Multichannel HDMI audio device fails to initialize (ref#CPX7WT)

Support
1

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· None of the above quite fits

None of the above quite fits

· None of these quite match

Tell us what's going on

· Multichannel over HDMI continually fails to initialize audio device

Tell us about your home network

· Unifi Dream Machine Pro

2

Hello @Wesley_Burchfield ,

Welcome to the forum. Can you provide more details regarding your HDMI output? According to diagnostics, it looks like you are using a Windows-based Roon Server? What audio device are you connecting the HDMI to? Does 2ch HDMI audio work as expected? If you connect the HDMI to a TV, does that work? What about if you use the System Output zone, and then route to HDMI using the Windows audio mixer? Let us know when you can!

3

And which mch file types are you using? Maybe DSD/DSF? This not possible with Windows via HDMI, only PCM.

4

HDMI out from windows 11 PC on nvidia rtx5080 pcie graphics card going to Yamaha RX-A8A. Works with the same PC on jriver and foobar. Also tried surface pro 5 to the same receiver with the same result. Also tried another windows 11 machine with onboard Intel graphics with same result.Dsd/dsf and pcm multichannel wont work. Have dsd set to be converted to pcm in roon.

5

When you were asking about it being connected to the tv, do you mean connect the pc to the tv only and see if the multichannel audio would play on the tv?

6

And I did try one using system output zone with the n idia hd audio being set tas the default sound output on the pc

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Sorry I typed that last reply on my phone and fat fingered it. I did try once using system output zone in roon nvidia hd audio set as the default sound output on the pc in windows.

8

Since it’s all on Windows, did you already check the used HDMI audio settings in Windows?

If you go to the exact Windows audio HDMI port settings you use for roon, you should see how many channels/speakers are configured. What do you see, two or more channels? If you see only two, change it to the proper number in your room.

It’s only a guess, but it might help.

9

Hey @Wesley_Burchfield,

Thanks for the reply and additional information!

From a fresh diagnostic report, we can see every single failure follows the same pattern:

  1. Roon tries to set up the NVIDIA HDA WASAPI device for 8-channel PCM at 176.4kHz/24-bit (the DSD64→PCM conversion for your multichannel SACD/DSF files)
  2. The NVIDIA device responds: RAAT__OUTPUT_PLUGIN_STATUS_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED
  3. Roon gives up and throws Track Stopped Due to Error
This happens even though the device's own format list does advertise 176400/24/8ch as supported. The problem is a WASAPI exclusive mode negotiation failure, the driver says it supports the format in the capabilities list, but then refuses it when Roon actually tries to open the stream.

Could you please share a screenshot of your Audio devices settings? Also, the advanced settings if possible.

I’d also confirm which NVIDIA HDA device maps to your active HDMI port. Your PC has two NVIDIA HDA entries. In Windows:

  • Open Sound settings → check which NVIDIA device is set as default and matches the HDMI port going to the RX-A8A
  • In Roon, disable both NVIDIA HDA zones and re-add only the correct one (check its device ID matches what's active in Windows Sound)
We’ll be monitoring for your reply, thank you! 🙏
10

I had unhooked the pc with the nvidia rtx 5080 last night and hooked up another one with the Intel onboard graphics trying to rule out the nvidia card as the source of the problem. After reading your latest response, I went back and messed with some of the settings in roon. As long as I set the maximum sample rate to 96khz it will play all multichannel. Wav, flac, and dsf on this pc with the Intel on board graphics. I will hook the one with the nvidia back up and report back. Thank you.

11

I hooked the pc with the nvidia graphics card back up with the same result. It will play stereo files that are 192khz and below but not multichannel. Multichannel will only play at 96khz or lower. Is there any setting that can convert the sampling frequencies of multichannel down to 96khz while still allowing the stereo files to play at up to 192khz? I checked jriver,and foobar2000 again and they will both play the multichannel files at 192khz.

12

I’m just going to use foobar.

13

Hey @Wesley_Burchfield,

Thanks for the update. If you want to try to get this working in Roon again in the future, let us know. This does sound likely to be a driver mismatch somewhere, and we would also suggest trying ASIO mode if it is available.