Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming Hardware with Roon Application Meridian 218 disappears from Roon frequently

I have a version of a problem that seemingly many have: I am running Roon Core (on a very powerful Mac mini), Meridian 218 to Meridian DSP8000SE, the latter two of which I purchased new last year after lurking on this forum for several months. My first Meridian system.

Roon Core is rock solid. The entire network (Ubiquiti) is rock solid. Core never drops, Sonos never drops, Sonos Port to 218 SPDIF always works. The 218 never malfunctions at the power or audio level.

It does however malfunction -- all the time -- on the network level.

Every time I have a listening session, I will fire up Roon client, play some music to Meridian 218, and at some point Meridian 218 will drop from the devices Roon Core can see, and therefore music will stop. (I can immediately fire audio into 218 SPDIF through Sonos Port and it will work fine.) Roon will continue to not see the 218 until about 15-20 minutes.

No amount of power cycling the 218 fixes this.

I have already tried static IP, DHCP assigned IP, and enabling and disabling multicast on the network. The 218 is connected with commercial grade Cat6 that has been fully Fluke tested and within spec.

Meridian Device Manager tells me my 218 is running Version 1.1 Build 248.

I'm disappointed, of course, with what seems like an easily avoidable/diagnosable/recallable network chipset DPPM issue. But maybe there is some trick or setting I am neglecting? Or maybe a new build of the firmware addresses the issue? I think ARCAM actually makes the 218. I may reach out to them to ask for help.

This seems like a clear case where you need to get your Meridian supplier to lend you a different 218 to trial as a substitute. Good quality modern electronics are reliable but no production process is perfect. Dry solder joints or rogue components still occur.

When the 218 disappears from Roon and stops playing, can it be pinged on the network? If not, then it is likely that the network port on the 218 is at fault. The 218 can be serviced here in the US, they have a five year warranty.

I think I have a similar problem with my 218 & also my ID41 card.

Usually, for several consecutive days, no problems.

But then, there are periods where only a complete power-down of my 218 / 861v8, or removal / re-connection of the LAN cable + a device reboot, solves the problems.
And this can also occur for days on end.

not an expert, but I would guess it is more likely to be an issue with the Roon client failing to discover devices in your local network neighbourhood than network ports failing. Seems most unlikely that the 218 port and ID41 card would both fail at the same time. I would troubleshoot by simplifying the local network. Make the connections between your devices, (core, client, and endpoints), as direct as possible. If that improves things it suggests something with local network neighbourhood.

I have observed that if I start my Roon Server before I switch on my 218 that Roon will not see my 218.

I always boot my PrimeMini4 after all the other components have been switched on.

Agree is more likely a local network issue.

They don't necessarily both fail at the same time.

The ID41 'fails' regularly - it's just that when I perform the usual fix to the ID41 & I still have no sound that I know I have to reset the 218 too.

My 251 doesn't exhibit this problem at all - but that's on another 'branch' of my home LAN.

Plus, all of the other devices attached to the same switch as my ID41 (and 218) have never exhibited any issues - and there are multiple devices connected to a 16-port dumb switch (Roon NUC, Amazon stick, Apple TV, Roku TV, Nvidia Shield, etc).

The ID41 seems to lose its IP address & only a hard-reset of the 861v8 will fix it. I suspect the ID41 & 218 network ports are suspect (yes, I've exchanged / switched the Cat5 LAN cables too).
And if the ports are suspect on mine, there could be a faulty batch / process / quality...

For the OP.
This isn’t just in your head… my connection to my Roon Nucleus via the 218 often doesn’t find the network…

No idea what the issue is here.

It works about 70% of the time. Super intermittent and yes annoying.

If there is a definitive resolve for this I would also like to know.

Hope you’re enjoying your DSP8000SEs. They are just phenomenal speakers.

I have a similar issue. My network is a Verizon router with some unmanaged switches attached to them.
The switches are connected to my Meridian gear, etc. I noticed that as soon as I turn on one 218 my network becomes sluggish, turn on another and things become worse.
Currently I have them all turned off and streaming to my ID40 and ID41 cards works smoothly and my network is responsive.

Is their some chatty network protocol that the 218 devices use that ID40 and ID41 don’t?

My 218 is a lot more difficult to find for roon than my 210. I usually have to reboot my router several times before it is found. The IP control app however, is online immediately. So it must be some 218-roon-router interaction. I try to avoid powering down or pulling cables. If it sees it it usually keeps it.

Is the network connection between the 218 and the Roon server all Ethernet? No WiFi, Powerline networking, or anything like that in-between?

Also: https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/networking-best-practices