Music stops playing unexpectedly, both some streamed radio stations and also Roon radio. Latest incident can be seen in my log for Jan 1 at 11:32 AM Danish time. I would like help to check if this is a local issue related to my setup.
Describe your network setup
Roon Nucleus connected via USB to DAC. Second zone with same problems on Roon endpoint (Raspberry Pi with Ropieee) connected to DAC. Router: Icotera i4850 (default setup). Switch: Zyxel GS1100-16. All connections to equipment cabled with ethernet cat 5a or higher. Fiber connection 1000 Mbit.
Thanks for taking the time to write in and share your report along with a timestamp! Based on the details you’ve provided, we’re seeing a lack in buffering from the song playing, along with numerous dropouts that eventually lead to playback stopping.
How is your Nucleus connected to your primary router? Is it also through the switch you’ve mentioned?
I’d test out removing the switch and setting a direct connection from your router to your Nucleus. I’d also test out removing any DSP you have enabled, and see if you continue to run into playback issues.
Thank you @benjamin. I will rewire and test this as the first thing. I am quite happy with the DSP, so I hope that is not the problem. Will you be able to see improvements in the log right away, or should I wait some time to see if I fix the problem following one or both of your suggestions?
Hi @benjamin - I have rewired so that the Roon Nucleus now has a direct connection to the main router. I still have DSP turned on, as the problem was known also before I set that up (and DSP has clearly improved my sound experience in an acoustically somewhat difficult room).
Again, the streaming stopped several times:
Playing the DR P8 radio station on Saturday, please see the log for 17:14, 18:56 and 19:19. Each time I restarted the streaming manually. FYI, there is another known issue related to playing DR radio stations in an ongoing support case, cf. Intermittent issues with Danish Radio streaming quality (30 min Delay HLS Stream) (ref#SOI0FP) [Ticket In] - #29 by connor. Usually there are no stops when I play BBC 3, you can see logs for BBC 3 most days during the week from around 8:15 and onwards.
Playing Roon radio, the streaming stopped also Saturday at 22:52.
@benjamin - I do not know if it’s related, but I sometimes loose connection to the Roon server when trying to use the Android app. Timestamp for an example of this is this evening at around 21:17. It can be found again but it takes a little while.
The issue described in the link you’ve shared above is a bit different, do you also see a 30 minute lag in the live stream when listening? If so, the two could be related.
Another fresh diagnostic report is showing playback stopping due to slow media and too many dropouts:
Trace: [.NET ThreadPool Worker] [E70 Velvet] [raatclient] GOT [1084] {"status":"Dropout","samples":20160}
Warn: [Worker (13)] [Stue lyd (Topping) + Stue trigger + Kontor trigger] [zoneplayer/raat] Too many dropouts (>3s dropped out in the last 30s). Killing stream
Trace: [Worker (13)] [Stue lyd (Topping) + Stue trigger + Kontor trigger] [zoneplayer/raat] too many dropouts. stopping stream
and
Warn: [Broker:Transport] [zone E70 Velvet + Stue trigger + USB2.0 Device + snd_rpi_hifiberry_digi] Track Stopped Due to Slow Media
Trace: [Broker:Transport] Attempting to play channel URL: icy://live-icy.gss.dr.dk/A/A22H.mp3
Are you able to test without DSP?
Perhaps testing different DNS settings on your Nucleus may help. Here’s a step-by-step on how to change the DNS settings on your Nucleus:
Open a web browser on a device connected to the same network as your Nucleus.
Enter the IP address of your Nucleus in the address bar.
If you don’t know the IP address:
Open the Roon app.
Go to Settings > Setup > Find Nucleus.
Note the IP address shown for the Nucleus.
Alternatively, use http://nucleus.local/ (on macOS or Windows with Bonjour installed).
Log into the Web Interface:
Once the web page loads, you’ll see the Nucleus web administration interface.
Change the DNS Settings:
Scroll down to the Networking section.
If the Nucleus is using DHCP:
Note that you cannot directly edit DNS settings under DHCP. You will need to switch to a static IP to specify custom DNS servers.
Switch to a Static IP:
Click on the Configure or Edit option under networking.
Enter the current network settings for your Nucleus (IP address, subnet mask, gateway) manually. These can often be found in your router’s settings or your current DHCP lease information.
Specify Custom DNS Servers:
Add DNS servers in the relevant fields. Common choices:
Google DNS: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
Cloudflare DNS: 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1
OpenDNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220
Save and Apply Changes:
Click Save or Apply to confirm your new settings.
Restart the Nucleus (make sure Roon Server is stopped) and let me know if you continue to experience stoppages when streaming live radio.
Hi @benjamin - I changed the setting in Roon to static OpenDNS late on Jan 8 and rebooted the Nucleus.
Streaming the DR P2 radio station, there was a stop on Jan 9 at 06:48. From thereon it played all right for some hours. However, there are known issues reported by other users also related to playing the low res 128 DR streams via Roon. I do not currently play the high res HLS streams from DR, as they have the 30 minute delay and sometimes also go into repeating circles. I am waiting for the Roon softwere to be updated, cf. the other support issue I linked to above.
On Jan 8 at around 08:15 I changed to BBC 3, and that stream was without interruption the next couple of hours.
I still have DSP turned on, as I would like you to check the log now to see if rewiring around the switch and use of the static DNS has gotten rid of the instability you noticed.
FYI I also stream 4K video to my Apple TV from several providers without any trouble, so I think it is safe to say that the current problem is related to the streams served by Roon and not to my internet connection. Also, I am able to play the DR radio stations in low res 128 via VLC on a PC connected with ethernet via the switch with no interruption of the streaming.
We’ll be posting any updates via the same thread you’ve linked - I’ll share it below as well:
If you aren’t experiencing any dropouts in the above situation, than it’s safe to say your connection seems to have stabilized.
Streaming 4K video and live high-resolution audio are indeed both demanding on networks, but they work a bit differently, making them tough to compare. High-resolution audio streams often have unique requirements for uninterrupted playback, including factors like buffer management, packet delivery, and how the data is processed by your playback device.
Let us know if you have any other questions, otherwise, any updates shared will be in the above-linked thread.
