I am very happy with the Roon performance but unfortunately I cannot play my DSD 256 files without a few stutters in every song. Sometimes it is worse than other times.
I am using a Mac Mini late 2014 running on OSX 10.11.6 with a 2,6 Ghz Intel Core i5, 8 GB 1600 Mhz DDR3 Ram, 256 SSD hard drive and an external 2 TB Lacie connected with Thunderbolt. I am running Roonserver 1.2 (build 157). My DAC is Chord Mojo which is able to play DSD 256 natively.
I have looked whether my processor or RAM is insufficient but it looks like it has no problem to play these files with Roon at all.
Within Roon I have checked all the boxes: exclusive mode, integer mode, max hardware buffer and use power of 2 hardware buffer size are all on. Max sample rate disabled, Max bits disables, DSD over PCM v1.0 (DoP) and Max DSD sample rate disabled.
What device are you using as a remote to control Roon Server. Also, what is your Chord DAC connected to and could you give us more information regarding your network setup.
I am using several devices as a remote. Ipad air, Iphone 6s and a macbook pro.
My DAC is a Chord Mojo. Connected to the Mac mini with an Audioquest Carbon USB cable.
The Mac mini is connected with an Audioquest Cinnamon utp cat 7 cable to a Zyxel 1000 Mbps Switch which is connected to a with a regular UTP6 cable to my Technicolor TC7200 router. Speed of my internet is 150 Mbits.
My music sits on an external 2 TB rugged Lacie hard drive connected to the Mac mini with a Thunderbolt connection. I have tried to play the music from the SSD within the Mac mini but the stutters remain.
Hi @Jeroen_Biemans ---- Thank you for the feedback and my apologies for the trouble here. The stuttering you are describing usually stem from some sort of performance issue(s), as seen here. Are you experiencing the stuttering you’re describing with any other formats in your collection?
I would like to try and test a sample of your DSD(256) content in house. Would you be able to provide me a DropBox link via PM? Thanks!
Hi Eric, thanks for your help. I am not experiencing any stuttering on tidal files or any other hd music files. I have also tried to play my DSD256 music files with my macbook pro i7, 8GB, SSD etc but it gives similar stutter issues.
I will send you a folder with some of the DSD256 files in a PM.
Hi @Jeroen_Biemans ----- Thank you for the follow up and the feedback. I wanted to confirm that I have received the DSD256 content successfully and will be testing accordingly.
I am however, in need of a bit more information regarding this issue. Can you confirm for me if this issue has always existed while you’ve been using roon or has this manifested itself recently? If that is the case and this isn’t an issue that wasn’t present at one time can you give me some insight on anything that may have changed in your setup. New applications running the background? New gear being used? Any driver updates? Thanks!
Yes, it has always been like this from the beginning. Stuttering was always there on my Mac mini (and my macbook pro).
There are a minimum of programs running/installed on my Mac mini since I only use it for music. At startup a viewer and Roon server start up. I have already tried to play without the viewer but stuttering remains.
@Jeroen_Biemans ---- Thank you for the follow up and the clarification. Both are appreciated. Once the content has been tested, I will update you with my findings. Thanks!
Hi @Jeroen_Biemans ---- Thank you for your patience, as we have been actively working on this issue in house. I would like to gather some additional more information from you as well as having note an observance for us. Please see below. Thanks!
Can you please provide screen grabs of your audio setting as seen in the examples below?
May I kindly ask you to please open your “activity monitor” and reproduce the issue you are having and let me know of any observances you may notice while the activity window is open. Thanks!
CPU: Roonappliances stays around 10% of CPU, Raatserver at 6,8% and nothing changes when the drops occur. Memory remains stable at 336 MB for Roonappliances, Raatserver is at 62MB. Memory used 2,64 GB out of 8 GB. Network remains stable too. Energy is flat. Nothing odd at Disk either. So basically I do not notice anything different when the drops occur.
Hi @Jeroen_Biemans ----- Thank you for the follow up and the feedback, both are greatly appreciated! The good news is, based on your observations there are no sign of any kind of performance issues Thank you again for those readings.
I am curious however, based on the screen grabs you’ve provided, have you had any luck when altering your current audio setup? Have you tried playing back without any of those functions engaged?
Thank you again for those readings.