Slow Audio Analysis Delaying Playback Start (ref#F8C73S)

What’s happening?

· Other

How can we help?

· None of the above

Other options

· Other

Describe the issue

Audio analysis- slow. When I select a new song to play or click next, it takes few seconds (5-10 seconds) before music starts to play. I checked off fastest setting for audio analysis. I believe this was much faster 6-12 months ago. Any way I can have faster playing or turn OFF the analysis? I don’t have any DSP on. Just pure streaming.

(Curious - does Roon analyze music every time it plays a song? If no, does it analyze fresh when I switch audio device? Can I have all music analyzed so Room does not have analyze again?)

Describe your network setup

Synology DS1019+ with Intel Celeron J3455 quad-core processor with Room server, Orbi gigabit wired network, multiple audio devices - Krell K300i, Sonos, Bowers&Wilkins Wedge, Hifi Rose Rose 150B, Lumin T2. I have my library - 2TB, Qobuz, TIDAL.

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out.

Based on your setup, your Synology DS1019+ with an Intel Celeron J3455 is likely the limiting factor. This processor is relatively low-powered by today’s standards and can struggle with real-time operations like on-the-fly audio analysis, especially with larger libraries and multiple zones.

A few clarifications:

  • Roon does not analyze music every time it plays a track — if analysis was already completed and stored, playback should begin quickly.
  • However, if you recently added new tracks or changed storage paths, some files may be re-analyzed. .
  • Audio analysis is also required to provide waveform, dynamic range data, and volume leveling, and may affect how fast metadata like lyrics or cover art appears.
  • We do not perform the analyze again if you switch audio device
  • Additionally, extensive background analysis is ongoing to keep the library up to date

To improve performance:

  • You can disable or slow down audio analysis under Settings > Library > Background Audio Analysis Speed. Disabling it may improve playback speed but may prevent Roon from fetching some metadata for unprocessed tracks.
  • If you choose “Fastest” but your CPU is underpowered, you’ll still notice delays.

Troubleshooting suggestion:

To determine if the issue is due to the processor or the network, we suggest temporarily moving the Roon Core to a more powerful device (e.g., a desktop or laptop) within the same network, and checking if playback speed improves.
If it does, the issue is very likely CPU-bound rather than network-related.

Let us know if you’d like guidance on setting up Roon temporarily on another device for testing.

Hi @Joseph_Ebinger,

Without a response from the OP this thread will close for inactivity after a few days. We wanted to reach out to ensure you’d seen the response above. Please let us know if we can clarify any details. Thanks!

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