Hi, there! Brand new Rossini DAC owner. The DAC was sounding good through the USB, but extremely harsh when plugged into a switch and played through the network connection. As an experiment, I plugged the DAC directly into my computer through the network connection. It sounds great! All the harshness is gone. But now, Mosaic can’t find the DAC. The internet address assigned to the DAC is outside the DHCP range. All devices within the DHCP range must begin with a 10. The DAC’s network address begins with 169. Any advice on how I can get Mosaic to see the DAC? I suspect I have to figure out how to change the DAC’s address.
Hi Evan and welcome to the community forum.
Would you give us a bit more information as I don’t really understand how you have connected your new Rossini?
I may not understand your issue properly yet but you should not be plugging the Rossini into your computer for network replay.
As I said I may not quite get what you are doing. You should plug Rossini into your network via your network switch ( e.g. router), So Rossini is then connected via this to any local file storage that you have ( you need UPnP server software installed on the NAS or other storage that you have - this should be MinimServer):
Therefore Rossini should then also be connected to the device running Mosaic ( which must also be connected to the same network) and the internet so that you can also access streaming services and internet radio via Mosaic .You do not need now to use a computer at all unless this is where your local files are stored. However for the latter purpose you should really use proper NAS.
Your Rossini IP address may probably not begin with a 10. A typical address might be something like 192.168.xxx.xx. You can find it via the Rossini display menu to check. I doubt that any address change is either necessary or advisable.
I have a feeling that you may want to come back with further questions. I and my friends here may not be in your time zone ( where I am is nearly 02:00 - why do I do this 
?) so apologies if you need a bit of patience but we will try to sort out your problems.
As for this :
Network connection provides the best sound, way better than USB so I will repeat my request for more information as to exactly how you are connecting things.
Thank you so much for your reply, I appreciate it. I think the problem is that I AM trying to do something I’m not really supposed to do. I had the Rossini successfully connected through a network switch, and it was recognized by Mosaic. But I found the sound very harsh. As an experiment I plugged it into an open Ethernet port on my PC. Roon sees the Rossini and plays successfully through the DAC. And the harshness is gone. It’s working, I would guess, because the computer I’ve plugged it into has the music and Roon on it. Mosaic doesn’t see it because the Rossini is not actually on the network.
Understanding that this isn’t the way I’m supposed to be using the DAC, I guess the better way to solve my problem would be to figure out why plugging the Rossini into a network switch gives me a harsh sound. I’ve never been quite sure how seriously to take audiophile network switches. But maybe this means I should start!
Any thoughts welcome, Best, Evan
Exactly! There are a number of potential issues here not all ( or indeed any) to do with Rossini itself. So I am afraid that I will need to try to narrow things down to find the culprit by asking questions.
First question is what source exactly are you listening to that gives you a harsh sound ? Is it local files that you have ripped or downloaded to storage? Is it Qobuz, Tidal, Deezer, Spotify or internet radio? Are you listening to them via Mosaic or is your computer still involved?
Are you connecting Rossini to your router/switch using the ethernet cable supplied in the box or are you using something else?
The answers to these will do for starters ( but I may ask more).
Hi, Pete–
The source is uncompressed music on local storage, played through Roon. The Roon server and the local storage are on the same PC. I play everything through Roon, not Mosaic, because the Roon interface makes my music much easier to manage. The Rossini is plugged into the network switch with a Transparent ethernet cable from my dealer. The switch itself, if this is relevant, is a Luxul gigabit capable network switch with a few other things plugged into it: my PC, and a wireless access point. The network switch itself is hardwired to the main network switching for the house – in other words, there’s no wireless in the signal path. Hope the covers everything! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Evan
Evan , your original question was ;
As all of your listening seems to be from Roon, Mosaic is not a Roon control point ( though Rossini is a certified Roon end point). However I am not a Roon user and cannot offer any related advice. Maybe another member with relevant experience can pick up on this. I presume that doing this you use Roon Remote as the control point.
You did say, however,
So what were you listening to then? As I mentioned earlier for local file replay Mosaic requires that storage to interface with it via UPnP server software ( MinimServer is recommended by dCS).
NB : The configuration of network switches can affect whether Mosaic will discover Rossini and, if it does, the resulting operability. This may be an area to explore later if there is no obvious explanation. Did you check Rossini’s IP address again? You can find it via the Rossini front panel information menu/Unit Status.
