Why Roon and why Roon not... Now not a farewell

Roon Software Discussion
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Sorry folks maybe I should not write this post at all but as long as I have been supported with all my doubts and my search of knowledge in a very friendly way, so I think Roon Team and Community Roon people deserve some words.

I like Roon.

I like the user interface, the way is offering me information, the interesting discovers into my own library and how I can see different versions from the same song / composer and so on…

I don’t like Roon.

I had to bought a new i3 with 8Gb RAM and a SSD (small, silent one with no fan) to manage the main software, a Pro-Ject S2 Ultra to be able to enjoy the DSD tracks from Tidal and a USB DAC to listen the S2 accordingly.

Not a regret for the updated items (well, yes, a little because that meant to spend 500 eur unexpected just to start in a “suppose to be” position to enjoy Roon) but a regret for the inconsistence of the streaming quality from my music. Seemed to me too much attention to test and re-test network capacity, but at the end always a random issues appearing (skipping tracks after 10% or 15% played, and then, playing again the same tracks 100% played) but not if Tidal playing.

Would be easy to say I am not happy to spend the monthly rate, or yearly rate to use ROON but I must share something with you: the latest test I have done

I took a full album in my NAS (FLAC, 44,1kHz) and start playing:

  1. from Roon, is skipping and skipping after 10-15% playing

  2. from S2 directly to my NAS, no issues

At this point I consider maybe the file moving from NAS to ROON and then to S2 Ultra is too much for my network at this part (NAS is under PLC connectivity)

A few days ago I discovered Volumio (obvious if using a Pro-Ject, don’t you think so?) and created a pendrive to use in my i3. I did little test but I was still considering Roon, so was parked.

  1. turn off Roon, turn on Volumio. Same folder same files, no issues

All this test took less than 10 minutes. I do not make any change at all on my network

I want to play and enjoy music in a easy way. I have spent all my test time waiting NAS files to suddenly skip from playing with no logical reason, as played again and then no issues.

Will Volumio be the final setup? Do not know but after all this issues I consider I must give a try.

Regards from Barcelona

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Not to dissuade you, but let me guess you are using WiFi?

Roon is very network demanding , with Ethernet you would probably have no issues , worth a try before you bin Roon ? Your ultra has Ethernet I believe ?

You are right network measurement is often discussed at setup but for good reasons,

Check out the forum on Dropouts or Stuttering and you see a common reason …

Good luck and keep listening

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Hello, you can ask and suppose all you want (and you are welcome)

No WiFi connetion involved no step of the process.

i3 (Roon server) is cable linked to S2 Project through the router from Internet provider

NAS (my music) is connected by PLC to my network

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I would hold off until the next version is releases and see how that works. Can’t say much more due confidentiality. But you might find it might work better for you. If not then do what you must.

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Have you tried opening a support thread? There may be a network issue you could resolve.

Do you have the option of putting your music files on a drive connected directly to your i3 and doing without the NAS?

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I will give it a try, I promise.

Other options available does not meet my expectations.

Feel beetween the devil and the deep blue sea. Roon works but network issues is something really makes me sad.

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I have done, and also readed a lot other entries in the Community Forum

As far as I have understood Roon is asking for a very strong network for no issues. My actual setup is working flawless for all purposes except for Roon. What a bad luck…

Well, I will give a try to Roon (again) and I hope the expectations that @CrystalGipsy announced me about next version to be released becomes reality

Thank you

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Most other purposes are devices talking to the public Internet but not to each other. More than just about any application, Roon requires low latency, reliable communications between different devices on the same network. In theory, this should be easy, but most consumer network hardware is not optimized for this use case. Given how bad some of them are, I wonder if they even do any testing. And too often, the “smarter” these consumer network devices are, the more they get in the way of Roon devices talking to each other.

This is why Roon recommends a simple network topology: a single Wi-Fi router, if your home can be served by one. To that, connect a single unmanaged Ethernet switch with lots of ports. To that, connect Core, NAS (if you must have one), and as many Output devices as possible, especially those that need to support high-rez formats.

Other topologies can work well, but the further one deviates from this design, the more time they are likely to spend troubleshooting network issues instead of listening to music.

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There is something I have not tested and you have me an idea…

I am using the 4-switch integrated on the Router for connecting by Ethernet

  1. Roon
  2. Project S2
  3. PLC to NAS
  4. Deco Tv

As far as everybody knows routers provided by internet supplier are far from excellent, I will give a try to a gigabit switch and see if this is managing better my network.

@David_Snyder, in your opinion it could be something to improve?

I am avoiding the direct connectivity of the NAS here, close to Project and Roon and so on, for avoiding hard drive and fan noise on the audio setup place

Thank you for your support

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Yeah. And you don’t have to go crazy. The Netgear switch that I recommend in this article is around $80 and is more than adequate for most folks.

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Bit thick here but what do mean by PLC

The NAS should be another eternity connection or maybe USB ?

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Good morning

Power Line Communication (PLC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power-line_communication

So, connection under Ethernet (not eternity I guess the automatic translator did make a joke for you) and no USB connection.

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Samsung autocorrect sucks :expressionless: my phone has a tiny keyboard

Thanks for the acronym

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Power line connectors have been shown to be the cause of the very problems you describe. Try a direct connection of your nas to a switch via Ethernet cable.

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Remove those and then see how you get on. Powerline devices are not great under heavy load I don’t mean bandwidth here although when I used them they fluctuated badly. Worse thing for the hifi are these things they pollute you mains with RF which gets into the audio kita analogue stages. Mine affected my phono stagema.lot and produced clicks and sash . That aside they don’t deal with heavy mulitcast environments which Roon creates , they don’t follow standard ethernet protocols either so often cause issues in this type of environments. I had random disconnects when I used them to. I removed them and went for a decent WiFi system before finally going fully hardwired to the hifi and never had an issue since and it sounded better after removing all that RF polluting noise.

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As others have suggested, temporarily remove the powerline kit and connect your gear directly, including your NAS, via a decent Gb switch - I use a Netgear GS108.
I used to use powerline connectors but they gave me major issues (which I appreciate could be down to our house wiring) across more than just Roon. I replaced them with CAT5 cabling and that sorted everything.
It’ll be worth trying just to narrow down your problems.

Michael

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To be honest I must do this testing. In fact I promise I will do this week and see how it works

My Nas is providing me too many sounds (discs spinning, fan working…) and as far as LMS worked flawless with Nas under PLC I simply switch to Roon (not that simple, new Pc, new streamer and new Dac was also implemented)

I love silence when music is playing

Nas is in another room with door closed :slight_smile:

As per my country’s legal requirements I cannot share cat5 or cat7 together with electricity wires and I simply does not want to cable outside walls

I found this stuff which allows me to cable all connections but at this moment I am not able to spend + install it

Video is in Spanish but I guess can be understood what I want to do

BTW I will try also with an external switch to improve connection.

Thank you again for all your support

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And BTW (Chapter #2) after rehearsal / error this morning 5 times skipping for unknown reason the tracks from an album, now it is working flawlessly under PLC

What a pleasure to my ears and soul

Roon must consider I have fallen in love with Marcus Miller and “Marcus” 2008 record. I guess have tried to listen 20 times in 2 days

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After the frustration comes the fascination when all possible steps have been taken.

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Powerline networks is the worst thing - worse than Wifi even for sure

If you want to run fibre around with some media converters that is perhaps an option. maybe thats what the Spanish video was about.

FS.com sell some FMC’s Fibre runs and the appropriate SFP modules for Gigabit connections. If this is possible I’ll link some options for you maybe…if the FS.com is in English

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