Unreliable streaming to Sonos devices via Roon (ref#KW9Y7M)

[Christopher_Karas]

What best describes your playback issue?

· Music stops playing unexpectedly

What type of Zone is affected by this problem?

· *Network Zones* are affected.

Is the affected network Zone connected with Ethernet or WiFi?

· WiFi

Does the issue affect all file formats?

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

Which network audio protocol is the Zone using with Roon?

· Sonos

Does the device show up at all in Roon Settings -> Audio?

· The Zone is listed under the wrong protocol

Does the device play audio from another source when using the same connection?

· The device has no problems with another audio source

Have you checked that Roon is whitelisted in any firewalls?

· I've checked the firewall and the issue remains

If the device has multiple output options, do the other options work as expected?

· Multiple output types are affected

Is the device using the latest firmware as per the manufacturer?

· Firmware is up-to-date but the issue remains

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

· I have 8 Sonos devices including a stereo pair of Sonos One speakers paired with a Sonos Sub (gen3), Sonos Amp x2, Sonos Move, Sonos Port, and a Sonos Roam. I bought them all within the past 2.5 years and they are all running the latest firmware.

Describe the issue

I absolutely love the Roon experience when it works but I've been struggling to get it to work consistently. I have 8 Sonos devices including a stereo pair of Sonos One speakers paired with a Sonos Sub (gen3), Sonos Amp x2, Sonos Move, Sonos Port, and a Sonos Roam. I bought them all within the past 2.5 years and they are all running the latest firmware. I have a very solid WiFi network using my brand new TP-Link router. When I stream Tidal to all 8 devices (or any subset) using the native Sonos app, the streams are rock solid (no dropouts) and perfectly synchronized. When I stream Tidal to the same devices via Sonos streaming from Roon, the audio streams are very unreliable. I get a lot of drop-outs. In particular, one of the two stereo paired speakers cuts in and out multiple times throughout each song. I've also tried to stream to these devices from Roon via AirPlay2 and that is much worse, with audio streams cutting out very rapidly (every second or two) on most/all devices. I tried some of the troubleshooting tips that I found in the Roon forums but I can't get any of them to work reliably. For example, I tried connecting one device via ethernet and then pairing all the other devices to it via the Sonos app but it was still unreliable. I'm running Roon Server version 2.0 (build 1462) on my 2023 Mac Mini with Apple M2 Pro with 16 GB of RAM.

Like I said, I really want to get Roon working for my setup so I'm willing to invest the time to get it working and pay the monthly membership indefinitely, but if I can't get it to work reliably, I'll just have to give up on all the great Roon features (music discovery, now playing screen, signal path, etc.) and go back to using the Sonos app instead.

Describe your network setup

TP-Link Archer AX3000 Pro Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6

[connor]

Hi @Christopher_Karas,

Thank you for your post. Please share a screenshot of the Device Setup page in Settings → Audio for the grouped Sonos devices. In particular, we’re interested in the Device Setup page for this Zone:

Living Room Sonos Port + Basement Sonos Amp + Bathroom Sonos Roam + Garage Sonos Amp + Kitchen + Sonos Move

Diagnostics available to our team from your account don’t indicate any upstream/downstream issues with Tidal’s servers, or any dropouts during the distribution of the audio stream. So, we want to investigate how Roon and Sonos are handling group syncing at the particular moment of a dropout.

Can you please provide an approximate timestamp, or the name of a track playing, when you last experienced dropouts with any grouped Sonos Zone? We’ll pinpoint a particular event.

In the meantime, increase the resync delay in the Device Setup page. I would also navigate to the QoS (quality of service) tab in the TP Link router admin page and prioritize bandwidth allocation to RoonServer.

We’ll proceed from there. Thanks!

[Christopher_Karas]

Hello, Connor. Thank you for looking into this. Here are the screenshots that you asked for.

[Christopher_Karas]

I was only able to upload 5 of 6 attachments in the last post. Here’s the sixth one.

[Christopher_Karas]

Here’s some updated information that might help with your troubleshooting. When I stream to only one Sonos device at a time, it seems to be much more stable. I was able to stream to the Sonos Port (connected via ethernet) for about 10 mins with no dropouts. I was able to stream to the Garage Sonos Amp (connected via 2.4 GHz wifi) for about 30 mins with no dropouts. I was able to stream to the Kitchen stereo pair of Sonos Ones + Sonos Sub (all connected via 2.4 GHz wifi) for about 15 mins with no dropouts.

[benjamin]

Hey @Christopher_Karas,

Thanks for the follow-up!

@Christopher_Karas

When I stream to only one Sonos device at a time, it seems to be much more stable.

This typically points to a network bandwidth issue, if possible as a next step, could you please see if you can grab a screenshot of your Sonos Network Matrix via the link below:

How to troubleshoot interference using the Sonos Network Matrix - Special...

@Christopher_Karas

(all connected via 2.4 GHz wifi)

If you switch to 5 GHz, is there any difference?

[Christopher_Karas]

I will try both and get back to you

[daniel]

Great! We look forward to seeing the results of this test.