Roon on 2018 Mac Mini makes all my devices slow

Support
1

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)
Mac Mini 2018, i7, 16GB RAM

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

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

Description Of Issue
Hi all,
I am currently in a free trial period considering if I would like to purchase a subscription to Roon. I love the interface but I have a problem that makes me not want to purchase:

Roon is making all my devices slow. I run the core on my brand spanking new Mac Mini 2018 and if I have Roon turned on (without analyzing) I can use the software normally and it runs fast, BUT it makes the Mac mini run everything else terribly slow. I use a Macbook Pro from 2014 as a remote and even as a remote Roon causes it the fan to speed up and make the laptop unusable.

I use a Bluesound Node 2 as an endpoint, as well as running the core through a Schiit dac to my amp.

I read a lot of forum topics about Roon causing devices to throttle. Is there a solution yet?
I’d love to use Roon, but not with the current issues I’m experiencing!

2

Is your library still analyzing ? It’s very processor intensive

Go to Settings Library you will see Background Audio Analysis is there a number X out of y showing

If so increase the no of cores, wait and recheck

3

nope, library is done processing. This took about half a day and made the Mac Mini throttle like crazy, but this is finished.

4

It may be good to state library size, track count etc

Can you see memory usage , I’m Win 10 so I’m not sure what Mac does

For example my library is about 150 k and uses around 2 gb of my 16 Ram, Roon is pretty PC intensive stuff

Are you using any DSP that goobles processor too

5

Hi Mike, of course!

I currently have 21783 tracks. And here’s a screenshot crop of the current usage. Doesn’t seem to be much memory usage if you ask me. Still it makes everything on my Mac (except Roon) run slow. Same goes for my Macbook Pro that I use as a remote!

28
281856×34 7.6 KB

6

That doesn’t look odd

Let’s see if @support can help

7

yes that’d be great!
Ram usage fluctuates btw: now it’s at 1,31GB.
CPU at 45%

8

Roon is “thirsty”

10

Hi @Keimpe_Koldijk,

We are aware of a few reports surrounding high CPU usage on MacOS and are currently investigating this issue internally.

As for your specific case, can you please check to see if using RoonServer instead of the “All-in-one” version of Roon exhibits the same behavior? RoonServer is the Roon Core, but it has no interface and you can control it from the Macbook Remote/All-in-one on the Mac Mini.

It can be found on our Downloads Page .

11

Hi Noris,

Thank you very much.
I tried the suggestion of exhibits but it doesn’t change my problems.
I guess Roon is a bit too heavy to work on my devices :frowning:

12

got 3 days left in my trial period and I have been unable to make Roon run smoothly. Too bad :’( I think I won’t buy a subscription

13

Hi @Keimpe_Koldijk,

Is there any change in behavior if you host the Roon Core on this Macbook instead?

Are you using the latest Operating System on both Macs?

14

Hi Noris,

I use the latest operating system on both machines.
I did use the Macbook Pro from 2014 as a core at first but switched to my newer Mac Mini because I thought the laptop was too old as Roon made the laptop slow…

15

Am seeing much increased heat and battery zap on my Macbook Pro 2015 acting as a remote.

1 Like
16

Hi, I tried all mentioned things but still experience an immense decrease in speed on all my devises.

17

Similar situation:
Built a an 8TH Gen NUC with recommended i7 settings via the NUC KB from ROON. That runs great and is noiseless (except for my music of course) in a Akasa Turing case.

Here is my issue with my actual desktop device and slowdowns, stutters, and no discernible cause in Activity Monitor (OS X):
Took 2018 iMac i3 (32GB Ram) out of service as Roon Core and formatted and reinstalled OS X and my apps to use as a desktop device for typical email and office apps, my 2016 MBPro Fan was a jet engine running my 3 monitors so that had to go. When I open Roon (as a controller from All In One Roon App) on my desktop MM (Mac mini from now one) it causes any usual tasks to slow, stutter, and crawl. From just moving the cursor from app to app let alone opening safari links to typing, to highlighting text to copy and paste. I close the Roon AIO App and all is good in the hood again. Now for time being I will run Roon on my iPad and my iPhone until this is resolved but please keep us updated on a resolution. If I can offer any diagnostics please reach out and I will provide.
Thanks
Joe

18

4 posts were split to a new topic: 2018 Mac Mini High CPU Usage

19

Hello All,

Thank you for the additional reports here.

We are currently investigating this high CPU usage behavior internally.

One aspect which we were able to discover was that turning WiFi off/on on the affected PCs temporarily resolves this behavior.

Can you please let me know if you are seeing the same on your end? Does toggling WiFi trigger any change in behavior?

21

Same here on wired Mac Mini with WiFi disabled. I will try to toggle it on and see if I have same behavior.

1 Like
22

Toggling wifi has no effect on the CPU usage for me.