Roon pops and clicks when track with a different sample rate is played

Support
1

Roon Core Machine

Vortexbox Prestige 3; i5; 8GB RAM; 1TB SSD

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Asus RT-AX88U

Connected Audio Devices

Router->Sonore Optical Rendu and Optical Module Deluxe via ethernet cable->Audiowise SRC-DX via USB->Chord Mscaler via 1X BNC cable->Chord DAVE via 2X BNC cables

Number of Tracks in Library

5000 tracks

Description of Issue

Pops and clicks when changing to a track with a different sample rate versus the one currently playing. Have tried using resync delay but it only helps mitigate the issue.

Many thanks for your help in advance!

@noris
@beka

2

Are the pops etc new?

3

Yep. Coincided with the Audiowise SRC-DX being added to the chain.

Could be a coincidence though.

EDIT: just tried playing some music on my SP2000 as a Roon endpoint- no issues there…

4

Take the audiowise out again and check. See quite a few instances where additions to the chain throw out the interfaces.

5

Without the Audiowise in the chain, there are still some pops and clicks when changing to a track with a different sample rate (which had never happened before);

Putting the SRC-DX back in, the pops and clicks last for a second longer. Adding resync delay helps mitigate that but it is far from ideal.

6

Any further thoughts?

7

Pops and clicks usually indicate that some processor somewhere in the chain isn’t keeping up – packets are being dropped. I would guess that it’s either the network (router), Optical Rendu, or the SRC-DX.

That’s quite a chain. Why use two scalers in series?

I’d try connecting the DAVE directly to the Rendu via USB to see if the problem goes away. If so, it’s one of these scalers that’s the bottleneck.

8

The whole idea is to take the Mscaler’s noisy usb input out of the equation.
I never used to have anything like that prior to adding the SRC-DX but, as above, having removed it I still get some pops and clicks but slightly less easy to perceive.

I started using the SRC-DX again afterwards and the annoying pops and clicks came back.

9

I’ve had similar problems with various endpoints (wired and wireless) and solved it by setting the max sample rate at “Up to 96kHz” for problematic endpoints. Not ideal IMO but it works (having audible music at a lower rate is better than inaudible at native rate), and worth trying if you haven’t yet.

10

I will try that but it is plain odd that this is going on in the first place.
I have been using my Optical Rendu and Modul Deluxe for around 6 months without a single problem.

Something must have changed in the meantime and I would have hoped that Roon is able to help troubleshoot this. There are quieter pops and clicks without the SRC-DX and more audible ones with the SRC-DX.

My router is the same, as is my network and everything else in the chain.

11

Yeah, I don’t think Roon is going to get involved. Unless you can narrow it down. There are too many suspects here, and none of them are Roon. You’ve got a small library on an i5 Core machine; can’t imagine the Roon software is being stressed much. What kind of loads are you seeing on that machine?

12

I stream 99% of the time.

13

What makes you think the SRC-DX USB implementation is good? The issue with this happening with sample rate changes makes me remember the XMOS U208 issue from a couple of years ago. If I remember correctly, the problem was that some XMOS sample code was used blindly by some DAC manufacturers who didn’t realize it didn’t cover all the cases of their USB input design.

14

A comment I got from the Chord group on Facebook about this issue:

I had a massive pops and clicks issue with all streamers I tried when using Dave with mScaler. It is a reason for me not to go down the mScaler path, which is a shame because the sound improvement is superb. A friend of mine sold his Dave and mScaler combo for that reason, the popping and clicking was unbearable for him.

15

Ah! Well, that’s too bad.

16

Doesn’t the Vortexbox do upscaling?

17

It is not set up to do any upscaling.

18

Ive had this very problem with a Trinnov/Meridian system for the last 2 years ! Roon thinks it can play songs of any clock rate ( which it should as the Trinnov is ‘Roon-Ready’) but the pops , clicks and thumps emanating from the speakers are horrible . Very tempted to dump the gear and just buy a nice car and post-Covid holiday .

M

1 Like
19

I have seen this sort of comment all over the place since I posted on headfi and Chord’s facebook group asking for advice. Being a lifetime member, I kinda hope that Roon at the very least offer to look into this further.

20

Does plugging the DAVE directly into the Vortexbox via USB help? That’s a competent DAC with a honking FPGA chip – maybe it doesn’t need external help.