Hello - I’m having difficulty making a posing regarding the issue I’m having. I’m running Roon Core on my MacBook Pro steaming my music sitting on the MacBook to a new Naim Nova. I’m experiencing frequent drop offs lasting 1-5 seconds while listening and seeking any guidance as to whether there may be a fix through my Roon settings. Based on uses so far, I don’t believe the issue is a defective Nova, but it could be that it’s just a limitation on the functionality of the Nova. In any event, I intent to stick with Roon with our without the Nova, so I want to determine if there is a fix for this, which will determine if I keep the Nova. Sorry for the non-tech savvy explanation but any help would be greatly appreciated, and I can provide any additional information.
Hi Garret,
I’ve shifted your post into Support so they can track down the issue as I’m not sure what it could be. I’ll check back to make sure they’re looking after you.
Thank you. It’s much appreciated.
Hi again Garrett,
I see that the Uniti Nova is Roon Ready, which should enable it as a network connection in Roon.
Firstly, can you check that your Uniti Nova is running the latest Naim software ?
If it is, then you should see a Roon Ready network connection appear on your MacBook (Settings/Audio) when the Uniti Nova is connected by Ethernet to your router.
Hello - Yes the Nova is running the latest software. I updated it out of the box a few days ago. And indeed I see the Roon Ready network connection recognizing the Nova (which is connected by Ethernet to my router) on my MacBook.
Thanks Garrett,
Let’s drop a flag for @support to make sure they see this thread.
Has your Core finished analysing your library ? Sometimes that can interrupt playing. If analysis is continuing then you’ll see a little processing circle at top mid right. Mousing over it will say how much analysis is still to be done.
You can stop or limit analysis while listening in Settings/Library.
Hello - Yes Core has finished analysis. The library is stable and set in that regard.
Silly question probably but the MacBook is wired to the router also, not running wirelessly?
Have you tried UPnP to the Nova using the Naim app and does this work without drop-outs?
If not try play a Tidal track via Roon and then play the same track through the Nova’s inbuilt Tidal to see how both are managed.
.sjb
Hello @Garret_Glass — Thank you for sharing you report with us!
To start, may I kindly ask that you please provide a brief description of your current setup using this link as a guide. Make sure to describe your network configuration/topology, including any networking hardware currently in use, so we can have a clear understanding of how your devices are communicating.
Can you please verify the following for me:
- Do you experience this behavior for any other endpoints, or just the Naim Nova device? What about if you play directly on the Core machine?
- Have you tried rebooting your Core machine, endpoints, and any applicable networking hardware?
- Have you tried playing to this audio zone outside of Roon? Do you experience any of the same behavior?
Thank you,
Dylan
Hello - My setup is al follows:
- I’m running Roon Version 1.5 (build 323) stable (64 Itbit)
- Roon is installed on my MacBool Pro running MacOS High Sierra version 10.13.4
- It’s a MacBook 2017: Processor: 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7; Memory: 16 GB
- Music is stored on the MacBook streaming from it to the Naim Nova
- There are approximately 10,000 tracks in the collection
- The Nova is connected to my router via Ethernet, and my MacBook is connected via Wifi to the Nova
Additional notes include that I’m not experiencing the issue with other endpoints. Specifically, I’m also using a Naim Muso, and I don’t have the drops there. Also, there is no issue running it off the Core machine (i.e. the MacBook).
Forgive any deficiencies in my responses, and I very much appreciate the assistance.
Thanks for the update, @Garret_Glass! The additional setup details definitely help.
Next, let’s try the following:
- Reboot the Core machine, the Nova, and your networking hardware.
- Try connecting the MacBook using a wired connection. Do you experience the same behavior here?
- Try playing to this audio zone outside of Roon.
-Dylan
Thank you Dylan. I’ll run through those steps we I get home.
Garret
Hi Garret,
As SJB and Dylan have noted, suspicion now falls on the WiFi connection between the MacBook and your router. Do you have a Tidal subscription or does your Library consist of local files only ?
Hi - Most of my listening is my own music, but I do have a Tidal subscription. It’s a smaller sampling size, but it seems to me that listing to Tidal through Roon integration still has drops but much less than when streaming my own tracks through Roon. I suspect it could be a WIFI connection issue. If so, are there any steps you suggest I could take to try and improve that situation, which would allow me to continue relying on streaming as my primary means of playing my music?
The architectural solution would be to have the Core and local storage on a NUC running ROCK sitting next to your Router and connected by Ethernet. Then you would only be using WiFi for control and not sending any music signal through your MacBook. There may be other things that can be done regarding WiFi, depending on how old your router is etc, but a NUC/ROCK would put an end to any issues.
So far as WiFi is concerned, what model router are you using ? You might try different bands and channels to see how that works. I know a number of users have had good results from using the Eero mesh units, but I haven’t tried them myself.
Hey @Garret_Glass — Thanks for the additional information here.
Were you able to try the steps I mentioned above? If so, what were the results? Has the experience improved for you at all?
Regards,
Dylan
Hi Dylan - Sorry for the delay. I did the reboots and tried connecting the MacBook using a wired connection and had the same issue. I also tried playing the Nova separate from Roon using the Naim app to play Tidal. That is a very small sampling size, but I did not seem to experience the drops going that route. Of course, my goal is to play my tracks using Roon.
Garret
Thanks for the update @Garret_Glass!
I think the next step here is to enable some diagnostics on your account so our technical staff can get some more insight into what’s going on here.
However, before I enable this feature, I’d like to ask for your help ensuring we gather the right information.
First, can you please reproduce the issue once more and note the time at which the error occurs. Then respond here with that time, and I’ll make sure we review the diagnostics related to that timestamp.
Regards,
Dylan
Yes, I’ll do that.