Happening for me too (as I’m seeing elsewhere in the support forum), and it seems to have just started with the new version. Apparently at random, a track will be playing, it will go silent for a couple seconds, and then skips ahead – not usually to the next track, but the one after that. I also get the slow loading message in the endpoint UI. Happens on pretty much any albums. All tracks are locally stored, ripped from CD at 44.1 – I don’t even have a Tidal or Qobuz subscription.
Happens on all 3 of the endpoints/outputs I’ve used: the Mac Mini running the core with a local HDMI out, remote Mac running Mojave, and remote iPad running most recent iOS. All Roon software completely updated.
My core is running headless on the most recent Intel Mac Mini (Catalina, 10.15.7), music library stored on a USB3 portable drive. The core machine has a local HDMI out to my receiver, and it’s wired into the network. Both of the remote endpoints are on WiFi.
But I can’t stress enough, the entire setup, including the core machine and the WiFi is rock solid for all other uses including video streaming – I run Plex on the same machine, but it’s literally never streaming while Roon is. Also, I experienced this happening in the local output from the machine running the core, and this is a new behavior in the last couple weeks, so I feel like it has to be something in a new version of Roon.
ETA: Seconding ricgf’s note below that the silence >> skip usually happens in the early portion of a track.