Roon immediately recognized the soundbar and let me add it as a network device. I can select it, group it, play to it. When I do, the soundbar recognizes that there’s a Wifi signal and switches to it. I can control the volume from Roon and see the volume change on the soundbar display…but there is never any sound. Roon recognizes it as an Airplay device and lets me group it with other Airplay devices.
This issue has been reported a few times here but does not appear to have ever been answered - I’d like to know why, as I see no reason it shouldn’t work.
Ben here with the support team, I’m incredibly sorry for the long delay in getting to your thread. I appreciate your patience while our team continues working through each thread. As you’ve witnessed firsthand, there’s been a bit of a longer-than-expected delay in receiving support, so thank you again for hanging in there in the meantime.
I have a few follow-up questions for you on this issue:
Roon doesn’t fully support Airplay 2 yet, and from my research, I do see that the Samsung HW-Q800B runs Airplay 2 - what I don’t know is if the soundbar is backward compatible. Most devices are, but I can’t find anything concrete on the subject. This could potentially be the culprit behind your issue. Have you set the soundbar up in your Apple Home yet?
Does this issue happen when you stream music from the same core device, but from another service? If you pull up the Qobuz web player, are you able to stream music?
If you could please reproduce the issue, and share the date, time, and name of the track, that will be helpful in regard to reviewing your core diagnostic.
I’ll be on standby for your reply - thanks again, Brendan!
I’m not an Apple Home user normally, but I just added the Samsung HW-Q800B - it recognized it without issue.
The issue happens regardless of the source. I’ve tried things in my library and things on Qobuz. I am able to stream music from the Qobuz web player; if you’re asking if I can stream to the Samsung…I don’t see an option to select a different output source (I don’t normally use the Qobuz web player). I can stream to the Samsung from the Qobuz app or from the Spotify app (from my iPhone).
Just now (12:51p) I tried to stream “Fifty-Fifty Clown” by Cocteau Twins. The soundbar switches inputs, and Roon controls the volume, but there is no sound.
I’ve actually tried that workaround. The TV has both Chromecast and Airplay. I can’t seem to force Roon to connect as Airplay; it picks it up as Chromecast. As such, I can’t group it with all my other devices. If you know a way to force the connection type, I’d love to hear it; that would be a reasonable workaround for the soundbar issue for now.
Right, which is why the proposed/potential workaround doesn’t work, because Roon only picks the TV up as Chromecast, so I can’t group it with my Airplay devices. All the sound in my house is via Audio Pro speakers, all via Airplay. If I could get Roon to connect to the TV via Airplay, this would be a viable workaround.
Q800 is currently connected via WiFi.
I don’t have an Apple TV but I do have a Fire TV.
I got curious about the TV; I am able to add it to Apple Home, and I am able to play to it via AirPlay from Qobuz, so. It is also AirPlay 2 so…a compatibility issue? I don’t know.
Yeah…it works in the sense that sound came out, but it was almost 3 full seconds out of sync with every other device. Oh - I didn’t have the issue with distortion - just really bad timing.
Unfortunately, no ethernet on the Q800. An odd choice that I didn’t realize until going through the steps above.
I did see the other threads, and they all just taper off with no real outcome, so I was hoping for something more concrete. I suppose the best guess is an AirPlay 2 issue and backwards compatibility that isn’t fully implemented.
Thanks for sending that info over! There are a few interesting traces found in your core diagnostics that I’ll need to chat with our development team on to get a better idea of what might be going on.
With that, I’m also seeing odd behavior around some settings airplay may be sending to your soundbar. Here is an example:
Thanks for the response - if I wasn’t clear, Roon appears to be controlling the soundbar’s volume. If I turn up the volume in Roon, the digital display on the soundbar reflects the increase, as well as attendant decreases. That’s what made me initially think it wasn’t an Airplay issue, because for all intents and purposes…it seems like Roon is in control. There’s just…no sound.
Thanks for letting me know! After reviewing your issue with our developers, we’re curious to see if you have any success using your iOS devices as a temporary bridge device between Roon and your soundbar.
As a test, could you set your iOS device/ Mac up as a Roon zone, play some music to your phone/ Mac - and then run airplay from iOS/Mac System output to Soundbar via airplay?
Just sticking my nose in here, but yeah - streaming from a core to my iphone then streaming via Airplay to the Q800a soundbar works here.
But like with the OP, Roon recognized the soundbar as an airplay device instantly, but either streams at zero volume or has another issue of somekind. Packets are passing.
I’m also experiencing the same issue albeit from across the pond in the UK and with an S801B. I don’t have any other airplay devices so it’s not a multi-room dealbreaker for me but it is a bit disappointing that Roon picks it up and looks to all intents and purposes like it’s sending data and controlling the soundbar only for there to be no sound.
Regarding the question about volume… I also have the same experience as the OP in that Roon seems to adjust the volume but I have found that even if I don’t touch it, when I return the soundbar to the TV, it is set much louder than it was before.
