Unexpected playback pauses with local music files on offline Roon setup (ref#UMF6HT)

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 local library *music is affected.

Where is your local content stored?

· On the same machine where RoonServer is running, internal drive

Please try playing content of a lower sample rate (44.1kHz or 48kHz), does this work as expected?

· No, lower sample rates are still affected

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

· Today I have been listening to music for about 2 hours, and random pauses have occurred 3 times already. A few days ago, it was even worse – the music stopped unexpectedly 19 times in a single day

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

· The system is running on a Dell Alienware Area-51m R2 laptop. The audio device is Michi P5 (preamplifier with built-in DAC), connected directly to the laptop via an AudioQuest Cinnamon USB cable. I am using the official Michi ASIO Driver USB 2.0. The rest of the chain consists of a Michi S5 power amplifier and Martin Logan Motion 60XT speakers.

Describe the issue

Hi,

I am experiencing unexpected and random playback pauses while listening to music. The music just stops on its own.

I do not have a router or a Wi-Fi connection. Roon is running entirely offline, and I am playing only local music files stored on my hard drive. The issue happens regardless of the file format or sample rate.

Could you please help me troubleshoot why Roon Server is stopping the playback unexpectedly?

Thank you.

Describe your network setup

As mentioned before, I do not have a router, Wi-Fi, or any network setup. Roon is running entirely offline on a single machine.

2

Hello @bejdamarian

I think the next step here is to enable some diagnostics on your account so our technical staff can get some more insight into what’s going on here.

However, before I enable this feature, I’d like to ask for your help ensuring we gather the right information.

First, can you please reproduce the issue once more and note the time at which the error occurs. Then respond here with that time, and I’ll make sure we review the diagnostics related to that timestamp.

3

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· Roon is slow, freezing or won’t start

Roon is slow, freezing or won’t start

· Roon won’t start up at all

Tell us what's going on

· Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?*
No worries, we’ll sort it together ❤️
Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

A
Music won’t play or issues with my library

B
Can’t reach my Server, remotes or ARC

C
Roon is slow, freezing or won’t start

D
My Nucleus isn’t working right

E
Trouble signing in to Roon or streaming services

F
None of the above quite fits

Hello Vadim,I am an older guy, I work full-time, and I really do not have the time to deal with these technical absurdities or monitor my system 24/7.Roon drops into pause completely randomly. I am not a fortune teller; I cannot predict when it will happen. For example, over the weekend, it did not drop a single time in 2 days. But today (Monday evening), I came home from work and it dropped into pause after just 10 minutes, at around 20:30 local time. A few days ago, before the recent update to version 2.7.0, it crashed 19 times in a single day, and 4 times the following day.I also use Audirvana 3.5.5.1 and Wavelab Pro 11. Neither of them has a single issue running over the Michi ASIO driver. In my personal opinion, this stupid Windows 11 is somehow blocking or interfering with your RAAT protocol.Please enable the diagnostics now and look at the logs yourself around that 20:30 timestamp. I am not going to spend any more of my free time doing tech support for you.

Tell us about your home network

· Hello Vadim,I am an older guy, I work full-time, and I really do not have the time to deal with these technical absurdities. Roon drops into pause completely randomly. For example, over the weekend, it did not drop a single time. But today (Monday evening), I came home from work and it dropped into pause after just 10 minutes, at around 20:30 local time. Before the recent update to version 2.7.0, it crashed 19 times in a single day.I am using a Windows 11 PC connected to a Michi amplifier via the official Michi ASIO driver (USB 2.0). The hardware buffer is set to the maximum of 2048 samples. Audirvana 3.5.5.1 and Wavelab Pro 11 work flawlessly on this exact same network and PC setup without a single drop. In my opinion, Windows 11 is blocking or interfering with your RAAT protocol.Please enable the diagnostics now and look at the logs yourself around that 20:30 timestamp. I have provided all the details. Do not ask me for more tests. Just fix it.

4

Hi @bejdamarian ,

I’ve merged your new support request into your original support request topic so all the history together.

If you have further updates on this issue you can just append a new post to this topic, there’s no need to submit a technical support request.

5

“Hi Vadim, ever since updating to version 2.7.1, there is another annoying issue. When I launch Roon on Windows 11, the app window flashes blindly white first, like a welding torch, before loading the dark UI. It hurts my eyes in the evening and version 2.7.0 never did this. Your v2.7.1 code is clearly broken from the start.”

6

“Hi Vadim, another playback pause occurred today (Tuesday) at exactly 9:05 AM. There was no ‘Audio device lost’ error message at all. The music simply paused, and when I clicked the Play button, it immediately started playing again without any issues. This clearly proves it is not a hardware, cable, or DAC connection fault. It is a pure software bug within the RAAT protocol or buffer management in version 2.7.1 on Windows 11. Please look up this exact timestamp (9:05 AM) in my diagnostic logs and fix this issue.”

