Everything connected via ethernet to the same switch.
Connected Audio Devices
Mola Mola Tambaqui. Fully updated to latest firmware.
Description of Issue
Cannot change volume of the Tambaqui. Volume controls show the volume is fixed, but the actual audio device configuration shows it’s using device volume. I’ve never seen this issue prior to B831. See attached screenshots.
Things I’ve tried:
Restarting the nucleus+ doesn’t help.
Changing to fixed volume and then back to device volume in the audio device configuration.
Disabling and then enabling the audio device again
What did work:
Switching between USB and ethernet input on the Tambaqui.
While I’m currently set, I am reporting this so you guys can figure out what is causing this. Clearly it’s a bug and I wouldn’t expect this to happen on a RoonReady certified dac/streamer…
You should not need to be switching between inputs on a Roon Ready device to get Roon to behave correctly. This would need to be passed to the Roon team to see if they can replicate the issue.
Do you have reproduction steps that would allow us to get into this state? Something like:
A) Turn on device.
B) Switch to optical input.
C) Start playback in Roon.
When you have configured “Device Volume” in device setup and see “fixed volume” in Roon’s volume widget, this is caused by the device not reporting any volume control capabilities to Roon. Think of it like this:
When Volume control in device setup is…
Device volume: Roon asks the device if it has a volume control. If the device has a volume control, Roon will expose it. If it doesn’t, Roon will show fixed volume.
Fixed volume: Roon doesn’t ask the device if it has a volume control. Roon will always show fixed volume.
Your symptoms suggest that the issue is caused by something happening on the device. I suggest reaching out to Mola Mola about this, they’ll be best positioned to determine what’s happening on-device.
Turn on the Mola Mola Tambaqui using a preset for Roon Ready (ethernet input)
Wait around 30-45 minutes as the DAC warms up. Have dinner in the mean time
Start Roon Remote on macOS and notice that it’s confused about device vs fixed volume
It has only happened once, so maybe it’s just one-off issue that I’ll hopefully never experience again. I’ll make sure to report back here and to Mola Mola if it happens again.
From above: "When you have configured “Device Volume” in device setup and see “fixed volume” in Roon’s volume widget, this is caused by the device not reporting any volume control capabilities to Roon. Think of it like this:
When Volume control in device setup is…
Device volume: Roon asks the device if it has a volume control. If the device has a volume control, Roon will expose it. If it doesn’t, Roon will show fixed volume.
Fixed volume: Roon doesn’t ask the device if it has a volume control. Roon will always show fixed volume."
Since every device is not Roon-ready, perhaps Roon should not begin with asking about variable volume control. After all, it won’t get a response if the device is not Roon-ready. Instead, it should start with, “is this a roon-ready device” and, if not, do nothing and just go with the user settings.
So this issue re-appeared again. See screenshots below that illustrate the problem.
Can’t really say much about how I ended up in this state. Nucleus+ is running 24/7 and the Mola Mola was in standby. Then I turned on the Mola Mola and left it unattended for about 30 mins or so. Then started my remote to start playing some music and I noticed that it was in fixed volume mode.
To get out of this state, a power cycle didn’t help (so maybe the issue is partly on the core side??). Switching inputs back and forth on the DAC is what did the trick (again).
It’s essentially been over half a year since I have seen this issue (and I would notice any single occurrence). Clearly not the end of the world, but there’s something going on here for sure.
The fact that switching the input fixed the issue in Roon tells me that Roon is working as expected and that the issue is entirely caused by the Tambaqui.
I encourage you to reach out to Mola Mola about this, I’m unfortunately not in a position to provide useful insight or guidance given that I have not been able to reproduce.
In the mean time, I’m happy I can continue listening.
