Multiple issues that keep me from going to subscribe.. :(

Hello all,

Still in my trial period but not really convinced I should continue with Roon. I have ran into multiple issues that I think for the price are unacceptable…?

The biggest issue is when I play on my MacBook Pro (Intel Core i9) and then group it with NAD T778, after a few seconds / minutes it will start to have sync issues, and I get an echo-y kind of sound. Both devices are in my living room. The NAD is connected via ethernet and the MBP via Wifi.

Another issue is that the MacBook will sometimes just randomly stop playing.

Third issue is, I was using Roon Arc in my car a few days back and also here, the playback just quits sometimes. It seemed to happen on particular tracks though, maybe the encoding of the particular track might have something to do with it…?

I don’t want to be fiddling around with settings, I think for such a high praised premium product, in this price range, it should really ‘just work’.

I have three days of free trial left, maybe if someone has an answer how to fix these issues I might try that, but no, I am really not convinced as of yet…

Kind regards

Issues

If you are able to group endpoints, they should stay in sync. If they’re not, something’s awry. Could you explain how your system is connected, and maybe post a screenshot of the signal paths, grouped and ungrouped?

Probably still the known issue that’s described / under investigation here. Most likely a BluOS issue, I think, that started to occur after a BluOS firmware update last year. Not sure if they fixed it yet (check that your NAD firmware is up to date):

Hello Andy thanks for posting back. I can group via Airplay or Roon ready to the NAD and I have chosen the latter option. I have attached some screenshots, hopefully those will provide some info.

thanks in advance.


Scherm­afbeelding 2024-03-29 om 11.29.08
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Try enabling the MacBook to “Core Audio” under Settings > Audio, and you’re currently using OS mixer, which can interrupt playback.

I have multiple options for CoreAudio, my attached monitor, the attached scarlett 212 and the MacBook speakers. Guess I’ll go with the Scarlett then?

cheers

I would. What are you connecting to the Scarlett?

(Can’t see why the OS mixer would affect group sync, but… ?)

I have the same sync issue are the start of a new track grouping a NAD M10 V2 and a pair of KEF XLS II. If I restart the track the song will sync, but at the start of the next track it returns.

It was the other issue where the MacBook stops playing, including ARC.

Re. Core Audio, it looks like they’ve been renamed. Try and check the signal path and check that tge green dot is replaced with a bluish star.

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Only a pair of active speakers.

Maybe I missed the answer to this above but where is the Roon Server software running. If Roon server is on the MBP and that is connected via Wi-Fi that could cause some issues, not necessarily what your experiencing, but it’s generally advised to have the server device connected to the router via Ethernet.

Hi Mike,

Roon Server is running on a headless M2 Mac Mini server that is connected by wire to my home network. The MBP only acts as a client.

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The Macbook is not my server, it’s just one of the clients.

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This is the current situation, been playing for over an hour now and everything seems pretty much synced up still.

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Sounds promising. Probably worth a monthly sub at least then. Consider it a paid trial… :wink:

As you’ve managed to change from the OS Mixer on the MBP Roon client device to the Core Audio USB, this will stop the resample in the OS Mixer (which is why it said high quality)

Hi @Pascal_Louwes,

Thanks for taking the time to write in and share your initial experience with Roon! Sorry to hear about your hiccups along the way, how are things sounding currently?

I also want to extend a thank you to @Martin_Webster and @AndyR for the helpful tips so far! :raised_hands:

I’ll be on standby for your reply Pascal.

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Hello Benjamin, thanks for joining in the conversation.

The syncing issue between the MacBook pro client and my NAD T778 seems to be solved so far. The other two issues have not come back just yet, but I have not used ARC in my car again, so I will have to report back on that one.

One other thing I noticed is that on my iPhone (14 pro), the Roon Remote app is laggy when scrolling.

And, but this is subjective, I find the carplay user interface not very engaging, very underwhelming actually. It can be a real pain to find that particular track or album. But maybe that is because I am a new user and have not seen all features yet…?

Cheers,
Pascal

CarPlay: This is a bit old but I believe it is still correct:

As someone who rides bicycles, I find many posts about people‘s CarPlay wishes slightly alarming, to be honest :slight_smile:

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One would think though that a team of good UXers should be able to work around those limitations…?