Maintaining control of KEF LS50 speakers

Mac Mini M1 2020

MacMini M1 2020
macOS 12.4
16 GB RAM

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Luxul XGS-1008

Connected Audio Devices

Only using Roon via ethernet

Number of Tracks in Library

195,925 tracks

Description of Issue

A common problem seems to be maintaining control of KEF LS-50 speakers. Mine are hardwired ethernet. For several years it worked fine. Earlier this year the problem started developing. I would simply like to revert to an earlier version of the app…one perhaps from last year when I had no issues…and wait until Roon develops a solution.

Unfortunately Roon do not offer the option of going backwards on software versions.

Can you post a few more details of your setup so possibly assistance can be found?

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The mac holds files on a USB-C drive. Running Roon on that mac. simple as that

Hi @Gary_Clayton1 ,

Can you clarify what you mean by “maintaining control”? Do the speakers have issues during playback, or do they fail to show up in the Roon app? Are there any patterns to the behavior?

Hi Noris…thanks so much for responding. Yes, in my case playback may just stop or skip to later in the track or to the next track entirely, I cannot link it to anything in particular. It seems random.

Hi @Gary_Clayton1 ,

Can you please note the exact local time + date + track (if playing) next time this issue occurs? Perhaps logs can provide clues, I can enable diagnostics after getting a timestamp, thanks!

Hi Noris. It just happened. 7:35am PST. July 8th. The track is “Une vie pour le Tsar (A life for the Tsar)” by Etsuko Hirose from the album “Mily Balakirev: Sonata pour piano en is bemoan miner; Islamey”

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Hi @Gary_Clayton1 ,

Thanks for that inforamation! I’ve enabled diagnostic for your account, but I’m not seeing your Roon Core as online. Can you please open the Roon app on it, use it for at least a few minutes and let me know once you’ve done so? I’ll re-check for any log packages afterward, thanks!

launched a few minutes ago and has been playing

Hi @Gary_Clayton1 ,

I was able to take a look over your Roon logs, and it looks like there was a buffering issue and not much else that I’m seeing:

07/08 07:34:29 Trace: [KEF Nocturnes] [Enhanced 80.4x, 24/96 FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 1:32/12:36] Une vie pour le Tsar (A life for the Tsar) - Etsuko Hirose / Mikhail Glinka / Mily Balakirev
07/08 07:34:30 Info: [stats] 41282mb Virtual, 4707mb Physical, 3268mb Managed
07/08 07:34:34 Trace: [KEF Nocturnes] [Enhanced 80.9x, 24/96 FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 1:37/12:36] Une vie pour le Tsar (A life for the Tsar) - Etsuko Hirose / Mikhail Glinka / Mily Balakirev
07/08 07:34:39 Trace: [KEF Nocturnes] [Enhanced 81.4x, 24/96 FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 1:43/12:36] Une vie pour le Tsar (A life for the Tsar) - Etsuko Hirose / Mikhail Glinka / Mily Balakirev
07/08 07:34:42 Trace: [library] endmutation in 69ms
07/08 07:34:44 Trace: [prebuffer] short read: 0 / 19200 fill=936704
07/08 07:34:45 Trace: [KEF Nocturnes] [Enhanced 82.5x, 24/96 FLAC => 24/96] [100% buf] [PLAYING @ 1:48/12:36] Une vie pour le Tsar (A life for the Tsar) - Etsuko Hirose / Mikhail Glinka / Mily Balakirev
07/08 07:34:45 Info: [stats] 41280mb Virtual, 4707mb Physical, 3345mb Managed
07/08 07:34:48 Trace: [library] endmutation in 66ms
07/08 07:34:50 Trace: [KEF Nocturnes] [Enhanced 83.5x, 24/96 FLAC => 24/96] [50% buf] [PLAYING @ 1:53/12:36] Une vie pour le Tsar (A life for the Tsar) - Etsuko Hirose / Mikhail Glinka / Mily Balakirev
07/08 07:34:54 Trace: [prebuffer] ready 326400/960000 (34%) @ 0/292 sec
07/08 07:34:55 Trace: [KEF Nocturnes] [Enhanced 83.5x, 24/96 FLAC => 24/96] [2% buf] [PLAYING @ 1:59/12:36] Une vie pour le Tsar (A life for the Tsar) - Etsuko Hirose / Mikhail Glinka / Mily Balakirev

The cause of this is hard to say, it could have been a network issue or something similar. Do you only use this KEF zone? If you use any other zones (or even better - zones at the same time as the KEF), are they also impacted?

Hi Noris…I do have a second zone with Devialet Phantoms. I don’t have this problem in that zone. Same network.

It’s now to the point where I can’t play more than a few seconds and Roon loses control of the speakers.

Hi @Gary_Clayton1 ,

How are the Devialets connected compared to the LS50s? Are they connected to the same switch or direct to the router?

Since the issue only impacts your LS50 zone, there is something about the way they are connected, likely on the network end.

I would try to bypass the network switch and also factory reset the LS50s if you can, please do let us know if this helps!

Hi @Gary_Clayton1,

Noris is out this week but I am monitoring your thread.

Please let me know how things go with your test. If the issue persists during this test, please record the date and time for me to check logging.

Thanks,
Wes

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