TIDAL Playback Fails at Max Quality on ROCK (ref#BIK0NS)

Support
1

What best describes your playback issue?

· Music stops playing unexpectedly

What type of Zone is affected by this problem?

· *Directly-connected Zones* are affected.

Does the issue affect all file formats?

· The issue affects *multiple/all* file formats.

Does the issue happen with local library music, streaming service music, or both?

· *Only streaming* music is affected.

Please select the streaming service(s) with which you're encountering playback problems.

· TIDAL

Have you tried logging out and back in again to your streaming service in Roon Settings?

· Logging out and back in had no impact, the issue remains

Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?

· October 3, 2026, around 22:40 Taiwan time (UTC+8), playing TIDAL tracks at Max quality.

What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?

· T+A DAC8 DSD, connected via USB directly to ROCK.

Describe the issue

TIDAL playback fails at Max quality with "TIDAL media is loading slowly" error. Local library plays fine, and TIDAL works normally in the TIDAL app on my phone.

Setup:
- Core: ROCK on Intel NUC (exact model unknown), OS 2.1 (build 271), Roon Server 2.73 (build 1696)
- Network: HiNet router -> TP-Link LS105G gigabit switch -> ROCK (Ethernet)
- Audio: USB DAC connected directly to ROCK
- ISP: HiNet (Taiwan), 525/521 Mbps, ping 4 ms

What I've tried:
1. Logged out and back in to TIDAL, restarted Roon Server and rebooted ROCK
2. Changed ROCK DNS from ISP (192.168.0.1) to 8.8.8.8, then 1.1.1.1. Google DNS improved it slightly (plays about half a track instead of 6 seconds), but it still fails
3. Disabled all DSP and upsampling (MUSE off) - no change
4. Tested the same Ethernet cable and switch port with a PC: 525 Mbps, so cabling and switch are fine
5. Lowest TIDAL streaming quality plays fine, but Max quality fails every time

Could you please check my logs to see why TIDAL streams time out at Max quality?

Describe your network setup

HiNet fiber (Taiwan) modem/router -> TP-Link LiteWave LS105G 5-port gigabit unmanaged switch -> ROCK via Ethernet. No Wi-Fi, mesh, powerline, or VPN involved. USB DAC connected directly to ROCK. ROCK uses static IP 192.168.0.221 with DNS 1.1.1.1 (previously 8.8.8.8 and ISP DNS 192.168.0.1). Internet speed tested on the same cable and switch port: 525 Mbps down / 521 Mbps up, ping 4 ms.

2

Tidal is not officially available in Taiwan. If you are not using a VPN, how does it work?

3

Hello @cheng_wei_wu

I have gone ahead and enabled diagnostics mode for your account and what this action will do is next time your Roon Server is active, a set of logs will automatically be generated and uploaded to our servers for analysis.

I wanted to reach out because I’ve been keeping an eye on our servers, waiting for the aforementioned diagnostics report.

For some reason it is not reaching our servers, even after I tried re-enabling diagnostics on your account. I also ran a quick test and I was able to submit a similar report from my setup here, so something else is going on.

So we can move forward, I was hoping for now you could use the directions found here and send them to our Logs Uploader Service and let us know after, thanks!