Does the issue happen with local library music, streaming service music, or both?
· *Both streaming and local* *library* music are affected.
Do you encounter any playback errors with the "System Output" Zone?
· The System Output has the same problem as my other Zone.
Do you have a complex network setup?
· I don't have a mesh network, but I use *managed network switches*
Your local network might need some re-arranging to support Roon.
· None of the suggestions have helped me. I'd like to submit a support request.
Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?
· I can reproduce it at will. I just did it now at 2025-07-16 13:31:30 US CDT (UTC-5).
What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?
· Topping D10s, SMSL PO100 PRO, FiiO K11 R2R are all DACs where I can reproduce the issue.
Describe the issue
On my Windows 11 PC, Roon will not play music on a WSAPI device unless the device has the "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" option selected. I have three DACs connected to my PC. Two of them I use exclusively for music: a Topping D10s and a FiiO K11 R2R. Roon works fine with those. The third DAC, also a Topping D10s, is used as the normal sound output device for my PC and is shared with all applications. It is this third DAC that Roon won't output to. I sometimes like to play music on it as well, but I don't want to set it to allow apps to take exclusive control of it. I know that checking the box does not force other apps, including Roon, to take exclusive control, but I just don't want it enabled to avoid any issues. In this configuration the "Exclusive mode" option in Roon for the device is disabled. This used to work fine and has only become in an issue in the last 1-2 months. All DACs are directly connected to the PC's USB ports. No USB hubs are involved. I tried swapping the second Topping D10s out with a SMSL DAC, but that did not resolve the problem. With all of my troubleshooting I have narrowed it down to the single variable: Roon won't play to WSAPI devices unless the "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device" option is checked in the device's control panel properties.
Describe your network setup
This is not a network issue. It is related to directly connected USB DACs on Windows PC. Only DACs with a specific Windows option set (described previously) are impacted.
Thanks for reaching out. In Roon → Device Setup, do you have Exclusive Mode enabled for this device? Is the behavior the same if you disable this setting in Roon if so? If this doesn’t resolve the issue, can you let us know the exact local time + date + track you try to output through Roon with Exclusive Mode disabled? We’ll enable diagnostics and see if there are any clues in the logging, thanks!
Thanks for all the information! To confirm, are all the DACs running the latest firmware available? We see the below error pop up when attempting playback:
Trace: [TOPPING USB DAC] [raatclient] GOT [7] {"message":"RAAT__OUTPUT_PLUGIN_STATUS_FORMAT_NOT_SUPPORTED","status":"UnexpectedError"}
Is your windows machine up to date as well?
Lets try to Disable and Re-Enable WASAPI Device in Windows:
Go to Windows Sound Settings > Playback Devices, right-click the affected DAC:
Select Disable, then Enable again.
While there, try changing the default format to a basic PCM rate like 44.1kHz / 16-bit.
Reboot the PC after doing this.
Does the same issue happen when using ASIO rather than WASAPI?
Lastly, within the DACs audio settings - Set DSD Playback Strategy to “Convert to PCM” (if visible) and re-test.
Could you kindly confirm whether you’re encountering the issue when the checkbox “Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device” is checked in your audio device settings, and Exclusive Mode is disabled in Roon?
We’ll take your ticket to our development team for further discussion and analysis. We should have more information to share with you soon - thank you for your patience in the meantime!
We’ve discussed this with our senior QA and development teams. The team is investigating some possibilities here and, as soon as that investigation is complete, we’ll be sure to follow up ASAP.
You have our apologies for the trouble here, and we’ve greatly appreciated your patience as we continue investigating this tricky issue. We’ll be in touch as soon as we can.
Thank you. I mostly just didn’t want the topic to close since we were approaching nine days without a reply.
Some additional info in case it helps you:
This works:
Set Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device to CHECKED
Start Roon
Roon works as previously described
Keep Roon running
Set Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device to UNCHECKED
Roon continues to work
Close Roon
Open Roon
Roon does not work
This seems to imply that Roon can control the device when the box is unchecked. It just seems that Roon can’t obtain control of the device if it is unchecked. Perhaps when Roon starts up it is doing some metadata lookup about the device capabilities and the option being unchecked causes it a problem.
Thanks for performing that test, we have added this info to the investigation ticket. The ticket has been submitted for developer review, meaning that this may take some time to be reviewed.
There aren’t any additional details needed at this time, so we will go ahead and close the thread for the time being, and if any other questions arise after the developers have reviewed the case, we will re-open the thread and reach out once more.
Thanks again for your report, and thank you in advance for your patience as the ticket progresses through the development queue for review.
No, that is not what we’re saying at all. As @vadim mentioned, we will keep you in the loop as we receive updates, and our development team is actively working on a solution. While we cannot promise an exact timeline, please rest assured that your ticket remains on our radar and we are committed to seeing this through.
We understand how frustrating it can be to wait for a resolution, and we truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue investigating the issue. You haven’t been forgotten, and we’ll update you the moment we have more information to share.
