Topic: no gapless playback on Windows 10 laptop (SOLVED) (Read 7717 times)

Denti · « **on:** August 28, 2016, 09:48:03 pm »

~~I'm getting a brief gap in between tracks of SACD .iso files. Any way to get around this? Is this a JRiver problem or a general one with playing SACD iso files?~~

~~MC is skipping the last 4 seconds of tracks in a sequential album~~MC adds a slight gap in between tracks when played from my Windows 10 laptop. This does not happen on my NUC. The only difference in the setup between the two is that one is wired to the server (NUC) and the other is not (laptop). But that can't be the source of this, can it?

EDIT: I was assuming time was being dropped because of the slight gap in between tracks, but in fact I don't think much (if any) is actually being skipped. I was measuring [Total Time] against [Elapsed Time]. Once I switched that to [Duration] then I could see no second were being skipped. However, I'm still not getting a gapless playback in between songs.

blgentry · « **Reply #1 on:** August 29, 2016, 08:48:31 am »

I just tested with 2 sequential album tracks in an SACD ISO and got no gap that I could detect. You might want to double check your gap settings in Options > Audio > Track Change .

Brian.

Denti · « **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:12:55 pm »

Thanks. It took me a while to test this. So the final 4 second of every song in a sequential album are being skipped! No matter the format or output. I've tried DSD, PCM, with external DAC, using my laptop without an external DAC, etc. Can't figure this out!

EDIT: so, it's the laptop, for sure. I went back to my NUC and no gaps. I was using my laptop, because it has the power to do DSD128, which the NUC does not.

blgentry · « **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:17:31 pm »

There's another setting that might be biting you:

Tools> Options > Audio > Track Change > do not play silence

If this is checked, MC will skip the last few seconds of any song that is "too quiet" in those last few seconds. If that's checked, uncheck it and test again.

Have you verified that you have "use gapless for sequential album tracks" checked? Do other albums (not SACDs) play gapless?

Brian.

Denti · « **Reply #4 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:33:43 pm »

Yes, I now about that box, and it's not checked. Anyway, these are songs with music that is continuous over tracks.

And yes I have "use gapless for sequential album tracks" checked.

Note that this is no longer DSD or SACD specific. Every file I play does the same thing. And it's only my Windows 10 laptop that's doing it. My NUC plays everything fine. What's going on?

blgentry · « **Reply #5 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:40:00 pm »

I'm really not sure what's going on. Are you using a direct attached sound card or DAC? Or are you using a DLNA or other network device for playback?

Brian.

DJLegba · « **Reply #6 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:40:58 pm »

Quote from: Denti on August 30, 2016, 08:12:55 pm

Thanks. It took me a while to test this. So the final 4 second of every song in a sequential album are being skipped! No matter the format or output. I've tried DSD, PCM, with external DAC, using my laptop without an external DAC, etc. Can't figure this out!

EDIT: so, it's the laptop, for sure. I went back to my NUC and no gaps. I was using my laptop, because it has the power to do DSD128, which the NUC does not.

So you must be doing some upsampling, because any NUC has the power to bitstream native DSD128. Try playing from the laptop without doing any transcoding.

Denti · « **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:42:07 pm »

Yeah, this is very weird!!

I'm playing from a network server. But so is the NUC!

I've tried using the laptop's built-in sound card and the drivers for an external DAC. Same thing each time!

It doesn't matter what I play, either. Every song gets 4 or 5 second skipped at the end.

? ?

Denti · « **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:45:11 pm »

Quote from: DJLegba on August 30, 2016, 08:40:58 pm

So you must be doing some upsampling, because any NUC has the power to bitstream native DSD128. Try playing from the laptop without doing any transcoding.

Yes, of course I'm upsampling. How else would I play DSD128 (ok, I guess I could have some native files--but I don't). The NUC can only play DSD64 if the source is an SACD iso or a 16/44 FLAC file. Any 24-bit FLAC I cannot output even at DSD64 without getting stuttering.

