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[Splungeworthy]

I've noticed that towards the end of every song there is an audible "tick" just before it ends. It's almost like the sound a needle makes going over a record with a scratch. Trying to isolate the cause of this has led me to believe that it is when DSP is enabled the glitch (for lack of a better word) happens, because when I disengage DSP the songs play out without the sound.  The various DSP settings I use are Equalizer, Parametric Equalizer, and 3 third party DSP modules, Easy-Q, Head-Fit, and Marvel GEQ.  And before you ask I disabled each module one by one, until I was left with no DSP modules used, and only then does the audio glitch disappear. I still have MC17 installed, and this audio glitch does not occur with it.  In audio settings I use the SPDIF interface with WASAPI (default settings) and my Fiio E10 dac/amp (same as I did with MC17). Using Windows 8.1 pro, with the most recent version of MC21 (.27) as of this post.

[blgentry]

Are you playing DSD files?  Are they DSFs?

Brian.

[Splungeworthy]

No just regular MP3's.

[Matt]

So the glitch happens when any DSP is engaged?

What if you just add a simple -1.0 dB volume filter to Parametric Equalizer and disable everything else?  Does it still happen?

If not, we need you to work through the effects and find which one is causing the tick.

Thanks.

[Splungeworthy]

Thanks I'll try that and report back.  As I said, with DSP Studio disabled, no tick.

[arin]

Hi Splungeworthy,
I also noticed something similar in version 21.0.27 that I never noticed in earlier versions.
I always use the IKMultimedia ARC2 plug-in for ambient correction and I don't remember having similar problems before.
After some tweakings I seemed to have solved the problem with a Prebuffering of 2 seconds instead of the advised 6 seconds in the Audio Settings.
So I guess it has something to do with buffering, at least for me.
Would you please also try with that and let me know if it works for you?

Thanks

arin

[Splungeworthy]

Arin, I will definitely try that and report back.
Here's a new wrinkle, however: There is no such audio glitch in MC20, with all of my DSP's (including third party) enabled.  Very weird.

[arin]

In the meantime I tested this problem more thoroughly and discovered a couple of things.
First of all, I was wrong about setting the Prebuffering to 2 seconds: that setting could cause some other nasty problems like stuttering and repeating of fraction of audio at the beginning of the next song.
So this is definitely not a reliable workaround to the click problem.
I also tried to change driver and instead of ASIO I tested WASAPI, Kernel Streaming and Direct Sound and the nasty click toward the end of the song was present most of the times.
And yes, the problem arise only when the ARC2 VST plug-in is engaged, not with internal plugs: I tested the Parametric Equalizer as Matt advised and I heard no click at all.
IK Multimedia ARC2 is the only plug-in I always use when listening to music so that is really a high priority of mine!
The problem seems to have definitely something to do with the Prebuffering setting as the click occurs at the set Prebuffering value before the end of the piece of music.
To me it sounds as if "something" is putting the plug-in in stand-by mode for a fraction of a second at the Prebuffering value time from the end of the song.
Also it occurs more often with high resolution audio than with CD quality music.
I only tested with ALAC files as I only have those in my library.
I couldn't try to test with MC20 as I cannot use that anymore as I upgraded to Windows10 and it tells me I need to re-install MC20 in order to be able to use it with the new operating system.
By the way, is it possible to reinstall MC20 without making any harm to MC21?
Instead I tested the Mac version and the click problem was present also in MC21 for Mac, of course using the same ARC2 plug-in.

Yesterday I also installed version 21.0.30 and though it fixed the graphical problems with VST plug-ins, nothing has changed about the click problem.
And while listening to classical music i can assure you it is really really annoying.

Matt, please tell me if I can make some other test to help you to help us.

[forbigd]

I am very interested in this one. I manage three MCs and they all do it.

Just before the end of a song you hear a ... glitch? I guess that is what it is, it stutters, or something, but you hear an anomaly just before the end of each song.
I use the DSP for Volume Normalization and have the two volume related items enabled. I think it is at the end of every song, but that isn't scientific enough.
We play audio and video files in every type of container, including Multichannel FLACs.
I had given up trying to fix it as it was in two physical locations and setups at once, I decided it had to be a MC thing and not something I did wrong.

I have a fine opportunity today to play with it. I will run it with and without any DSP and see.

Don

[RD James]

Are you using the process independently of internal volume option?

[AndrewFG]

Does the track have an ID3 metadata tag at the end? I wonder if the DSP is trying to "play" the metadata tag...

[arin]

RD James:
No, I'm not using the process independently of internal volume option.

AndrewFG:
How can I check if the tracks have an ID3 metadata tag at the end?

The files are exactly the same I used with previous versions of MC and never created me any problems.
In fact I tested them today using MC20 (on Windows and Mac) with exactly the same settings as MC21 and the click problem is not present at all (both on Windows and Mac), as Splungeworthy said before.
So I reckoned something in MC21 has changed when using VST plug-ins…

I'm really puzzled… ?

[RD James]

I've actually not used JRiver for music playback for at least a few weeks, maybe a month. It's all been video playback.
Something definitely broke.
 
With prebuffering set to 20 I can start playback of any track, skip to the last 30 seconds, and at around 20-15 seconds remaining, playback skips.
If you watch the counter, it always seems to skip a second near the end of a track. This is where it glitches.
Adjusting the prebuffer size changes where it skips.
 
Happens with ASIO, WASAPI, and DirectSound, and on different sound devices.
Happens with "play from memory" on or off.
 
Only some plug-ins seem to cause it.
Happens every time with Voxengo Elephant running.
 
Will try old versions to see if I can find when this broke.

[RD James]

Tested a handful of versions now.
It broke between 24 and 26.

24 is fine.
25 is not available to download.
26 glitches.

[arin]

Thank you for your report RD James.
That would explain why I never had problems with MC21 until the last 2 weeks.
On monday I will try to re-install version .24 and report back.

[arin]

I re-installed MC 21.0.24 and also here I could not detect any audio anomaly with VST plug-in ARC2 active.

[Matt]

This is really a mystery why build 24 wouldn't hiccup and build 26 would.  There have been no VST related changes that I'm aware of (unless Hendrik is secretly laboring away).

[RD James]

This is really a mystery why build 24 wouldn't hiccup and build 26 would.  There have been no VST related changes that I'm aware of (unless Hendrik is secretly laboring away).

Have there been any buffering changes? The glitch happens exactly when JRiver starts buffering the next track.