Tidal media is loading slowly. This may indicate a networking or connectivity problem

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)

Lenovo Thinkpad X220 PC running Windows 10, Intel i7 processor, 128 Gb SSD, 16 Gb RAM. Roon trial version (yearly subscription starts June 19th, 2020). Connected to Internet via hardwired USB tethering to iPhone on TMobile 4G cellular (no WiFi used anywhere).

**Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

Linksys EA6350 router on wired Ethernet network to Roon Core PC and one Roon endpoint.

Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

  1. Astell & Kern KANN media player (in USB DAC audio input mode) connected to Allo USBridge Signature network transport via USB cable (this transport runs Roon Bridge internally).

Description Of Issue

Frequent interruptions during Tidal track playback (HiFi quality mode), resultiing in “Tidal is loading slowly…” message. I tried to isolate when the problem occurs, this is what I’ve learned so far:

  1. Problem is present with both the KANN playing (via the Roon network endpoint) or with the Roon Core software playing the same track directly through the PC speaker (Roon System Output audio zone).

  2. Upon problem appearance, I immediately executed an Internet speed test on my PC. Download speed is consistently in the 15-25 Mbps range (upload speed is about 8-10 Mbps).

  3. While Roon is playing, I connected to the Tidal website using the Chrome browser on this same Roon Core PC. Everytime the Roon Tidal track stops due to the Tidal slow loading problem, I’m able to start direct Tidal playback of the same identical track from the browser instead (through the speaker of the same PC). I’ve been able to repeat this many times, not once did the direct browser playback fail.

One time, the browser playback kept going when I couldn’t restart the Roon track at all (I got a “Track not available from Tidal” or “Too many failures”).

So this would first seem to absolve my Roon network (outside of the Roon Core PC), see #1. It would also appear that my Roon Core PC’s internet connection Is okay. I wonder if my Roon Core PC hardware (or its Windows 10 configuration) is not up to handling the Roon Core functions properly? Upon running the Windows Resource Monitor, the CPU usage is about 15% during Roon playback, dropping to about 7% after the playback stops due to the problem.

I recycled this PC for Roon instead of buying new dedicated Roon Core hardware when I first started putting the network together earlier this spring, because it was already handy and I had a lot of other expenses elsewhere in my HiFi system.

Could you please advise me as to whether or not I’m missing anything? Based on the customer support cases you’ve been seeing, what are the top two or three most common identified causes for the “Tidal media is loading slowly. This may indicate a networking or connectivity problem.” message?

Thank you very much!

That sounds like an internal network issue. Although it says tidal is loading too slowly it really means connectivity isn’t working.
I would make sure your router is up to date and switch everything off. Switch router off last and first back on.
How is the Allo connected, wired or wireless.

Roon hammers networks when it streams unlike other players to get the time synchronization it uncompresses files in the core and sends full data streams across your network. Tidal sends compressed flac and let’s the streamer hardware uncompress it.

Ged_hickman1,
Thank you for the suggestion. My Allo is connected to my network via a Cat5 cable and provides audio to my DAC via wired USB.

I decided to take a break from Roon for a while today and ended my free trial (it expires today). I’ve rebooted my Linksys router, Allo Roon endpoint and my PC many, many times over the last few weeks, trying to get all my network and audio devices to show up in the Roon Audio Settings page reliably. It is a struggle to get everything working again every time I have to reconnect components after shifting things around in my workstation. This morning I couldn’t get my network to work at all after over an hour of reconnecting and rebooting.

I think my PC is the problem, but I don’t have the motivation anymore to pump more money into the problem to replace it. If/when shelter-in-place is lifted and I can get audiophile friends who are Roon experts to have a look at my network in person to help me deal with the problems, I might consider a Roon Nucleus or similar, although the Nucleus may not allow USB tethering to my iPad for internet access (I still think my 15-25 Mbps cellular download speed should be more than adequate for Tidal streaming).

Thanks again!

Best regards,

1 Like

Hello @Oliver_Barrett, thanks for the detail and doing some testing for this issue. Have you tried lowering the streaming quality in Roon to see if you get a better connection? Are you still using your ISP’s default DNS, or have you tried google or cloudflare DNS?

Hello nuwriy,

No, I’ve not tried reducing the streaming quality. Interesting suggestion about alternatives to the default DNS, didn’t know about these.

What I’ve learned so far will be very useful when I revisit Roon in the future.

Best regards,
Oliver Barrett

Hello Rebeka,

Thank you for the offer, however I just concluded a 30 day trial that just ended today. I need time to take stock of my HiFi situation for a while, but hope to revisit Roon in the future. What I’ve learned so far will be very useful then.

Best regards,

Oliver Barrett

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.