Roon/HQPlayer Dropouts with opticalRendu

[topside3]

Got the new server (Windows based). No change. Something on my network has to be causing this. I guess I'll start disabling things from my network one by one. Any other ideas? @bobflood I'll try your suggestion as well.

[musicjunkie917]

The switch? Try an unmanaged switch.

[The Computer Audiophile]

7 minutes ago, musicjunkie917 said:

The switch? Try an unmanaged switch.

Do you have a suggestion for an unmanaged gigabit switch with flow control?

[AudioDoctor]

For what it's worth, I am using one of these switches from Ubiquiti in my system. Fiber from it direct to my Signature Optical Rendu with no problems.

 

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-switching/products/switch-enterprise-8-poe

[musicjunkie917]

2 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Do you have a suggestion for an unmanaged gigabit switch with flow control?

 

Netgear GS108v4....

[The Computer Audiophile]

3 minutes ago, musicjunkie917 said:

 

Netgear GS108v4....

That’s a great switch. Super simple and rock solid. 

[topside3]

@bobflood Tried the SFP with RJ45 - no changes. I've also tried all combinations of networking troubleshooting suggested by Small Green Computer. 

 

SOOO - I'm thinking maybe my music server may not be powerful enough? I tried a new M1 Mac Mini and still had hang ups with Sinc-m. Also tried this mini-PC with same issues:

 

Amazon.com: Mini PC i5 10th Gen Intel i5-10300H (Up to 4.5Ghz),Mini Computer Windows 10 Pro 16GB RAM 512GB SSD,Mini Desktop PC 4K Dual Screen,HDMI, WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet, 7xUSB,Gaming Small Portable Computer : Electronics

 

I can't live without HQPlayer, so would this be powerful enough to run Roon Server and HQP with most filters (PCM only)?

 

Intel NUC11PHKi7 Gaming Mini PC, Intel Core i7-1165G7 Upto 4.7GHz, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, HDMI, Mini DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Windows 10 Pro - Newegg.com

[Ultrarunner]

I’m having occasional dropouts with Roon/HQPlayer. My SonicTransporter i9 optical should be powerful enough. I’ve downgraded the HQPlayer settings to easier ones, but that doesn’t help. I’ve updated and rebooted my opticalRendu, STi9, and everything else, countless times. I’m out of ideas. 

[topside3]

18 minutes ago, Ultrarunner said:

 

18 minutes ago, Ultrarunner said:

I’m having occasional dropouts with Roon/HQPlayer. My SonicTransporter i9 optical should be powerful enough. I’ve downgraded the HQPlayer settings to easier ones, but that doesn’t help. I’ve updated and rebooted my opticalRendu, STi9, and everything else, countless times. I’m out of ideas. 

 

 

Yeah, it's crazy. You'd think there would be some sort of easy solution. Especially since so many people use HQPlayer with NAA endpoints.

Sonore and SGC put me in touch with Jussi, maybe he'll think of something. I've so far swapped routers, FMCs, switches, cables, and computers. Surprisingly when I run Roon and HQPlayer on my laptop out USB directly to my DAC, no issues. It's either the rendu (which Sonore said is working perfectly) or some weird network thing. Thinking of trying an Sotm 200 just to see if it helps. 

[AudioDoctor]

Have you tried a different endpoint? Something as simple as a Raspberry Pi can be used, if only for testing purposes if nothing else.

[topside3]

28 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

Have you tried a different endpoint? Something as simple as a Raspberry Pi can be used, if only for testing purposes if nothing else.

 

I tried a Raspberry Pi 2 that I had laying around but couldn't get it to work. Does it need to be a Pi 4 to run an NAA image? 

[AudioDoctor]

50 minutes ago, topside3 said:

 

I tried a Raspberry Pi 2 that I had laying around but couldn't get it to work. Does it need to be a Pi 4 to run an NAA image? 

 

Possibly, but I am not sure.

[stefano_mbp]

On 3/19/2022 at 5:13 AM, topside3 said:

Does it need to be a Pi 4 to run an NAA image? 

Yes … rpi4 only

[topside3]

@Ultrarunner Let me know if you find a fix. I doubt that the Sonic Transporter is the weak link. It has to be some sort of issue with the rendu or network. I ordered a raspberry pi 4 to try as a NAA endpoint. I’ll report back this week. These pauses have been driving me nuts for months!

[topside3]

On 3/8/2022 at 4:20 PM, AudioDoctor said:

For what it's worth, I am using one of these switches from Ubiquiti in my system. Fiber from it direct to my Signature Optical Rendu with no problems.

 

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-switching/products/switch-enterprise-8-poe

@AudioDoctor What are you using on the front end for Roon and HQPlayer?

