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[tuneup]

On all ripped CDs, MC25 installed in my capable desktop computer now only plays one track at a time, instead of the whole CD, on my main system (Bel Canto REFStream renderer, Synology DS214 Play NAS). Gapless is selected for both sequential album and manual track changes. This problem doesn't happen if I play the same music on the computer's speakers. This also doesn't happen when I play the same files from my Id, but that has its own gap problem where it cuts off part of the last note of the track, adds a long silence (zero signal, which causes my DAC to turn off with a relay click - very annoying) and then cuts off the beginning of the first note of the next track. Closing JRemote and reopening it doesn't help. JRemote gives odd responses. First it says that it is playing, for example, Track 1 of 12. After a few seconds it says it is playing Track 1 of 1. After a few more seconds the name of the album I am playing disappears and JRemote says "Nothing is currently playing" although it is still playing the same track. When I press and hold to get the drop down Play menu, I select All Tracks and Play Now, but this changes nothing and it still plays only one track at a time. While JRemote seems like it is losing contact with MC25, my network is strong (eero mesh) and there are no dropouts or freezes of music or video.

[tuneup]

Problem solved, but this is very strange. I realized I should also check the Tools > Options > Media Network settings. I found only one odd thing. Under Client Options > Audio Conversion > Encoder was set to MP3 high bandwidth. I have always set it to PCM 24-bit and saved changes. This is the second time I have found MC to reset itself to MP3. The last time was a few years ago, likely with MC23 or earlier versions. When I changed it back to PCM 24-bit, the one track at a time playback problem disappeared. WTF! I did not make any other changes in the settings. While I don't really care why the encoder setting should affect track playback functions, does anyone know what could cause the encoder setting to change by itself?

[bob]

Problem solved, but this is very strange. I realized I should also check the Tools > Options > Media Network settings. I found only one odd thing. Under Client Options > Audio Conversion > Encoder was set to MP3 high bandwidth. I have always set it to PCM 24-bit and saved changes. This is the second time I have found MC to reset itself to MP3. The last time was a few years ago, likely with MC23 or earlier versions. When I changed it back to PCM 24-bit, the one track at a time playback problem disappeared. WTF! I did not make any other changes in the settings. While I don't really care why the encoder setting should affect track playback functions, does anyone know what could cause the encoder setting to change by itself?

This doesn't make much sense to me, you aren't even using the client options, are you? That would only be if you were connecting to your MC server with a MC client.

[RoderickGI]

I would guess that changing and saving that setting re-wrote the DLNA settings in MC, and hence into the Windows Registry, fixing some anomaly caused by something like an update or some other glitch, which also changed that setting in the first place.

The Windows Registry is full of old JRiver DLNA junk for people who have been updating MC for some time, based on my observations.

[bob]

I would guess that changing and saving that setting re-wrote the DLNA settings in MC, and hence into the Windows Registry, fixing some anomaly caused by something like an update or some other glitch, which also changed that setting in the first place.

The Windows Registry is full of old JRiver DLNA junk for people who have been updating MC for some time, based on my observations.

Thanks, that's a great insight.

[tuneup]

Thank you RGI. That makes sense.

Bob, is the REFStream not an MC client? In any event, I realize that section of the MC Media Network menu wasn’t mentioned in the MC set up instructions from the REFStream manual. But that manual dates back to MC20 and its instructions no longer correspond well with my MC25 menu.

[tuneup]

My keyboard locked up so I had to post an incomplete response. I looked for the section where you select 24 bit audio (which had moved from Audio > Format to its current location) because in a troubleshooting conversation some time ago with John Stronczer at Bel Canto we discovered that setting had changed by itself to PCM. So I thought it a good idea to make sure it was at the correct setting.

The one track at a time playback problem has returned tonight so I started checking settings again. While 24 bit was still selected, I found that “Use Media Network to share the library and enable DLNA” had become unchecked. So I set that up again with my access key, but that didn’t solve the problem. What should I do to solve this problem?

[RoderickGI]

Something is changing your settings. It isn't MC by the sound of it.

Do a thorough check of your hard (boot) drive to see if it is failing. It could be there is some corruption or the drive is dropping bits, which changes Registry settings, and hence MC settings. That idea would be supported by the keyboard lockup you had.

