I can’t say what is described below is a Roon issue, but Roon is involved. Here are the details.
I had been operating Roon with an older Trinnov Altitude 16 as the audio source. I just replaced it with an Altitude 32 because the new models of both the 16 and 32 now have breakout cables to connect four defined channels to outboard DACs via AES connection. The Altitude 32 operates to a maximum of 192kHz whereas the 16 is limited to 96kHz. My DACs are two Legacy Audio Wavelet processors designed to integrate with Legacy loudspeakers. The breakouts are defined as the front and side-rear channels.
Here is the problem: When Roon is set to a maximum of 192kHz, only recordings with a sampling rate of 96kHz or less function properly, specifically in that no sound comes from the four channels connected digitally to the Wavelets, although all the other channels work. If the music source is 96kHz or less, all fourteen channels function regardless of Roon setting. Set Roon to a maximum of 96kHz, all channels function on all music sources regardless of sampling rate presumably because Roon is down-converting where necessary to 88.2 or 96kHz.
Trinnov is working on this problem as well as Legacy Audio and clearly it is a sampling rate issue. The puzzling part is that all products concerned are designed to function at sampling rates at least as high as 192kHz. Does Roon have any thoughts on this matter?
I understood that that was the one thing you had to give up to get the four additional channels. Didn’t know they were working on it. Is it true they are working on it?
I don’t understand the statement. What is the “one thing?” Processing higher than 96kHz? Trinnov assured me that it would work at 192kHz.
The two things you do give up when upgrading to an Altitude 32 is that the remote control inexplicably cannot turn the unit off or on. There is literally no circuitry in the 32 to do that. The other thing is that Altitude 16 has three triggers that can be used to power two additional amps (not considering daisy chaining) and definable to each input. The 32 has but one trigger, and control of it does not exist.
It is not a Roon issue. Because it is outside the Roon signal path.
Once the RAAT connection has terminated at the Trinnov Attitude network input, the Roon chain of custody has ended. AES connections to outboard DACs have nothing to do with RAAT or Roon.
Any troubleshooting is up to you and Trinnov and Legacy Audio.
What is the clock source you have selected in the Altitude settings?
The manual for this unit states the following on pg. 128:
• the current sample rate: the sample rate currently used by the Altitude32. If the clock is in slave mode it corresponds to the
input sample rate. If the clock is in master mode, it corresponds to the sample rate selected in the Setup/Clock page of the
Advanced Settings interface.
You may have hit on something there, but I would never have found it on my own. Thanks for the tip that led me to do a little test.
I set Roon to 192kHz max, played a .dsf recording, and checked the clock value in the Altitude 32’s clock setup screen. I saw a current sample rate of 176.4 kHz (correct), that same value displayed in the detected sample rate, but also saw a “No Ext. Sync found, using internal sync” message. The Altitude’s clock mode is set to “external.” If it can’t find an external 176.4 clock, that seems problematical. While the Altitude may well automatically switch to its internal clock in that case, a list of possible internal clock rates in the input preset screen tops out at 96kHz.
I offer no interpretation for any of the above, but it does seem to reveal a contradiction, if not a flat-out malfunction of the Altitude. On Friday, the tech with Jon Herron of Trinnov on the phone will be performing another calibration, so I will report back then.
After many frustrating weeks, I am FINALLY able to get 192kHz out of the Roon-Trinnov combo. Pre-sale, I had researched the Altitude 32’s capabilities with the company’s American representative and made my intentions of getting 192kHz very clear. He assured me on multiple occasions that the breakout was 192kHz capable. It was only today he announced that the breakout is limited to 96kHz. (Look back in this stream and you will that Truett Miley mentioned that.) We got 192kHz functioning by connecting the Altitude 32 directly to a Legacy Audio Wavelet II via an AES cable (S/PDIF should also work), although it means I can only connect the front - but most important - channels digitally at the higher sampling rate. The side rears are still connected via analog to an older Wavelet I that does a A-to-D/D-to-A, which is what they were with my old Altitude 16.