[AudioDoctor]

34 minutes ago, topside3 said:

@AudioDoctor What are you using on the front end for Roon and HQPlayer?

 

The system I use Roon in is in my family room where my family has easy access to it, and on that I am running Roon Server and HQP Desktop on, of all things, a 2011 Mac Mini running Ubuntu desktop. That then sends the bits to a Pi4 with Miska's NAA image on it.

 

For my listening, I have Ubuntu Server running on a machine i built in a The Beast case, all entirely passively cooled, that has a JCAT network XE card in it, and outputs to that switch I linked above, which then goes fiber to the Signature Rendu Optical. Roon is nowhere to be found on that machine, just HQPlayer.

 

edit: I have one of the Sonore provided Finisar fiber transceivers at each end as well.

[The Computer Audiophile]

I'm playing from Roon to HQPlayer to NAA running on Signature Rendu SE Optical. Smooth sailing 1,536 kHz / 24 bits.

 

[topside3]

6 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

I'm playing from Roon to HQPlayer to NAA running on Signature Rendu SE Optical. Smooth sailing 1,536 kHz / 24 bits.

 

 

@The Computer Audiophile What are you using to run Roon and HQP? And I guess I should ask what you're using for networking. Maybe i'll just buy everything that you have Haha!

[The Computer Audiophile]

10 minutes ago, topside3 said:

 

@The Computer Audiophile What are you using to run Roon and HQP? And I guess I should ask what you're using for networking. Maybe i'll just buy everything that you have Haha!

 

Roon ROCK is running on an old NUC, sending audio to HQP running on my CAPS Twenty machine running Windows. NAA obviously on Sonore hardware that's connected via fiber. 

 

Ubiquiti UniFI network for everything. 

 

 

 

[topside3]

@The Computer Audiophile So if it were you, what would your next step be in trying to figure out this issue I'm having? This is my current setup:

 

Ubiquiti Alien - TL-sg2210p Switch - Fiber to Rendu. My Mac Mini running Roon and HQP is hooked up to the Alien. I'm only upsampling to 768K using Sinc-m and LNS15 - CPU load is only a 20%.

[The Computer Audiophile]

1 hour ago, topside3 said:

@The Computer Audiophile So if it were you, what would your next step be in trying to figure out this issue I'm having? This is my current setup:

 

Ubiquiti Alien - TL-sg2210p Switch - Fiber to Rendu. My Mac Mini running Roon and HQP is hooked up to the Alien. I'm only upsampling to 768K using Sinc-m and LNS15 - CPU load is only a 20%.

 

I would only use the Alien as a router and that's it. 

 

I would run a couple different tests. 

 

1. Connect your Mac via WiFi only, and try to play music the same way you always do. This will slow down your packets enough to not overwhelm the Rendu. I've done this with other hardware that couldn't handle line speed 1Gbps. 

 

2. Connect your Mac and the Rendu to the same TP Link switch. Make absolutely sure flow control is enabled on the ports you're using. 

 

[AudioDoctor]

3 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

I would only use the Alien as a router and that's it. 

 

I would run a couple different tests. 

 

1. Connect your Mac via WiFi only, and try to play music the same way you always do. This will slow down your packets enough to not overwhelm the Rendu. I've done this with other hardware that couldn't handle line speed 1Gbps. 

 

2. Connect your Mac and the Rendu to the same TP Link switch. Make absolutely sure flow control is enabled on the ports you're using. 

 

 

@topside3

 

I second this, connect the mac and the rendu to the switch. My network is similar to Chris's in that I also have a mostly Ubiquiti network, but crucially all the music related stuff is on one switch that connects back to the main hub. In the family room I have both the Mini and the Raspberry Pi4 connected to one of these:

https://store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-switching/products/usw-flex-mini

 

I stream without problems.

[topside3]

Just an update for anyone who may come across this problem in the future - Unfortunately none of the suggestions above worked, BUT the comment about slowing down packets to the rendu got me thinking - so I set the copper ethernet ports on my switch from "Auto" to "100M". This has drastically reduced the amount of data flowing constantly to the rendu and things have been stable for 3 days. Hopefully the trend will continue!

[musicjunkie917]

26 minutes ago, topside3 said:

Just an update for anyone who may come across this problem in the future - Unfortunately none of the suggestions above worked, BUT the comment about slowing down packets to the rendu got me thinking - so I set the copper ethernet ports on my switch from "Auto" to "100M". This has drastically reduced the amount of data flowing constantly to the rendu and things have been stable for 3 days. Hopefully the trend will continue!

 

Does your switch support "Pause" packets?

[topside3]

4 minutes ago, musicjunkie917 said:

 

Does your switch support "Pause" packets?

 

Yes, and they're enabled. However, with the port speed set to "Auto" it was still causing problems. So far reducing the speed on the copper ports has helped.