7

Hi Vadim, it just paused by itself at 8:51 AM without showing any error message. I am sending a photo. Best regards, Marian.

Snímka obrazovky (255)
Snímka obrazovky (255)1920×1080 200 KB

8

Hello @bejdamarian

Your three timestamps are exactly what we need, thank you.

The reason we have not looked yet is that we cannot. Enabling diagnostics tells your Roon Server to upload its logs to us, and your machine has no network or internet connection at all, so nothing reaches us and nothing ever will while it stays offline. That is not us asking for more tests, it is that the logs have no way of getting here.

So we need them sent manually, which is a one-time job. Please use the directions found here and send over a set of logs to our File Uploader. Once they are uploaded, please let us know so we can check the server for your files.

With those and your timestamps of 20:30 on the 10th, 09:05 on the 11th and 08:51 on the 12th, we can go straight to the right moments.

On the white flash at launch in 2.71: noted separately and passed on.

9

Hello Vadim,

I have just manually uploaded the logs to the File Uploader under my name (Marian Bejda).

Please check them along with the timestamps I provided earlier. Thank you.

10

Hi @bejdamarian,

Thanks for the logs and for noting those three timestamps, that made this much easier to pin down.

I found all three events, and they all look identical. Here’s what happens at each one :

  • Your Michi’s ASIO driver reports a device_reset to Roon
  • One second later, Windows reports the Rotel PC-USB Audio 2.0 device being removed from the system
  • One second after that, Windows reports the same device being added back

So the P5’s USB audio interface is briefly dropping off the USB bus and re-enumerating. When that happens Roon loses the endpoint it was playing to and stops the zone. By the time you look over and press play, the device is already back, which is why it starts up again immediately with no error message.

The good news is we can rule out most of the usual suspects from your logs:

  • Not sample rate related. Every one of these happened mid-track at a steady 44.1kHz/16-bit, never at a track change or rate switch. That matches what you found testing lower rates.
  • Not your files or your drive. No buffering problems, no dropouts, no read stalls anywhere in five days of logs.
  • Not the laptop being overloaded. Roon Server’s memory and CPU look completely idle in the seconds before each stop.
  • Not Roon Server crashing. It keeps running right through each event and reconnects to the device within a second.

Right up until the instant the driver resets, everything on Roon’s side is healthy. So the cause is below Roon, in the USB link between the laptop and the P5.

The most common cause of this on a Windows laptop is USB power management putting the audio device to sleep. Two settings to change:

1. USB selective suspend Control Panel → Power Options → Change plan settings → Change advanced power settings → USB settings → USB selective suspend setting → set to Disabled for both “On battery” and “Plugged in”. While you’re there, set the power plan to High performance, and make sure the laptop is running on AC power rather than battery.

2. Per-device power management Device Manager → expand Universal Serial Bus controllers. For every USB Root Hub and Generic USB Hub entry: right-click → Properties → Power Management tab → uncheck “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” Do the same for the Rotel entry if it has that tab.

Alienware laptops also have their own power-saving layer, so it’s worth checking Alienware Command Center and your BIOS for any USB or peripheral power-saving options and turning those off too.

3. Try a different USB port and cable Move the P5 to a different port, ideally one not shared with other peripherals, and don’t use a hub or dock. If you have another USB cable handy, swap the Cinnamon out temporarily just to rule it out.

If it still drops after all that, could you run a listening session using WASAPI Exclusive instead of the Michi ASIO driver? In Settings → Audio you should see a “Rotel PC-USB Audio 2.0” WASAPI entry alongside the ASIO one, enable that and play through it for a while.

This splits the problem cleanly in two:

  • If it still drops on WASAPI → the issue is at the USB or hardware level
  • If it stops dropping on WASAPI → the issue is in the Michi ASIO driver, and a driver update from Rotel is the fix

Either way it tells us where to go next, and it’s worth checking Rotel’s site for a newer ASIO driver version regardless.

Lastly, If you open Event Viewer (Windows Logs → System) and look at 12/08/2026 08:50:16, you should see a matching device event from Kernel-PnP or USBHUB3 at that exact second. That would confirm this from Windows’ side independently of Roon.

Let me know how you get on, particularly with the WASAPI test. :+1:

11

Hi @bejdamarian,

We’re pinging this thread to ask if you’ve had a chance to read through the response above.

If you’re still experiencing these issues after making the recommended settings adjustments, let us know. Please keep in mind that this thread will automatically close soon without any further responses from the OP.

Thank you and we’ll look for your response.