Roon unable to detect DACs connected via USB on Windows 11 (ref#USLO6K)

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· None of the above quite fits

None of the above quite fits

· None of these quite match

Tell us what's going on

· Windows 11 reinstalled/reset. Installed latest version of Roon and it cannot see both of my DACs that I've tried. One was Denafrips Ares 2 and another is Parasound ZDAC v2.

Roon is able to see 5 streamers that connected to my network, including 3 Wiims, a NODE and Cambridge Audio 851N. Just not physically from my desktop computer via a USB cable.

I've played my games and other music programs like Foobar2K and Musicbee, they saw my DAC and everything play ok. Youtube on web browser sound comes out ok, just not Roon. I'm at a loss. Can you please help? Please let me know if you need anything from my end. Thank you very much for your assistant.

Best regards,

Tell us about your home network

· Router is ATT's own > Deco63 mesh Wi-Fi. But DAC is connected directly to my computer via USB cable and Roon is installed on same.

Hello @Cuong_N,

Thank you for the detailed report.

We’ve reviewed the diagnostics from your Windows machine and can confirm that Roon’s audio engine is able to enumerate a USB DAC via WASAPI, but then Windows intermittently reports that the default audio endpoint is no longer available (Windows error HRESULT=0x80070490 / “Element not found”). When this happens, Roon will temporarily remove the endpoint from Settings → Audio, which matches what you’re seeing.

This points to a Windows audio/USB endpoint stability issue after the reinstall/reset (rather than a hardware failure of the DAC).

Next steps to try (Windows 11)

  1. Disable USB power saving
  • Device Manager → Universal Serial Bus controllers
  • For each USB Root Hub / Generic USB Hub: Properties → Power Management
  • Uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”
  • Reboot afterwards
  1. Disable Exclusive Mode and enhancements for the DAC
  • Windows Settings → System → Sound → More sound settings
  • Playback tab → select your DAC → Properties
    • Advanced: uncheck both “Allow applications to take exclusive control” and “Give exclusive mode applications priority”
    • Enhancements: disable enhancements (if present)
  • Apply → OK
  1. Confirm a stable default playback device
  • In More sound settings → Playback, set the DAC (or a known-good device) as Default
  • If you have multiple audio endpoints (HDMI/monitor audio, USB headsets, virtual devices), temporarily disable the ones you’re not using to prevent Windows from switching defaults unexpectedly.
  1. Reinstall the DAC driver (if applicable)
  • If your DAC uses a vendor driver (e.g., ASIO/USB audio driver), reinstall it after the Windows reset and reboot.
  • If it’s using the generic Windows USB Audio driver, still try a different USB port (preferably a rear motherboard port) and avoid hubs.

After these changes, please reboot Windows and check Settings → Audio in Roon again. If the DAC still disappears, tell us roughly when you last observed it (local time), and we’ll take another look at the diagnostics around that time.

Greetings Vadim,

I’ve followed what you’ve suggested. Even changing to another USB cable and switching to another port on back of motherboard. And Roon cannot see the DACs still.

I’ve been playing around with this last hour or so. Please have a look. Thank you!

Cuong

I’ve ended up reformating and resinstall Windows 11. Everything is working now. Never do a OS reinstall within Windows environment. Just do it fresh from Bootup and seems to be fine. Thanks for the troubleshoot. Please close this thread.

Kong

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