Both local and streaming content are affected

Please try playing content of a lower sample rate (44.1kHz or 48kHz). Do you still have the same issue?

· No, lower sample rates are still affected

What is the model/manufacturer of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?

· Marantz SR6015, HDMI

Describe the issue

Hello, I am new to Roon. I have a NUC ROCK connected via HDMI to a Marantz SR6015 receiver. The NUK is connected via ethernet cat-6 cable to my fiber modem.

ROCK setup went smoothly. I was able to update the BIOS and codecs. The machine is a Roon-recommended: Intel NUC11PAHi7 with 16gb ram and 512gb ssd. My local library is on an external hdd connected to ROCK by USB.

After first booting the NUC ROCK, music plays normally through the Marantz receiver, and sounds great! When I turn off the receiver and turn it back on, the music is slow and very distorted. The only remedy I have found is to reboot the NUC each time I want to listen to music. Restarting Roon Server s/w doesn't help.

Troubleshooting I've done so far:
- Tried playing local and Tidal streaming files
- Tested multichannel dsf, stereo dsf, flac, wav, mqa and mp3 files
- Tried different bit rates and sample rates under Device setup
-Tested connecting to several hdmi inputs on the Marantz, and tried different new cables (hdmi & ethernet)
- Tried enabling 'Headroom management' and/or 'Sample rate conversion' in MUSE
- Tried mapping the Marantz to several Roon-tested Marantz devices in Device setup under 'Identify this device'
- Unplugged and re-plugged everything back in
- Rebooted the modem, players, receiver, PCs and tv
- I made sure all devices have the latest firmware and software updates
- I set up a second NUC as a Roon Bridge running Windows 11 pro, connected via HDMI to the receiver, and wi-fi to Roon ROCK. I tested a few generic ASIO drivers on the Bridge (ASIO4ALL, FlexASIO, Steinberg). Occasionally I'd get silent playback instead of the slow distorted audio.

The NUC ROCK and Bridge are connected to separate power sources from the rest of the equipment.

I'm able to play Roon music through Chromecast to my Sony TV, on to the Marantz receiver in stereo. Playing from Roon to an Oppo BDP-105 USB dac, to the Marantz also works fine, but only in stereo because the Oppo 105 dac is 2-channel only. I would like to be able to enjoy my collection of multichannel dsf albums (ripped from SACDs using Oppo 105)

The Marantz plays fine with all other hdmi and analog sources.

Thank you for reading! Any advice would be much appreciated. Happy to post screenshots and send log files as needed.

Describe your network setup

CenturyLink C4000XG gigabit fiber modem, TP Link wifi mesh extenders (not for ROCK which is on ethernet). All devices are on the same gateway & subnet. Permanent DHCP reservations

2

Hello Amir, welcome to the Roon forum and community.

I’ve been down the same road you’re on with similar equipment (Nuc/rock, Denon receiver, OPPO 205) and PCM/DSD multi-channel and stereo via the HDMI connection.

First thing to get out of the way is Roon doesn’t play DSD over HDMI, DSD gets converted to PCM when playback starts. You can see the conversion steps listed in the Signal Path display. Your NUC appears to be keeping up with a processing speed on 19.5x.

When DSD 256 5.1 files are attempted on my setup with the NUC8I7BEH HDMI connection the conversion drags the processing speed down to 1x resulting in stuttering and skipping. It starts playing then stumbles. That only occurs with DSD files. PCM 192/24 5.1 plays over HDMI without any issues since there is no conversion taking place.

Are you having these issues with PCM over HDMI or just DSD?

My 205 is roon ready and receives the signals over Ethernet and USB but, like you’ve discovered, its 2 channel only (no sub channel or multi-channel) with Roon. Very disappointing for me.

I gave up on trying to use the OPPO for Roon MC playback and purchased a roon ready MC DAC that plays DSD/PCM vie Ethernet. The DAC I have uses the same 7.1 analog connections to the receiver as does the OPPO.

There are several dacs on the market that will work with Roon for MC DSD playback. Unfortunately for us, OPPO is not one of them.

