Roon ARC with Intermittent Dropouts using Chord Poly

Support
#1

Roon Core Machine

ROCK, NUC8i7BEH, Crucial 8GB Single DDR4 2400 MT/S, Transcend 128GB Nvme PCIe Gen3 X4 MTE110S M.2 SSD Solid State Drive

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Ethernet to NUC: Google WiFi, TP-Link 8 Port Gigabit Switch, Synology DS920+

Connected Audio Devices

MacBook Pro, iPhone 13 mini, Chord Mojo2/Poly, Chromecast Audio

Number of Tracks in Library

43,000

Description of Issue

I have the Chord Mojo2 and the Roon-ready Chord Poly. The pair has worked fine with Roon, but using it the Roon Arc (which is a fantastic app) leaves me with intermittent dropouts that really disrupt my music listening experience.

I believe that I have isolated these dropouts to the Poly as I don’t hear any dropouts when listening to Roon ARC directly from my iPhone.

I set my Poly to Hybrid Hotspot Mode where Network is “Poly Hotspot Mode” and Play Mode is "Everything Else”:

Hybrid Hotspot Mode.PNG
Hybrid Hotspot Mode.PNG1125×2436 83.2 KB

This is in contrast to using Roon while I am home near my core:

Roon.PNG
Roon.PNG1125×2436 83.7 KB

For Roon ARC (using the Hybrid Hotspot Mode), I further configure my iPhone 13 mini for AirPlay and then launch ARC.

Here is a clip where a dropout occurs (recorded from headphones…). Some dropouts are more repetitive and some are longer.

Is anyone else experiencing these types of dropouts when using Roon ARC with the Poly? Any solutions?

Note- I made a similar post on Head-Fi where I have more detailed configurations of my Poly.

David

#2

It’s not quite clear to me where Airplay fits in here. I have my Poly in airplane mode and establish BT between Poly and device. Just using ARC on my iPad and BT from the tablet to the poly. No need for Airplay and no dropouts.

Edit I’ve looked at the HeadFi post and I suspect that it’s the Poly hotspot network that’s causing you issues. It’s not the greatest, but I can see your logic. Better SQ than BT if it works. If I want SQ I just tether the MoJo via a data cable to the iPad.

#3

I am seeking better sound quality which is why I am less inclined to use BT. But I love the portability I get with the Mojo2 paired with the Poly in one pocket and my iPhone in the other. It’s just those dropouts…

And it’s really weird. Sometimes I can go for ~15 minutes or longer with nothing, and then bam! the dropouts break up the music. I thought it might be the cell signal, but beauty of the music comes right back in the same proximity where the dropouts occured.