Yes. This is very common with Radiance. Here is one of the similar posts on the radiance mailing list which discusses the reasoning: https://radiance-online.org/pipermail/radiance-general/2010-January/006465.html
Parameters depends on your specific case. As you have figured out in this case -ad was helpful. If you have a complicated scene with small pieces then -aa and -ar will be critical. Also in many cases, you need to make sure number of bounces (-ab) is set correctly to address the needs of your case. This is a very good presentation about ambient calculation and ambient parameters in Radiance: https://www.radiance-online.org/community/workshops/2011-berkeley-ca/presentations/day1/JM_AmbientCalculation.pdf
Greg put this document together that we used for preset Radiance Parameters for Honeybee: SETTING RENDERING OPTIONS
Finally @MingboPeng has generated a parametric run that shows the effect of different parameters and put them together. See here: HB+ run time for imagebase Daylight coefficient - #8 by MingboPeng