1 Like
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Hi @Mike_LC,
Thanks for your feedback. We do have a similar setup. I too was disappointed to find out (after buying it on ebay) that the Oppo 105 dac is 2-channel only. I don’t regret buying it though, because it does so many other things really well.

I’ve come to accept the fact that multichannel DSD playback devices are rare and expensive, so I’m content with converting to PCM. It is my understanding that Sony/Philips originally intended DSD to be used for archival purposes, not playback.

I’m having playback issues with PCM over HDMI. I get that slow, distorted playback with ROCK connected to the Marantz receiver via HDMI. The most frustrating part is that playback works fine, and sounds awesome, immediately after rebooting ROCK! Then it reverts to slo-mo noise when the receiver is turned off and back on.

I am looking into an 8-channel DAC from miniDSP that is supposed to play nicely with Roon. I’m also interested in the cheap 8-channel dac from Hifiberry, which is a HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5.

Does anyone have experience with either of those two dacs?

P.S. I enjoyed reading an article in the Roon Knowledge Base about Multi-channel playback, particularly this sentence:
“The multi-channel world is a graveyard of false-starts and obsolete technologies, plus a lot of video/movie specific schemes that aren’t very relevant in an audio-only environment like Roon”
:slight_smile:

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The OPPO BDP105 is a great player. I still have my 105 after upgrading to the 205 when it came to market. Sometimes I pass old equipment down to my daughter or other family members when I get a replacement but I didn’t want to let go of the 105. Happy that I kept it after finding out it could be used to rip SACDs.

Can’t understand what is causing the issues you mentioned with HDMI to the Marantz. I’ve had the NUC/Rock to Denon AVR over HDMI for about 5 years now and it works well with no issues. I use the AVR DOLBY processing to simulate MC from Stereo input.

I do recall a problem, in 2019, with my LG OLED TV causing stuttering, skipping etc with Roon playback over HDMI. I had a USB powered LED light strip connected to the TV for backlighting. Strange as this sounds the TV was trying to pull power from HDMI for the USB powered light strip and that was causing the issue with Roon playback. Removed the USB light strip from the TV and the problem was resolved.

Before I realized what was causing the problems with direct playback over HDMI, I had connected the HDMI from NUC/ROCK to the HDMI input on the OPPO then HDMI ouput from OPPO to the Denon AVR. That played fine without the issue.

You could try that yourself as a test. Run HDMI from the NUC to the OPPO then to the Marantz. There should be an option in the OPPO setup to pass the HDMI in to the HDMI out. Thats assuming the 105 has that same setup as the 205 does.

Might be worth a try while you’re waiting for Roon Support to respond to this post.

1 Like
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Hey @Amir_Malek,

Thanks for taking the time to write in!

Our team was able to review a diagnostic report from your ROCK and are curious to see if your Marantz is potentially picking a different ASIO driver when shut off and rebooted.

How many different ASIO drivers do you have installed on the ROCK? Are you you able to temporarily disable all but one, and test if your issue persists?

We’ll be on standby for your reply. Thanks! :+1:

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Hi @benjamin, thanks for looking into this.

I haven’t installed any ASIO drivers on ROCK, as far as I am aware. Since it’s running Roon OS, I don’t know how to install or modify anything on it. I don’t know much about Linux in general.

In a separate troubleshooting experiment, I did try installing a few ASIO drivers on a Roon Bridge, running Windows 11 on a dedicated NUC. I first tried the bult-in Realtek ASIO and Windows Wasapi drivers. Both gave me the error message “Too many failures. Stopping playback.” Then I tried ASIO4ALL, Steinberg ASIO, and FlexASIO. I would uninstall one and install another. They all produced either silent or distorted playback.

Only the Roon Bridge was connected to the Marantz via HDMI during the above ‘experiment’. The ROCK was connected to the modem via ethernet cable.

Does ROCK pull ASIO drivers installed on a Roon Bridge?

Thanks!

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Hi @Amir_Malek,

Thanks for the follow-up, and my apologies, I had your NAS’s mixed up.

Can you redownload the Realtek drivers directly from the Realtek site? I’d be curious to see if there’s any difference between that and the built-in windows version. Here’s a link:

https://www.realtek.com/Download/List?cate_id=593&menu_id=298

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