I recently have started having problems playing Tidal through Roon. The music skips and I get a message that Tidal media is loading slowly and that it could be network or connectivity issues. My network works fine and i can play Tidal without any problems either through the web or with their app. The issue is only with Roon. I never had this issue before. I am running Roon core on my QNAP NAS. My ripped music also resides on the NAS and I have no problems playing music off my NAS via Roon. I would appreciate any guidance on how to proceed. I've been using Roon since the first month it was released.
Describe your network setup
Roon Core is on a QNAP NAS. My ripped music is on the NAS. The NAS is connected to my DAC via ethernet. I use a Mac or tablet to control Roon. The NAS is connected to the internet modem (Huawei) via ethernet. The internet modem is connected to the ISP via fibre cable. Theoretically, I have a 1000mbps connection, but it usually runs at half that.
Thank you for your post. We’d be happy to take a closer look.
Diagnostic logging from RoonServer indicate failures in two places. First, the requests to Tidal’s servers begin to time out, and content doesn’t download during the expected buffering window. Secondly, as a result, audio distribution begins to fail across Zones - Zones are connected, but the buffer no longer includes any information from Tidal, since it hasn’t arrived.
This can either be an issue of bandwidth allocation or broader network reachability issues. The latter can usually be avoided by resetting any QoS or bandwidth rules in your router that might be disfavoring your RoonServer machine. However, we do see RoonServer failing to reach the upstream internet at times during the logged diagnostic period. Make sure your machine isn’t switching between network interfaces.
Just to confirm - there are no access points, managed switches, or other network components involved in this setup, and your network path from RoonServer to the internet is simply as follows?
The frustrating thing is that the issue is intermittent. Sometimes, I can listen to Tidal for an hour or two with no problem, then it starts acting up. Other times, I can’t get past a tune before it starts acting up.
I am having the same problems!
Where does one find this LOGGING INFORMATION?
can it be found and read by us, the customers and users? How?
Many of us with systems more complicated than a single playback device need deeper knowledge as to why Roon chooses to stop playing with no diagnostics or messaging.
Any and all access to deeper layers of knowledge would help us help Roon.
I have zero problems playing music off my local NAS drive, even at the highest res. That means the internal network doesn’t have any issues.
I have no problems whatsoever playing Tidal via their app, even at the highest resolution. That means that i do not have any external network issues (slow streaming, bad connection etc)
I can play just over a CD (about an hour’s worth of music) from Tidal via Roon with no problems, before it starts skipping and telling me about media loading slowly etc… This 1-1,5 hour of hassle free play has been pretty consistent. After it starts skipping, I need to give Tidal through Roon a break (probably a few hours, but haven’t timed it) to get back this 1-1,5 hours hassle free play. It is as if something resists somewhere.
I am not sure how Roon connects to Tidal, but I think the problem is at Roon’s end and not my network or connection.
Can you please have a look at it?
Thank you
PS. After talking to some friends, it seems everyone I know has the same problem. Seems to have started when Tidal dropped MQA. They now switched to Qobuz, which doesn’t have this issue. Having said that, I have no problems with Tidal via their app - its only via Roon that everyone has issues.
Thanks for your detailed testing! I can definitely see why it might seem like the issue isn’t network-related, but there are a few key differences in how Roon handles streaming compared to the Tidal app or playing from your NAS.
Roon’s data flow is more demanding – unlike a simple music player, Roon applies additional processing to the audio stream, such as buffering, DSP (if enabled), and endpoint synchronization. These factors can make Roon more sensitive to network inconsistencies, even if other apps don’t experience issues.
Tidal app vs. Roon’s connection to Tidal – When using the Tidal app, your device is streaming directly from Tidal’s servers, but with Roon, the stream is first sent to your Roon Core before being distributed to endpoints. This adds another layer of network dependency, meaning small fluctuations in network performance can cause playback issues in Roon even if Tidal’s app works fine.
Playback duration and potential throttling – The fact that playback works for 1–1.5 hours before issues start suggests something could be accumulating over time, like network congestion, caching issues, or even a potential rate-limiting factor. It might be helpful to test whether switching to a different DNS (like Google’s 8.8.8.8 or Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1) improves stability.
We have seen users have a better experience in the past if they change their Router’s DNS servers from the ISP provided ones to Cloudflare DNS, Quad9 or Google DNS. Can you please give this a try and let me know if it helps?
Thanks Benjamin. I’ll try the different DNS tonight or tomorrow and report back.
According to my friends, streaming Qobuz via Roon doesn’t have any problems.
In fact, I went to an audiophile friend on Sunday (to check out his new speakers) and we tried playing the same tracks from Tidal and from Qobuz, both via Roon, at the same resolution. Sure enough, Qobuz played without any issues while Tidal suffered the same problems that I have. He’s in the process of converting all his Tidal library to Qobuz, and, I assume, will eventually dump Tidal, due to this issue. He recommends I do the same, but, frankly, I’m not keen to spend enormous amounts of (precious) time converting my library.