Otherwise, do you run any sort of Registry Cleaner, or any software at all that is supposed to "fix" the Windows Registry? Because those things break stuff more than fix them, generally. Malwarebytes has also been causing trouble recently.

The Bel Canto REFStream is a DLNA Renderer, not a MC Client, which has enhanced and specific functionality. A MC Client is a PC running another copy of MC, in a Client/Server configuration. You could use the term DLNA Client to described the Bel Canto REFStream though.

It sounds like you need to check all your DLNA settings again.
Do you just have the one DLNA Server running in MC? The Default DLNA Server? Or are you using one of the other sample servers, like the "Audiophile 24-bit DAC" DLNA Server?
Have you associated the DLNA Server you are using with the Bel Canto REFStream Dynamic Zone that shows up under Playing Now? See image.
Do you mean that in the DLNA settings for the DLNA Server you are using, you have set the "Mode > Audio" to "Specified Output Format" and have set the "Format" to "PCM 24-bit"?

I think you know all this stuff, because you have set it up before. Just confirming. Maybe screenshots of our DLNA setup would help.

[tuneup]

I will study this thoroughly and get back to you with answers and screen shots. The keyboard lockup was on a new iPad Air, not the desktop computer running MC25. Might have been a safari issue. On the desktop I do have Malwarebytes, BitDefender anti-virus and iolo System Mechanic, which does “fix” registry issues. I’ll post more in 2-3 days.

[Awesome Donkey]

I'd highly recommend not using those registry "fix" apps. In my own experience having to fix PCs that used those apps, they do more harm than good. Not to mention they're not actually needed.

Bitdefender has also been known to cause issues with MC, e.g. ntdll.dll crashes because of Bitdefender's DLL injection, in the past. I believe Malwarebytes has also caused recent issues with MC as well.

[tuneup]

RGI, The problem is again solved for now. On p.2 of the attachment in the link below, the setting had been changed from Generic DLNA to Audiophile 24-bit DAC. I am not sure if I did that or it happened in the same way as the Audio format had been changed from PCM 24-bit to MP3 high bandwidth. As soon as I changed it back to Generic DLNA, whole albums started to play without a problem. Does that make sense as a solution?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ulfoe3ml5deg7zy/SETTINGS%20%28OPTIONS%29%20MC25%2020-06-03.docx?dl=0

Please let me know if there are any other settings I should change.

I can't get rid of Malwarebytes and Bitdefender because this is my main business computer. As far as iolo System Mechanic, I read many reviews of it before purchasing it and none complained of it causing registry problems. There are two reasons I am using my computer instead of the Id as the server. I mentioned before that the Id is injecting long silences between tracks and chopping off parts of the notes on either side of the silence. But when I switched from the Id to the computer because of this problem, I and a friend with good ears both felt that the music sounded better with the computer as server. It is possible that whatever is causing silence injecting/note chopping problem in the Id is also degrading the fidelity. I would like to get the Id working properly and do this listening comparison again.

Bob had suggested I create a repair thumb drive for the Id, but I cannot find those instructions. Do you think I should first try the Feb. 2020 MC26 update on the IdNUC as a possible solution or should I do the repair first? If the repair should be done first, can you or Bob please send me the instructions for that again.

Thanks for all the support!

[RoderickGI]

Changing from the Generic DLNA to Audiophile 24-bit DAC would change all settings associated with the DLNA server. If you did that, then that is what changed your audio format from PCM 24-bit to MP3 high bandwidth. So iolo System Mechanic isn't guilty.

The "Generic DLNA" and "Audiophile 24-bit DAC" DLNA servers are just templates, and you can change the settings for them as you please, or change the name to "Bel Canto REFStream" if you want. It won't make a difference.

If you had more than one DLNA Server defined in MC you should associate the Bel Canto REFStream with that DLNA Server, using the menus I showed in my post in Reply #7 of this thread. However, now that you only have one DLNA Server defined, based on the images you posted, MC will automatically associate that DLNA Server with any DLNA Renderer on your network, so everything should be working correctly.


Sorry I can't help you with the Id as I don't have one. I would expect that the Id can be set up to play as well as your PC though. Start a thread in the JRiver Id -- Hardware by JRiver forum and ask for help there.