I have tried the LS50w connected by ethernet. Albeit ethernet via home plug but I connected the ethernet cable to a PC before connecting to the speakers to check the speed. I was getting internet download speeds of 180Mbps. This is obviously download rather than network speed but confirms both are fast.
Unfortunately, when I try to convert the sample rate to the maximum 192KHz I am still getting distorted noise via ethernet as I do when I try to do the same thing with wifi. If I clear the play queue so nothing is playing, there is still noise. This persists until the sample rate is changed back to 44.1KHz.
Please help.
Could it be that my computer is not powerful enough to perform the maximum sample rate conversion? Roon is running on a 2012 Mac mini 2.3GHz i7 so the machine is old - but still quite powerful?
This… I don’t understand at all. Are you saying after playing high sample rate, when you stop Roon, there’s still crackling noise coming from the Kefs? At what point does it go away? Once you change the Sample rate in DSP and then re-start playback?
Very odd behaviour.
I use the exact same Mac-Mini as my core, I have no problems. In fact I once tried playing Hi-Res or up-sampled to 6 zones at once and the Mac Mini didn’t even break a sweat!
I’m suspecting your Kef Streaming module, or in-built DAC.
Have you ever connected to them by USB?
Would it be possible to temporarily bring the Mac Mini to the Kefs and connect via USB, then try Up-sampling to them there? This would at least prove if the DAC is OK receiving 192/24.
Incidentally… do you have any native Hi-Res content? How does that play? (Non up-sampled, but native 192/24)
Another thing to double check… Now your Kefs are connected via ethernet, either side of the ethernet plug, do you have solid orange and flashing green status lights?
Thanks for all your help and suggestions. I think everything points towards them being faulty. I tried playing native 24/192 files and have the same issues as when I upsample. I also tried playing the same files via Audirvana+ wirelessly and had the same result which rules out problems with Roon.
I’m so gutted as I’ve only had them a few weeks and suffered running them in every day for hours. They have over 200 hours on them now and are perfectly set up and now I think I’ve discovered they’re faulty. It seems strange that they play 44.1, 88.2 and 96KHz though doesn’t it?
The only thing I haven’t tried is a factory reset which I’ll give a go tomorrow but I’m not holding much hope.
Would you conclude they are faulty given the Audirvana results too?
I’ve been trying to solve this problem today and got no where. I’ve tried using with a fast ethernet connection rather than wifi and different software (Audirvana). Unfortunately I get the same results.
Have you put much effort into solving the issue your end? Have you contacted KEF? - I haven’t yet.
The only thing I haven’t tried is a factory reset which I’ll try tomorrow. Have you tried this?
This is a strange one, and I’m sorry you’re having problems. Just so I have this completely clear, issues are arising playing anything at 88.2kHz and above?
I’ve run through Roon and upsampling in Roon DSP on my own pair of LS50W (one of the first out of the factory) and haven’t encountered anything (upsampling 44.1kHz, 48kHz and 88.2kHz, max power of 2). I’ll give the pair at the office a try when I get back in, although I can’t say I’ve come across this on that pair either.
Sorry to suggest the obvious here, and I have read that your pair are new to you (matter of weeks?) and that we last had an update for LS50W back in October 2018, but if you could go to Settings -> Speaker info and check your firmware version - should read p6.2101809170.105039. If it isn’t, then you would need to get a computer or laptop nearby, as well as a USB cable between them, and perform the firmware update using the installer on the support page:
Let me know what happens here, and in the interim I’ll try and see if there’s any thoughts on this from our product team.
The speakers are playing everything up to and including 96KHz but no higher. They were running the latest firmware out of the box so I’ve not had to update them.
Is there a way of performing a factory reset beyond just reverting to the default sound profile? Could that help?
Is it likely to be a hardware fault given they are playing - fabulously - up to 96KHz? They won’t play any of my natively higher res files or handle any up sampling beyond this rate. This is the same with wifi and Ethernet and also the same with both Roon and Audirvana.
It’s strange there is someone in this same thread with the same issue/ fault.
There is a factory reset - on the rear next to the basic speaker position buttons (wall/free space, desk/stand) is a small pinhole for the reset - press and hold this with a paperclip or so until the wifi light on the control panel starts flashing red/white. You’ll have to onboard the LS50W again after that, as the network information will be cleared.
I may have missed this when reading through the thread, but does this issue happen when you use USB? It would be a very useful step to check.
I tried connecting via USB and 24/192 files work fine. There are no problems at all.
I then tried wirelessly and the problem returned. I performed a factory reset and unfortunately this made no difference. The problem still persists and appears to be isolated to the network/ wifi input.
Unfortunately using them via the USB connection is not practical for me. I bought them to use wirelessly.
Does the above help with diagnosis and is there anything else I can try before we establish this is a hardware fault?
I may have been too previous in answering your original question about firmware.
I was confident the speakers were up to date as I checked them when I got them. They were up to date and there haven’t been any updates since. However, I was double checking the version number you gave against the number showing in the app and they are slightly different. The version number my speakers are running reads: p6.2101809171.105039. This is one digit different to the number you supplied.
Misfiring finger on my part there! I do apologise.
You’ve already tried the other avenues I’d investigate (everything via ethernet, different software), so I’m afraid I can only suggest getting in contact with the dealer.
Out of interest, did it do this with native 96kHz/129kHz files before you tried upsampling? Or have you always used upsampling within Roon?