Hi Team, another odd variable in my house that doesn’t make sense, but it seems to be almost predictable.
When only 1 person in my home has the ROON APP open, the system plays consistently without stopping. As soon as a 2nd phone connects it seems to confuse ROON and ROON stops playing. Nothing else changes, but it seems that having 2 MASTERS (not changing what’s playing by the way), but just observing the system seems to be a big cause of our system STOPPING in the middle of playback.
Again, I know this sounds silly, but I was away on work for 2 weeks, and my home users didn’t have any problem, I came home yesterday, and as soon as I connected my phone to the ROON server the music stopped.
Also, I have verified my phone is on the 1496 build. Also both of our phones are EXACTLY THE SAME PHONES, same ANDROID VERSION. So it’s not that one of our devices is different nor should it act differently.
Maybe that helps. Happy to provide ROON logs of any events they are willing to help observe.
No change i’m afraid. Actually, the DNS used to be 1.1.1.1 (Cloudfare’s). I switched to Google (8.8.8.8) but still the loading of Tidal starts interrupting and skipping after a while (about 35 mins this morning).
You’re probably right. Otherwise, users in other locations would have reported the same problem. It is not a problem with Tidal itself as I do not have any issues playing Tidal via web or its own apps, but with the Roon-Tidal connector. I’ll be a bit more patient and see if Roon can come up with a fix. Otherwise, I’ll ditch Tidal and subscribe to Qobuz that doesn’t have these issues.
I am not sure yet (too early to tell) but he last Roon update seems to have stabilized the Tidal playback.
We updated a couple days ago and have not had the playback stopping as it was normally.
When looking at the change notes they didn’t EXACTLY ADMIT to fixing it. Which honestly would feel better, than accidentally finding it.
Also, Roon might openly announce that all of our networks are not BROKEN when they find and fix something in their software to magically resolve issues.
But I won’t expect admission of fault as long as it works we just can pretend that all our network problems fixed themselves instead.
A working ROON is a good ROON from my perspective.
I have exactly the same experience as Jeff. I’ve updated today, and after 4+ hours of Tidal via Roon, not one glitch. Clearly, something was amiss at the Roon end.
Thanks for fixing it - it was driving me mad. And you did Tidal a favor as I was about to ditch them for no fault of their own
We want to work through troubleshooting to completion here, since there was nothing in the most recent Roon update pertaining to the Tidal API.
Here’s what we’ve found in the most recent available diagnostics:
@Jeff_White, in your case, there’s a server-side buffer overrun on the part of a WiiM endpoint in a grouped Zone when streaming 24-bit/96KHz playback or above from Tidal. This endpoint is reporting to Roon that it has no more available memory buffer for the incoming FLAC file and thus tears down audio. The other Zones stop playback reflexively since they’re synced and clocked.
The most illuminating test would be to reconstruct the same multi-Zone group without the WiiM endpoint involved and see if you can reproduce dropouts at 96Khz streaming from Tidal. Depending on whether you have managed switches, mesh nodes, or second routers that can actively schedule packets, the WiiM might be receiving a whole lot of data all at once that it was meant to receive in smaller chunks. If you share the network topology involved, we can certainly assist and we’d be happy to continue troubleshooting. Fortunately, we don’t see any issues with RoonServer failing to download content from the Tidal API.
We’ll split your response into a dedicated thread for further troubleshooting.
@Cemil, we’re unfortunately seeing dropouts continue in logs associated with your RoonServer and Tidal playback at regular intervals. These occur both during download of audio files from Tidal to RoonServer and distribution of Tidal audio files to endpoints across the network. Most affected are a Sonore Ultra-Rendu and an MPD-8, but this only occurs after the Tidal buffer has begun to encounter problems. In most cases, Roon recovers, so you might not encounter a dropout.
Tidal’s API and their own site’s server function through different content delivery networks and rely on entirely different implementations. A firewall in your network might be blocking one and not the other.
How is your QNAP connecting to the internet? Is it behind any managed switches, access points, mesh nodes, or second routers?
Thanks Connor for your reply and for your thoroughness in pursuing this. I’ve not had the chance to try Tidal via Roon again since my post, but I’ll do some extensive listening this weekend and report back. Indeed, it might be a coincidence that it started working after the patch. I was away for nearly a week and did not listen to music that time. So, the problem could have ‘disappeared’ before the patch.
My RoonServer (running on the QNAP NAS) is normally going through a high performance switch (before the main router), but while testing my internal network, I connected the Server/NAS directly to the main router via ethernet - with no difference in performance. I’ve connected it back through the switch and my last uninterrupted session was that way.
You probably know that I’ve been using Roon since its first day, practically, and the Tidal ‘connector’ since it was implemented. I’ve not had any issues until recently, so something must changed somewhere - either at your end or at Tidal’s. Or maybe at my ISP - they might have changed something (eg port?) at my regional connection center (where my fibre is connected). My friend who has the same issue is also living in the same area, so would probably be connected through the same center. On the other hand, I understand he has the same issue on his boat …
