UPDATE: After further exploration, this is NOT an issue with TIDAL Masters albums. The playback issue was created by having the Roon Core iMac’s Audio Zone set to “System Output” and listening to the TIDAL Masters from that output. I’ve added more details below for anyone who might also encounter this problem.
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Last night I upgraded to Roon 1.3 and attempted to play some TIDAL Masters (MQA) albums, but received the following message:
“A network or connection error is interfering with TIDAL playback”
After rebooting the cable modem, Airport Extreme, microRendu, Roon Core iMac, and Roon Remote iPad – playback of those albums worked perfectly.
EDIT: And that part of my system continues to work with no issues.
But tonight – after updating Roon (build 196) – when I play a TIDAL Masters album, I hear a loud rapid clicking sound with no music. Very strange.
EDIT: This playback issue is on the Roon Core iMac (not the system described above). And the issue has variations.
Sometimes this message will appear: “Select an Audio Zone” (even when the iMac System Output is currently selected). Usually the loud rapid clicking sound includes no music. But sometimes you can hear music in the background. And sometimes the music plays without the loud rapid clicking sound – but the music is seriously distorted.
This playback issue on the Roon Core iMac still seems to be related to TIDAL Masters albums, but it has now happened once with high resolution files on the NAS drive.
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SOLVED: I opened the Mac Utility “Audio MIDI Setup” and explored the different settings, with playback of TIDAL Masters albums.
Bowers & Wilkins MM-1 desktop speakers: with Format set to 44.1 kHz playback is NOISE. With Format set to 48 kHz playback is OK.
iMac Built-in Output internal speakers: with Format set to 44.1 kHz playback is NOISE. With Format set to 48 kHz playback is OK.
Switching to the TIDAL Mac OS application I could not replicate the issue.
In TIDAL > Settings > Streaming > Sound Output:
I tried all three choices (System Default, Built-in Output, and MM-1), with Audio MIDI Setup Format set to 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz, and playback was always OK.
Switching back to Roon, my final test was to Select an Audio Zone.
Instead of “System Output” I selected the audio zone “Bowers & Wilkins” (for the MM-1 desktop speakers). As an experiment, I set the Audio MIDI Setup Format to 44.1 kHz. After starting playback in Roon, I watched the Audio MIDI Setup window, and saw the Format switch to 48 kHz as music playback began.
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CONCLUSION: The TIDAL Masters albums are playing at 48 kHz. In Roon, if I select the Audio Zone for the MM-1 desktop speakers, playback will be fine. In Roon, if I select the Audio Zone for “System Output > MM-1”, I need to make sure the Audio MIDI Setup Format is set to 48 kHz. The only reason I had been using the Audio Zone “System Output” was for the convenience of being able to adjust volume with the Mac’s keyboard. And for some reason the TIDAL Mac OS application works fine, no matter which Sound Output is selected.
Done.