Roon and PS Audio Sprout100

[paulie]

Hi there,

I’m having trouble playing back music on my Sprout100 integrated amp.

My setup: Roon ROCK on Intel NUC8i7 --> router --> Allo USBridge --> Sprout100 USB input

When I try to playback music, I get no sound. The progress bar does not advance, and Roon skips to the next song in the playlist. Here is my signal path:

I have read some forum posts about trouble with the Sprout100 and maybe it being related to driver issues with the Allo USBridge, but at this point I just don’t know.

Thanks!

[ged_hickman1]

Your signal path doesn’t show the Allo. Another thread had a path in it as below.

Signal path help and device set-up

Hi there, I am using a Mytek Liberty DAC fed by an Allo USBridge from my Core on a NUC via Ethernet. I am not 100% sure I have set up the device correctly. I have seen, on other threads, users with both their bridge and DAC on their signal path/device set-up, how would one go about doing that? I currently see an option to recognise the DAC but unfortunately Roon does not yet have the Liberty if I try to ‘identify the device’. I could recognise the end point as the USBridge instead but then I ca…

[noris]

Hello @paulie,

Are your Allo and Sprout on the newest firmware versions? Also, can you please post a screenshot of your Audio Devices Tab? It should looks something like this:

Thanks,
Noris

[paulie]

Hi Noris,

Thank you so much for your reply.

The Allo is updated:

The Sprout doesn’t have an option to update the firmware, so I’m assuming it’s OK. It was purchased recently.

Here’s my Audio Devices tab for the Sprout:

[noris]

Hello @paulie,

Thanks for posting those screenshots. I’d like to perform a test here to see if this helps, can you please:

1. Select the DSP setup for the Sprout100 zone by right-clicking the zone name in the bottom right (next to the volume controls) and then pressing DSP

2. Turn “Headroom Management” to On

3. Set the headroom adjustment to -1 dB

4. Reboot your Core, Allo USBridge and Sprout100 and try to reproduce this issue

5. Note the exact local time that you perform this test (e.g. 12:18PM) and let me know

Thanks,
Noris

[paulie]

@noris

OK, I set the DSP Headroom Management to -1dB and rebooted everything. The error still occurs–music does not play, no progress bar advancement, and skip to next track.

Test was done at 1628 local time.

[john (John Iburg)]

Hello @paulie,

Could you try plugging the PS Audio Sprout100 into the NUC running ROCK and reporting if you’re able to get playback to work?

-John

[bevan_court]

I also found problems. When I connected a Raspberry Pi it found it fine.

It’s almost like the USB driver in the Allo doesn’t work with the Sprout, parhaps due to the outdated kernel certainly interested to find a solution.

[paulie]

I flashed Volumio onto the Allo USBridge, then installed Roon Bridge. It says the Sprout100 is recognized, but the exact same problem happens: no music playback, no progress bar advancement, skip to next song:

As @john has asked, tomorrow I will connect the Allo directly to my ROCK and see if that changes anything.

[paulie]

@john

OK, I’ve directly attached my Sprout100 to my ROCK via USB. As before, Roon recognizes the Sprout:

However, the same problem persists: no music playback, no progress bar advancement, but this time it cycles through the queue much faster haha

Honestly I’m surprised. I figured connecting it directly to ROCK would work. This test was done at 1758 local time.

[paulie]

Just in case, I rebooted ROCK, but same problem persists.

[paulie]

I ran 2 more tests:

Installed Sparky Linux on an old PC laying around, then Roon Bridge. Same playback issues.

Hooked the Sprout100 directly up to my MacBook Pro acting as a Roon endpoint (same ROCK), OS X 10.14.3…it works fine! I’m so confused. I’m not sure what it is about Linux, even newer kernels, and this Sprout100. I’m really hoping @john or @noris can help!

[john (John Iburg)]

Hello @paulie,

Thanks for the extensive testing, we’re going to reach out to PS Audio and see if we can find a solution. I will keep you updated on our findings.

-John

[paulie]

Interestingly, I tried things out with an RPi 3 running Ropieee…no dice. Same issues. I’m now wondering what USB controller the Sprout100 is using…

[john (John Iburg)]

Hello @paulie,

We are seeing a few reports of USB DAC functionality not working with Linux on the PS Audio Sprout100. Here is a thread on the PS Audio community site with a similar report.

Sprout100 + Linux USB

We’re engaged with PS Audio to see what can be done here. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the process.

-John

[Bob_Worley]

Does anybody have anything new to report on this issue?

[john (John Iburg)]

Hello @Bob_Worley, @paulie, and @bevan_court,

It appears the PS Audio has found the cause of the issue and has a new firmware available to enable playback from Linux USB hosts. From what I can gather, this firmware would require you to send your unit to PS Audio for the firmware update procedure.

More information can be found here:

Sprout: USB Audio 2.0 compliant?

-John

[bevan_court]

Thanks @john, just received mine back from PS Audio. They fixed the static on powering on and off while it was back. I will be trying the USB connection tomorrow to see if that is working as well. They were very helpful and communicative.