HP Windows 10 Intel(R) Core™ i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz 3.10 GHz
Networking Gear & Setup Details
Xfinity Gateway (Combined Modem +Router) Not using VPN
Connected Audio Devices
Headphone DAC XDuoo TA 10R USB Audio
USB 2.0
Number of Tracks in Library
Don’t know
Description of Issue
Since getting Roon 2.0, I have a bunch of popping noises coming through the headphones. It almost sounds like static little pops. When I switch to JRiver, Audivarna, I do not hear it.
So I know it is not my DAC.
The issue you’re experiencing sounds like digital disortion as a result of sample rate mismatch or clock sync, probably the former. Roon does not It’s possible the DAC is misreporting it’s capabilities to the driver, and the Windows system output is feeding it the wrong sample rate from Roon.
Would you please equip the technical support team with the following?
Please paste a screenshot of the Signal Path in Roon when you next experience this digital distortion and share it with the team. Additionally, please share the Device Setup
Can you paste a screenshot of the Device Setup page for your DAC? This device will be listed under Roon → Settings → Audio. Click on the gear icon to access the Device Setup menu itself.
Additionally, we’ve attempted to pull backend diagnostics from your account to help pin down the problem quickly. Unfortunately, your Core appears to be offline. I’ve reset the log request to stay active for several days, so would you please keep your Core online for at least one hour over the weekend? Our servers should receive the secure request during that window.
Thanks for getting back to me. I very much enjoy Roon, if only I could get rid of this popping noise. I am attaching the screenshots as per your request. I took the screenshots when the popping noise started. I would keep Roon on for an hour during the weekend. The reason I had it off was because of the popping noise.
The screenshot shows if I understand it correctly that I am using the WASAPI driver. I do not have a Realtek ASIO driver. You can see that in the screenshot under Device Manager.
I do not hear the popping noises when I am using ARC in the gym. I have EQ set for my headphone in Roon. I use an AudioQuest DAC with my Android phone. If I were to use that particular Sennheiser headphone for which I have EQ set, and listen to music through my phone using ARC, would the EQ settings carryover?
Now Roon is shutting off every 5-10 minutes.
Please see attached screenshots. Looking forward to the next steps.
Thank you for your detailed response. Users sometimes have a lingering instance of an additional driver that interferes with the System Output; I was inquiring about the Realtek driver to determine if that was the case here.
I recommend trying out a few different resync delay values in the Device Setup page. Are there any adjustable settings you’ve configured in the DAC regarding sample rate, clock sync, or DSP?
ARC doesn’t currently have customizable DSP settings per output like in Roon Remote, so your DSP settings aren’t carrying over from Roon to ARC with a particular Endpoint. This likely means there’s something about the DSP setting for these headphones that isn’t playing nice with Roon 2.0.
Can you please elaborate on the Parametric EQ and Crossfeed you’ve added by including a screenshot of those saved DSP settings? What happens if you disable this DSP profile altogether for this Endpoint?
If Roon is currently crashing on your Core, please take these steps in the meantime to refresh your Roon database without losing any of your library or custom DSP settings:
Regarding “I recommend trying out a few different resync delay values in the Device Setup page”. I would appreciate instructions. I have not configured any adjustable settings in the DAC regarding sample rate, clock sync, or DSP. Please see screenshot of attached DSP settings. I disabled the DSP profile altogether for my Sennheiser headphone. The popping noise decreased significantly almost to the point of elimination, but I could still hear some popping noise. I very much enjoy Roon and my DSP settings. I will appreciate it if this problem is fixed.
As far as uninstalling and reinstalling Roon is concerned, I navigated to the Roon’s Database location. However, I could only find the “Roon” folder and not the “RAATServer” folder. Please see attached screenshot.
The Roon and RAATServer database locations are in the local app directory; you’ll generally need the precise search term %localappdata% to navigate to the directory. Please see below for an example:
If you still don’t hear this popping noise through the Sennheisers with ARC or other streaming service apps (Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify, YouTube in a browser, etc), then I suspect this is the result of a sample rate mismatch somewhere.
