Roon USB Connection to Eversolo A8 Causes Loud Digital Sounds (ref#YMK9LO)

[Jerry_Oxley]

Select your Nucleus model from the list below

· Nucleus One

I'm having trouble with my Nucleus hardware

· Other

Select the option that fits best

· The Nucleus boots up and I can connect to it in the Roon app without issue, but I have a question about configuration/storage/attached devices

Describe the issue

Every since Christmas, my Roon which is connected via USB input on my Eversolo A8 makes loud digital garbage sounds on for of 5 songs. When I play Tidal directlly on the Eversolo, all is good.

[vadim]

Hi @Jerry_Oxley,

Thanks for the details — that helps.

To troubleshoot further, please try the following steps:

1. Try a different USB port on the Nucleus.
   Some ports can behave slightly differently, especially if one is closer to power/ground noise.

2. Swap the USB cable with a high-quality, well-shielded cable.
   USB audio is sensitive to cable quality and interference.

3. Remove any USB hubs or extension adapters from the chain.
   Connect the Nucleus directly to the A8 if possible.

4. Try different power sources:

• If possible, power the Nucleus and the A8 from separate outlets / power conditioners to reduce ground loops.

5. Temporarily move the USB cable away from other power cables or network cables — this can reduce noise pickup.

If none of the steps above eliminate the noise, please upload a short video showing:

• How the Nucleus is connected to the Eversolo A8 (USB connection)
• The noise happening during playback

You can use this upload link for the video: https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/collection/nqcgjac23027d90a441bda2c314de49d7958a/external

A video will help us understand:

• what the setup looks like physically
• whether the noise is correlated with specific tracks or actions
• the exact behavior of the DAC when the noise occurs

We’ll continue from there — happy to help figure this out with you!

[Jerry_Oxley]

I changed the USB cable. I changed the ethernet cable I plugged into a different isolated port on the surge protector.

Play music directly on the ever solo works just fine when I stream from Roon with the direct USB connection digital garbage still plays for a few seconds and automatically goes to the next song maybe every 10th song now plays correctly

[vadim]

Hello @Jerry_Oxley,

Thank you for the update — that helps narrow things down.

Before we move to deeper diagnostics, could you please confirm one additional test for us?

Test playback over the network (RAAT) instead of USB:

• Disconnect the USB cable between the Nucleus and the Eversolo A8
• Connect the A8 to the network (Ethernet or Wi-Fi)
• Enable the Eversolo A8 as a Roon Ready (RAAT) zone in Settings → Audio
• Play the same music that previously caused the loud digital noise

Please let us know:

• Does the same “digital garbage” sound occur when using RAAT?
• Does the track still skip automatically after a few seconds?
• Does this happen with TIDAL only, or also with local files?

This test will help us clearly distinguish between:

• a USB/driver-related issue, or
• a broader playback/streaming issue affecting Roon output in general

Once we have this result, we’ll be able to determine the correct next steps and escalate if needed.

After this, please:

1. Reproduce the issue once more

• Let the digital noise occur and the track skip

2. Note the exact date and local time when it happens
3. Reply here confirming:

• Whether this happens with both local files and TIDAL, or only TIDAL
• Whether all affected tracks share any common properties (sample rate, bit depth, MQA, etc.)

Thanks again for your cooperation — looking forward to your findings.

[Jerry_Oxley]

I disconnected USB and connected over Wi-Fi using the room enabled feature digital garbage noise still persists

It definitely happens with tidal. I don’t have any local files so I need to figure out how to add them.

I no longer have qubuzz

[benjamin]

Thanks for letting us know @Jerry_Oxley - as a next step, let’s review and DSP or sample rate confusion that may be causing this:

In Roon Settings → Audio → Eversolo A8 → Device settings:

Set explicitly:

• Max Sample Rate (PCM): 192 kHz (don’t leave “Unlimited”)
• Max Bits per Sample: 24
• DSD Playback Strategy: Convert to PCM
• MQA Capabilities:
  • If the Eversolo is doing MQA itself → set to Renderer only
  • Otherwise → No MQA support (just to test)
• Set Volume Control to:
  • Device Volume or Fixed Volume (NOT DSP Volume)

Apply → restart Roon Server → test again.

Temporarily set:

• Disable all DSP

Test playback. Let us know if you hear the same distortion.

It would also be good to review a set of Roon Server logs from your Nucleus, if you could please use the directions found here and send over a set of logs to our File Uploader? Once logs have been uploaded, please let us know so that we can check the server for your files, thanks!

[Jerry_Oxley]

I made all of the sample rate settings and the digital garbage noise still persists. I then hooked up a USB drive to the USB connector on the room and played a half a dozen flac songs with no issue. Then all of a sudden three in a row had digital garbage and then the fourth one worked fine.

I’m tired with messing with it. What are the chances I can send it in for a repair?

[vadim]

Hello @Jerry_Oxley,

Thank you for the detailed follow-up — we understand how frustrating this has been, and we appreciate your patience.

Based on the results so far, this behavior does not appear consistent with a hardware fault on the Nucleus:

• The issue occurs both over USB and over network (RAAT)
• When using RAAT over Wi-Fi, the Nucleus is only sending a digital audio stream — there is no USB driver or hardware layer involved on the Nucleus side

Because of this, sending the Nucleus in for repair would very likely not resolve the issue.

Next step (before any RMA consideration)

To allow us to analyze this properly and escalate if needed, could you please help with the following:

1. Record a short video showing:

• Playback starting normally
• The “digital garbage” noise occurring
• The track skipping to the next song

2. Note the exact details when this happens:

• Date and local time
• Track name / artist
• Source (TIDAL vs local USB)
• Sample rate / bit depth shown in Roon’s Signal Path
• Screenshot of the Audio path

3. Upload the video using this link:
   https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/collection/nqcgjac23027d90a441bda2c314de49d7958a/external

Once we have:

• the video,
• the exact timestamps,
• and your server logs,

we can correlate everything in diagnostics and determine whether this is something that needs to be escalated further, or if there’s another specific mitigation we can apply.

We know this has taken time, and we’ll make sure the next step is meaningful. Thanks again for working through this with us.