I’m running Roon on a dedicated Windows 10 machine connected via PC-USB to a Rotel A12. For some reason, it won’t play any FLAC files, only MP3. Prior to this, I had the USB connected to a DAC, and all worked as expected. When I connected directly to the A12, only MP3 files will play even though the PC-USB supports all the common lossless formats.
Ideas?
Hi Philip!
I assume you are using the rear USB port. And that you have followed the instructions on setting up the rear port to use USB 2.0 and have loaded the Rotel USB drivers.
It would be helpful if you posted a screen shot of the Rotel’s Audio Setup pages as well as the Signal Path when you try to play Flac or MP3 and/or a description of the playback failure.
Also just to be sure this is standard Windows (Home or Pro) not Windows N version, correct?
Windows 10 Pro. I have followed all the instructions. The signal path is directly from the USB port on the PC to the rear USB port on the amp. MP3 files play with no problem at all. If I try to play a FLAC file, there’s no sound at all, though the file shows as playing in Roon.
I just rearranged the setup by connecting the PC’s USB port to a Schiit Eitr USB to digital converter plugged into one of the coax connections on the back of the amp. Everything plays with no problem using this arrangement. I also have a Schiit Bifrost DAC which I might include in the chain because I can’t imagine the tiny chip DAC in the amp is better. I know this doesn’t actually solve the original problem, but since it’s a solution, I’m inclined to go with it rather than waste hours trying to debug Rotel’s USB driver.
Hi Philip,
Oops sorry, it looks like I’m repeating what Daniel already said.
Cheers, Greg
Hi @Philip_Holt,
Glad to hear that you found a workaround that is working for you! If you want to try to get this working in the other configuration just let us know. The screenshots that Daniel suggested are definitely a great starting place for that.
Thanks!
Unfortunately screen shots of the Rotel audio setup aren’t especially helpful because there’s so little to the driver. You can basically choose several default sample rates, and that’s it. My intuition is that even though connecting directly would be simpler, the dedicated DAC is going to outperform the tiny circuit in the amp by a mile.
My next experiment will be A/B testing this setup with HQPlayer interposed, though I’m not sure if that’s going to be worth it. Opinions welcome. Thanks!
Even if you don’t do wicked up-sampling, you can mess around with filters in HQPlayer, or all the DSP options in Roon.
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