Playback fails with Tidal media loading slowly error after server update (ref#5J25QM)

[mwhitten]

What best describes your playback issue?

· Music stops playing unexpectedly

What type of Zone is affected by this problem?

· *All of my Zones* are affected.

Does the issue affect all file formats?

· The issue affects *multiple/all* file formats.

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

· *Only streaming* music is affected.

Please select the streaming service(s) with which you're encountering playback problems.

· TIDAL

Have you tried logging out and back in again to your streaming service in Roon Settings?

· Logging out and back in had no impact, the issue remains

Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?

· 09 Nov 2025 1:35:50pm OASIS Standing on Shoulder of Giants - Little James

What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?

· HifiBerry DAC+ Pro System software 20230404

Describe the issue

Since last server update playback fails and raises error "Tidal media is loading slowly. This may indicate a network or connectivity problem." Speedtest.org 500mbs, Tidal app direct ok? Apps IOS and MacOS updated. Thanks.

Describe your network setup

Stock standard Netcomm NL20 (Vodafone fixed line internet 500mb)

[alex_h (Alex)]

Good day @mwhitten !

Thanks for sharing your problem to us.

We have analyzed the analytics report from your device and could have seen that there are really some dropouts happening.

In order to solve this problem we’d like to offer you following:

1. Make sure that your HiFi Berry is connected via ethernet cable directly to the router.

2. Please try to disable DSP in Roon.

3. Enable the resync delay of around ~500 ms.

4. try to change the DNS address to Google’s one or Cloudflare’s (8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1)

Let us know please whether the abovesaid was helpful.

Thanks!

Regards.

[connor]

Hi @mwhitten,

Thank you for your post. We wanted to follow up with some additional suggestions and context.

While speed tests can capture the theoretical throughput of the network, they don’t test the network’s ability to sustain a TCP session to Tidal’s API during regular network use. When there’s too much traffic, cars can’t go the speed limit on the road.

Among the many useful steps @alex_h suggested above, the most immediately helpful would be to reassign the DNS server in your router settings administration page. We recommend Cloudflare (1.1.1.1). This ensures your router can reliably resolve the URLs associated with Tidal playback, preventing time-consuming re-requests after resolution fails.

Please try the other steps at your convenience, as well. If you’re still having issues, please let us know the name of a song that dropped out so we can pinpoint the event in logs.

Thank you!