Please disregard my comment concerning Resync Delay, as this option mostly concerns DAC receiving digital clock via optical or coax connections. With a USB DAC you shouldn’t need to worry about it, although for clarification, you can access this option by navigating to Settings → Audio and clicking on the gear icon next to a Zone output. You’ll find a menu under “Device Settings” with Resync Delay. It’s actually in the third screenshot you posted above.
Please let me know once you’ve had a chance to locate and rename the Roon and RAATServer folders, and there are several of us watching this thread to respond promptly.
I did everything you asked me to do. I located and renamed the Roon and RAAT Server folders, turned off all EQ, re-installed Roon. I am still hearing the popping noise. I do not hear the popping noise through Audirvrna, You Tube, etc.
@beka informed me that you might still be impacted regarding this issue and that further investigation is needed here.
I’m looking over your screenshots, and I would suggest that you disable sample rate conversion and try to play different sample rate files, starting with 44.1k and 48k, and see if these work properly, as it’s possible it only impacts the Max PCM Rate.
If this does not help, would you please be able to record a short video/audio recording of how the popping issue sounds through the DAC and upload it to the following link and let us know?
I followed your advice. I disabled the sample rate and the sound got better but I could still hear the popping noise. I have pretty sensitive Sennheiser headphones. I can hear the popping noise (intermittent) through the headphones but when I switched to my desktop speakers, I cannot hear the popping noise. When I use the same headphones and DAC and listen to You Tube or Audirvana, I do not hear the popping noise as stated earlier in the thread.
I would very much appreciate your help on this particular issue. I enjoy Roon. I have a Roon Nucleus. I have not set it up because our house is in the process of remodeling. I plan to use it with a Mytek DAC. I am hoping I will not have the same problem.
Have you had a chance to upload a short video or audio recording of the digital distortion you’re encountering through the Sennheisers? This will equip our Tech Support and QA teams to investigate and compare to account logs on a more granular level.
Parsing the most recent account diagnostics from your Core, there are unexpected playback errors with audio streams originating from Qobuz while you’re attempting to play through your XDuoo headphone tube amp. Out of curiosity, are you experiencing any digital distortion, pops, or clicks when you play local content? Or do you only experience the issue with streamed content from Qobuz or Tidal at this point? Do you have a particular example track that consistently distorts?
We’ll continue our investigation in the meantime. Thank you again for your patience.
Thanks for your response. Since I only hear the distortion through my headphones and not through desktop speakers, I am not sure how to record this. I do not hear distortion when I listen to local content. This pretty much happens with all albums after a while, e.g., with the Carla Bley album yesterday. I uploaded the screenshot.
Thank you for the update and response. Do you have an digital signal processing enabled in the above example, and does the distortion continue if the DSP is disabled? The team will sync and return with next steps shortly.
We’ve merged a few stability improvements into recent updates. Are you still experiencing this issue on the most recent build of Roon?
If so, are you able to see if the CPU of your Core is being taxed heavily when playing back music in Roon? RAATServer may have bandwidth issues if the processing power of the device isn’t sufficient, but with the Core in your description, that sounds unlikely unless there’s other software at play.
We’ll proceed from there! Thanks again for your patience.
We’ve attempted to pull reports from your Core but the device appears offline. Please leave your Core online for at least an hour at some point in the next few days so the most recent diagnostic report can reach our servers. We’ll follow up from there. Thank you!
We also noticed in your screenshot that you have a large number of tabs and software programs open on this computer. How many of these are providing audio output to the same drivers as Roon? Do you encounter this problem if Roon is the only program open?
We appreciate your continued patience with this issue.
Do you experience this popping or distortion when you use another Windows audio driver? Your earlier screenshot of Windows audio devices does list a Realtek High Definition driver, I’m assuming for the system output. Do you experience issues with this output?
Additionally, try changing the resync delay for the Headphone Zone in Device Setup within Roon. We’re curious to see if that helps. Also, please disable all DSP (in particular, parametric equalization) and try to reproduce the issue. Our team will have more granular diagnostics to examine and should make more headway as a result.
