Hi @MattR,
Does the issue still occur if you temporarily bypass and do not use HQplayer?
We’re seeing some potential network bandwidth-related issues, and I’d be curious to see how things run on ethernet-connected devices if you’re able to give that a test as well?
Let me know, thanks!
The issue occurs way less frequently without HQPlayer (likely because I’m running near CPU limits with RoonServer + HQPlayer, but not near it with just Roon). I’ll keep an ear out for pauses when I’m just using Roon (but tbh if I’m sitting down to listen I’m going through HQPlayer for upsampling/DSD conversion due to SQ).
That being said, at the moment of a recent pause I noticed something interesting in the logs: a “new” RAAT server was discovered, and then during that 1 second that the music was paused there were hundreds of log lines of Roon doing various things related to configuring the RAAT endpoint, loading a bunch of scripts, etc.
I’ve just uploaded new logs (MattR_RoonServerLogs_20240724.zip) and the relevant starting timestamp is “07/24 21:49:48”.
To narrow down if the issue is Roon doing background work for non-active zones, I’ll disable all zones except the one that I’m using and see if the issue persists.
Hey @MattR,
Since some time has passed I wanted to check in and see if you were still running into dropouts?
It may be worth temporarily testing Roon Server on a beefer machine if available? Let us know your status! 
I unfortunately don’t have a more powerful machine available. One thing that I recently discovered though is that my router/switch combo (ASUS AX XT8) that my M1 Mini is plugged in to does not support IEEE 802.3x flow control. I had checked the switch (Cisco CBS110-5T-D) further down the chain that my streamer is connected to supports flow control, and mistakenly assumed that the ~$200 router switch did.
I’m going to have to do some more testing with both the Mac Mini and streamer going through the Cisco switch only to see if that’s the source of the dropouts.
Will report back in a week or so.
Certainly, let us know how it goes @MattR 
I believe this issue can be closed. I’ve been able to reproduce with just Roon (HQPlayer not running), as well as HQPlayer (Roon not running). I’ll provide more details here for posterity, and to provide some things to try for others running into similar issues.
This is looking more and more like a network issue, or an issue with Mac’s scheduling resulting in CPU cycles being taken away from player software (Roon and/or HQPlayer), or both 
Nothing is running on the Mac other than these two pieces of software. All other services are disabled (wifi, bluetooth, airdrop, etc.)
I don’t have much control/insight into scheduling, so the only thing I can really investigate is network.
For those interested, some preliminary findings wrt network topology:
TL;DR;
Notes:
Initial problematic setup:
Mac Mini → BJC Cat6a (1’) → ASUS AX XT8 → CableMatters Cat6 (14’) → Cisco Switch → NetworkAcoustics Muon Pro → Holo Red (Red OS 2024.04.21 w/ NAA 5.0.0)
Result: Dropouts every few minutes
Test Setup 1: Skip the ASUS router 
Hypothesis: Lack of 802.3x support in ASUS router causing network issues. Bypass this and only use the Cisco switch which does support 802.3x.
Chain: Mac Mini → BJC Cat6 (2’) → Cisco Switch 110-5T-D → NetworkAcoustics Muon Pro → Holo Red (Red OS 2024.04.21 w/ NAA 5.0.0)
Result: Surprisingly much worse, dropouts every minute or so. I have no idea why this could be the case since I simply cut 2 parts out of the chain.
Explanation? Maybe something to do with the fact that the Cisco switch was now managing both internet connection as well as from computer to streamer. It’s not a particularly powerful switch, so maybe running into hardware limitations? In any case, this is just straight up unusable.
Test Setup 2: Replace CableMatters with BJC 15’ long run 
Hypothesis: Per Is Your Cat 6 Cable a Dog? -- Blue Jeans Cable it’s entirely likely that my previous Cat6 cable was not to spec and thus there were limitations in the cable.
Chain: Mac Mini → BJC Cat6a (1’) → ASUS AX XT8 → BJC Cat6 (15’) → Cisco Switch → NetworkAcoustics Muon Pro → Holo Red (Red OS 2024.04.21 w/ NAA 5.0.0)
Result: Better than initial setup. Listened to a whole album with only a few dropouts (<5).
(FINAL) Test Setup 3: Same as #2 but with dedicated NAA OS 5.0.0 on Holo Red
Hypothesis: Red OS w/ NAA is not as performant as a standalone NAA OS image. Lack of 802.3x support in ASUS router could be improved by dedicated NAA OS 5.0.0.
Result: On day 2 with only a single dropout.
Excellent troubleshooting @MattR, and I’m happy to hear that for the most part you’ve solved the issue! I’ll mark your response as a solution, but the thread will remain searchable for any other users potentially running into similar hiccups.
Happy listening! 
