Roon Remote On iMac Big Sur Very Sluggish

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

Nucleus

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

Virgin Broadband via ethernet

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

Lynn Katalyst via ethernet

Description Of Issue

Hi

I tend to use my iMac when searching for new music using Roon, and in the last few days I’ve noticed that the performance of Roon is very sluggish, ie when searching for a particular track it sometimes a few seconds for the results to kick in, when previously it was almost instantaneous; album art loading slowly; playback not happening for a second or two when you click play.

I’ve had ongoing problems with my Apple trackpad not responding to the first click, which I raised on another topic, but there does not seem to be a solution for that in sight, so I’m a bit dismayed that I cannot rely on the normal operating standards for the app itself when using my iMac. If I quit and restart the app it sometimes seems as if it is close to normal, but then is just starts to get slower again the more you use it.

This is seriously spoiling my enjoyment of using the app and searching for music, so I would be grateful for any advice you can pass on.

Regards

Alan

What troubleshooting have you tried, such as rebooting everything?

Hi

I have restarted both the app and the computer, but the issue persists. I migrated my library to a newly-purchased Nucleus a couple of weeks ago, and Roon is working perfectly with the iPad I use as a remote in that room. Not quite sure why the iMac is behaving this way, as it no longer contains the Core. My IT knowledge is fairly limited, so not sure what to try next.

Regards

Alan

How new is the iMac, what year?

Hi

Details below. It’s been fine up until now.

Regards

Alan

Screenshot 2020-12-05 at 18.56.38

Hi

Should add that the issue seems to be when using Qobuz via Roon. I tried playing a playlist I’d saved in Qobuz using the Qobuz app on the Mac and there are no issues with playback. Tracks playing instantly when the play button is clicked, and I am able to advance through the playlist to the next track no problem. When I access the same playlist in Roon via My Qobuz the first track takes a second or two to start playing, and also when you advance to the next track in the playlist. It would seem that the issue is to do with Roon rather than Qobuz, but I’m only guessing.

There is no issue using Roon to play iTunes library tracks - instant playback, instant playback when advancing to next track on the playlist etc. It only seems to be when I am searching for new music in Qobuz using Roon to do so, and when I am playing playlists I have saved in Roon that contain music sourced from Qobuz.

Regards

Alan

@Alan_Meldrum – The following may be somewhat relevant:

I recently set up a NUC with ROCK, and was dismayed to find that Qobuz was painfully slow (in much the ways you described), while playback of local files was fine. It was much slower with Qobuz than the Windows 10 laptop that I had previously run Roon from, and much slower than when I installed (a trial version of) Windows 10 on the same NUC.

As part of troubleshooting, I was told by Roon Support that different operating systems can be differentially efficient wrt networking. (Which may well be obvious to you, but is not something I would have guessed at all, for modern OS’s).

So, I wonder if it’s Big Sur’s handling of networking that is the issue here… early version of new Mac OS’s tend to be fairly flaky in my experience, which is partly why I stay several versions back on my Macs…

Hi

Thank you all who responded to this topic. Would it be possible for someone from Roon to offer an opinion? I would very much like to experience Roon without having to contend with this issue.

Regards

Alan

Hi @Alan_Meldrum — Apologies for the continued trouble here! This is something our team is actively investigating and I’ve passed them your details to aid in their investigation. I don’t have any specific timeframes I can provide here, but we’ll be sure to keep everyone updated when we have more information about this!

Hi Dylan

I wish I was more enthused by your reply here. I’ve been waiting seven months for a solution to the desktop app not responding to mac trackpad clicks (Sluggish Response Using Mac Magic Trackpad) until the second or third time and we’re still no further forward, and I’m now looking at my desktop app when using it as a Roon remote and I’m sometimes waiting ten to twenty seconds for a track to begin playing, which is seriously doing my head in.

I’ve paid in excess of five hundred pounds for a lifetime membership, and I recently shelled out fifteen hundred quid for a Roon Nucleus, which was supposed to make the system faster, but I now have the same lag on tracks beginning to play even when I’m using my iPad as a remote six feet away from the router connected to the Nucleus, so this does not seem to be a networking problem. My broadband speeds are what they generally always have been, and I never had this issue with playback lag and the app being sluggish before. Also, when I use the Qobuz app on the desktop I get an instant response when navigating and playing tracks, so once again this problem seems to be specifically with Roon.

As it stands I’ve invested more than two grand on your app and your hardware and nothing is working properly at the moment, so you have a seriously dissatisfied customer on your hands. At the risk of offending you it’s not really good enough to say that the matter is being investigated that and you will update us when you have more information. What information has your team discovered to date? Is this a widespread problem amongst your customer base, or is it unique to me? Is it connected any way to Big Sur and iOS 14? How often can we expect an update? At the moment I’m experiencing buyer’s remorse on a number of levels, so I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience with some relevant information.

Regards

Alan

Took nearly two minutes for this album search to complete, this is the current level of performance i’m experiencing:

Added a selection of tracks from Roon to my library. As you can see from the times in the screenshots, took several minutes to arrive:

Hi

Logged out of Roon so I could log back in again and see if it made any difference to how the app ran. When I did so (see attached images) it took over a minute to log in, and when I did none of my playlists were visible. Things seem to be going from bad to worse, so I would really appreciate it if you could offer some advice.

Regards

Alan

What details can you provide about your network connection? Speed connection types etc even dns setting can help us try to offer some idea.

How fast is your internet say on a Speedtest.net

Hi

Mac is upstairs from the router, and average wi-fi connection speed is around 65mbps. I also have wi-fi boosters connecting router and computer via ethernet/mains wiring which produce pretty much the same speeds.

Downstairs connected to the router via ethernet are a Linn Katalyst DSM and the recently purchased Roon Nucleus, which now houses the Roon Core. As I said, all other desktop apps that require internet connectivity are working fine, as are other devices such as iPads and phones. Hope this is of help.

Regards

Alan

Hi @Alan_Meldrum,

This is a bit different than the trackpad issue. For the trackpad issue we have seen a few reports of this behavior on macOS, but it doesn’t appear to be something that is widespread. Our QA team is working to reproduce this in house.

For the playback delay, this should be investigated separately, and I’m hoping you can provide a bit more info here:

  • Does this happen for every track you try to play?
  • Is there any difference between streaming content and local content?
  • How long is the delay? Does it vary or is it consistent?
  • When things are delayed what does resource usage look like on the Mac (CPU and GPU usage)?

Thanks!

[quote=“dylan, post:19, topic:130746”]
Hi

To answer your questions:

  • Does this happen for every track you try to play?
    No, sometimes the first track on a playlist, or the first track I select to play from, will play as normal, then it will stall at the start of the next one.
  • Is there any difference between streaming content and local content?
    The issue seems only to affect streamed content, but I nearly always listen to streamed content only, so I cannot say for sure.
  • How long is the delay? Does it vary or is it consistent?
    Sometimes ten or fifteen seconds, sometimes more than a minute.
  • When things are delayed what does resource usage look like on the Mac (CPU and GPU usage)?
    I wouldn’t know how to check this.

Since I contacted you regarding this problem I think I have resolved it. I went into settings and disconnected the Nucleus.


I then restarted the Mac and reconnected the Nucleus, and the app functioned as normal thereafter. I’m obviously pleased that normal service has been resumed, but do have any opinions as to why the problem might have arisen in the first place? If you can offer a diagnosis I would be most grateful.

Regards

Alan

Hi @Alan_Meldrum,

Most of the time this issue occurs do to networking issues, but it’s hard to say for sure just yet. If you see any issues return please let me know and I’d be happy to enable diagnostics and take a closer look!

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