Roon connection between server PC and client PC unstable to playback consistently

Support
1

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)

i5 Laptop 2nd Gen - Win 10 Home running latest Roon Server version - nothing but the Roon Server

Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

Fido 75Mbps connection internet with Hitron N router. Server PC is connected via LAN cable to the router and end-point PC running Roon client is connected to the router via 5Ghz N network. Tested the file transfer rate between both PCs and its giving 50+Mbps consistently.

Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

Server PC is not connected to anything and has no other processes running except Roon Server. Client PC is connected via USB to my SMSL M500 DAC and I am streaming DSD256 or DSD128 via the server to the client which is consuming 22.5 Mbps of network bandwidth max during the DSD256 stream and is playing at 1.6x speed (server end)

Description Of Issue

I am getting dropouts of network stream when playing the DSD128 or DSD256 content and i am observing that even when my server PC playback rate keeps consistent at 1.6x (doesnt come down), the network data transfer rate (from windows network analyser) reduces to Kbps suddenly when playing streams before it skips the track and says Tidal is slow. I am exclusively streaming Tidal with DSD upsampling and have no local library at all. At times I see that DSD256 runs smoothly at 1.6x for Tidal stream with consistent network utilization of 22-23Mbps and then after a few songs it the network transfer rate suddenly starts to drop and the track is skipped. I tested the transfer rates between the PCs by copying a big file between the two PCs and I am getting consistent 50+Mbps transfer rates when copying files which means my WiFi is stable between local network and supports high bit rates required for Roon DSD palyback over WiFi. I have already reset my router, changed the password and have kept the 5Ghz exclusively for my Roon usage as all my other devices are now on 2.4GHz bandwidth, also the network channel is also not congested…I have made sure of that. But the problem persists. Every now and then…the network transfer rates drop while playing Roon and I am unable to play things. I am beginning to think its a Roon server issue but need help how to fix this. I need a little more help than an advise to convert my WiFi to wired LAN as I am not able to do that currently, even if I wanted to. Thanks

2

What you could do is test it wired. Move the client pc just for testing purposes. Then that would allow you to work out if it is WiFi or the server throttling.

2 Likes
4

Hello @SHOAIB_AHMED1, I second ged’s recommendation. Let me know if you have any questions about how to do this!

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Thanks. I know the server PC is throttling CPU usage as i think its using just one core of the available 2 cores. Is there a way to do de-limit the processing power used by Roon server on my PC?

As for the case presented, I mentioned earlier that I have tested the network transfer rates by copying heavy files between PCs and they didnt seem to be throttled and were being copied at 50+Mbps so its not the router. Maybe you have any other suggestions?

Thanks

6

Roon only uses 1 core for Processing, and in the case of multiple output zones, assigns a core to a zone. The exception is the audio analysis and if you have Parallelize Sigma Delta Modulator turned on (found on the zone’s DSP Sample Rate conversion page) with DSD upsampling.

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Thanks. As you can see, that parellelize option is already set to yes by default…but i still cant get the CPU usage to go above 45% for DSD512 upsampling (which is does at 0.7x)…the only stable setting is DSD256 which has 34% CPU utilization, that too only at 1.5x.

All I want is to use my available CPU excess capacity for Roon’s processing…its a simple wish…

Any other ideas to de-limit CPU usage for Roon server? Tagging @nuwriy

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