As far as ethernet cables are concerned there are numerous archive posts here. I link an example. dCS recommend basic unshielded CAT certified cables e.g CAT 5e or unshielded CAT 6. However there are other users here that have Transparent.
Hi, Pete–
No problem with Mosaic discovering the Rossini when playing through the network switch.
But the sound is harsh. Sounds fine through the USB connection, though not as open, and really good when the Rossini’s ethernet cable is plugged directly into the PC, though that isn’t a true network setup. It’s something about the switch, or the network itself…
Evan I am still puzzled by how you have been sending a music data signal from your computer’s local file storage to Rossini via Ethernet without UPnP server software ( apparently). However I gather there is such a thing as rooUPnP which runs on an RPi. As I say I have little knowledge of the Roon product but is this what you were using?
Roon must be taking care of it somehow. All I know is it works!
Does it 
? Apparently not as you are complaining that it sounds harsh. So it looks like you are using some kind of back door to get Mosaic to play files via your network from your local storage without using the correct UPnP software. Please use:
https://minimserver.com/index.html
Be sure to choose the correct version for your computer as I understand that is your storage medium.
You also need to download MinimWatch 2 in order to configure the server software and to rescan the database if you add albums/tracks.
I would guess that this may be why you find network audio outside of Roon currently less than satisfactory. Case solved?
Sorry for not being clear.
In all examples I am playing through Roon, not Mosaic, whose music management pales in comparison to Roon.
Plugging Rossini’s ethernet directly into PC works sonically – less harsh – and music is fully playable through Roon. The only functionality I lose is not being able to change settings with Mosaic. I don’t know how Roon is recognizing the Rossini, all I can say it it works.
When I configure things the way they should be configured – plugging Rossini’s ethernet into network switch – I get full Mosaic functionality for settings. But playing through Roon sounds harsh and a bit metallic.
Thanks for the clarification .I think I get it now , Mosaic but only the settings function, the music replay being left to Roon.
I think that every experienced user here as well as dCS itself will tell you that network connection is the best for sound quality, USB has a number of inherent compromises , at least so the engineers say. So there is a problem which means that it is subject to being resolved.
As it is a Roon/Rossini problem then as I have previously said it lies outside of my experience. So we now almost return to the start of this thread. You need a Roon user to help.
I would suggest that you start a new thread using a title that refers to poor network sound from Roon rather than the existing subject of Mosaic discovery which means that members who could help may currently just pass over it.
In the meantime, as an experiment and with the hope of a quick fix, I would remove the one item that is not “standard” which is the Transparent ethernet cable. I am not saying that there is necessarily anything wrong with the cable but it may not meet the dCS requirement which is for a certified unshielded cable.I assume that like all ethernet cables that I have come across from high end manufacturers it will be shielded and be described as CAT 7 or CAT 8 which, BTW, do not exist in certification terms. The reason for this requirement is that dCS equipment has no connecting terminal for the shield which means that noise can be introduced which could be a cause of the harshness you hear. I am just speculating but not without reason. Simply get something costing a couple of dollars from Amazon to try.
If I understand correctly, your Rossini is not connected to the router. In this case, Mosaic can’t find it because it is not on the network! Mosaic runs on a IPad or IPhone, it connects wirelessly to your network, and will find the Rossini if it is on the same network which in your configuration is not happening.
Re: harsh sound when connected to your switch: try to change port. The same was happening to me, and the situation improved instantly when I connected the ethernet cable to a different router port (which tells me that I should probably change router).
Also, try to disconnect everything in your network and then plug the Rossini straight into your Internet modem/router with a standard cat6 UTP (unshielded) cable.
A.
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Wanted to follow up, I’m case what I discovered in my setup helps anyone else. As per the thread, the Rossini was sounding really metallic and harsh when plugged into my network. Really unlistenable at more than moderate volume.
I had the Rossini plugged into a powered network switch — a Luxul router. Everything changed when I plugged the Rossini into another network port. The latter port was in the floor, and must lead to a switch or router somewhere along the line. But all the harshness was gone. Night and day.
So in sum, plugging directly into a powered network switch did not work for me.
Thanks for all the help and advice, I greatly appreciate it.
Evan