I am running the laptop without any transcoding. Same problem.

blgentry · « **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:50:06 pm »

I'm confused. You keep talking about DSD128. Are you using Output Format, in the DSP Studio to make EVERYTHING go to the DAC as DSDx2 ? If so, why? Please try turning that off and re-testing.

Brian.

Denti · « **Reply #10 on:** August 30, 2016, 08:59:42 pm »

Quote from: blgentry on August 30, 2016, 08:50:06 pm

I'm confused. You keep talking about DSD128. Are you using Output Format, in the DSP Studio to make EVERYTHING go to the DAC as DSDx2 ? If so, why? Please try turning that off and re-testing.

Brian.

Because I have a DAC that is capable of it, and from the little listening I've done it sounds better.

But as I've said, I am now playing without any transcoding and bypassing the DSP Studio, and the problem persists. 4-5 second off of each track are skipped.

JimH · « **Reply #11 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:08:16 pm »

Memory playback?

If you're playing from a network server, one machine may have a faster connection.

Denti · « **Reply #12 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:11:09 pm »

Quote from: JimH on August 30, 2016, 09:08:16 pm

Memory playback?

If you're playing from a network server, one machine may have a faster connection.

Playing from memory or not I get the same problem.

Denti · « **Reply #13 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:32:03 pm »

And just to be sure I plugged the ethernet cord into the laptop. No difference. Still no gapless.

Denti · « **Reply #14 on:** August 30, 2016, 09:50:08 pm »

It gets weirder:

The 4-5 seconds that are skipped in sequential playback of tracks are also simply NOT PLAYED when I play any track by itself. MC gets to the final 4-5 seconds and stops without playing them!!

Looks like I'm not alone:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=91843.0

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=102671.0

SCRATCH THAT: no seconds are being left unplayed or being skipped. For some reason my [Elapsed Time] was being measured against [Total Time] instead of [Duration], so it was looking like 4-5 seconds were being skipped.

HOWEVER: I'm still not getting gapless playback, no matter how I configure MC. And this is only happening on my *newer* Windows 10 laptop, not on my older NUC.

Denti · « **Reply #15 on:** August 30, 2016, 10:26:01 pm »

I'm slowly getting to the bottom of this. I took two consecutive tracks from the NAS and put them on the laptop. Plays without gaps!

So it's the network! Even wired I'm getting gaps. Why would this be the case on my faster laptop, but not on my slower NUC? I don't get it.

JimH · « **Reply #16 on:** August 31, 2016, 07:06:47 am »

Check the network settings in Windows. It's possible, the laptop is set at 10Mbps.

Try swapping the two computers to see what happens.

Routing is also a possibility.

JimH · « **Reply #17 on:** August 31, 2016, 07:09:26 am »

I see you did try the other network connection.

Antivirus is a possibility. I think you said it isn't.

Loading the file to memory before playback is another.

Denti · « **Reply #18 on:** August 31, 2016, 09:16:27 am »

Quote from: JimH on August 31, 2016, 07:09:26 am

I see you did try the other network connection.

Antivirus is a possibility. I think you said it isn't.

Loading the file to memory before playback is another.

How do I check to see if the laptop is limited to 10mb/s? (According to Task Manager MC isn't using much more than 4 Mbps on the network.)

No antivirus running, and same problem without or without playing back from memory (which is preferred in this situation?).

I've tried switching back between wired and wireless and it's really about the same. Task Manager shows CPU is under 40%. It's not maxed out. Network is around 2%. So what's the problem here? And, again, why is my less powerful NUC able to handle this without any problem? (It's running Windows 8, so maybe it's a Windows 10 problem?)

SOLVED: In media/network settings the files from the NAS were set to be converted to mp3. Is that by default? Anyway, no more conversion, and it works fine. Sounds way better, too!

blgentry · « **Reply #19 on:** August 31, 2016, 09:59:05 am »

I suspect an interaction between windows 10 and your file server. Or Windows 10 networking in general. Here's something I found doing a little research. Read/use this at your own risk. I HAVE NOT TESTED THIS.

http://www.tenforums.com/network-sharing/42543-lan-network-slow-speeds.html#post586046

Brian.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: no gapless playback on Windows 10 laptop (SOLVED) (Read 7717 times)