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Author Topic: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material  (Read 991 times)

fegelmej

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Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« on: July 12, 2024, 01:47:54 pm »

MC 32 on Pi 5. The tracks start 5-8 seconds into the source material.  This occurs whether started from the Pi based program, in a playlist, or zoned in from another computer. Also, the tracking bar in the header is not moving.  The counter is, but not the bar.  Finally, when I check the audio path it says there is between 5700-7400 milliseconds of delay from input to being heard.  This would seem to account for the experience, but I don't have a reference for whether that is normal or not. There is ~0.5mSec delay from the converter, which makes sense. No signal processing, standard 1 sec gap between tracks. Look forward to your thoughts.
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bob

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2024, 02:18:14 pm »

MC 32 on Pi 5. The tracks start 5-8 seconds into the source material.  This occurs whether started from the Pi based program, in a playlist, or zoned in from another computer. Also, the tracking bar in the header is not moving.  The counter is, but not the bar.  Finally, when I check the audio path it says there is between 5700-7400 milliseconds of delay from input to being heard.  This would seem to account for the experience, but I don't have a reference for whether that is normal or not. There is ~0.5mSec delay from the converter, which makes sense. No signal processing, standard 1 sec gap between tracks. Look forward to your thoughts.
That's pretty much what to expect. You can set the pre-buffering in MC's settings but the default usually works well.
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fegelmej

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2024, 08:14:12 am »

Thanks Bob.  I confirmed that by setting up MC on a different (WIN) system.  Thank you.  Any insights into why I'm having the loss of output for first seconds?  Interestingly, when I use JRemote and drive the output to This Device (iPhone) there is no delay.  I've played around with a couple of choices on the Options|Audio Output choices (using a Benchmark DAC 3 - USB output) without improvement.
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bob

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2024, 09:04:54 am »

Thanks Bob.  I confirmed that by setting up MC on a different (WIN) system.  Thank you.  Any insights into why I'm having the loss of output for first seconds?  Interestingly, when I use JRemote and drive the output to This Device (iPhone) there is no delay.  I've played around with a couple of choices on the Options|Audio Output choices (using a Benchmark DAC 3 - USB output) without improvement.
You shouldn't be missing any material, it should just have a delay from the start of playback until the sound starts. If you are hearing the start of the track truncated something else is wrong.
Playing to the iPhone has some buffering that you can't see in the audio path. The file is served from MC as soon as you hit the play button, between the time it's served and the output starts is the delay.
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mwillems

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2024, 09:42:40 am »

bob, I saw a similar issue on Linux with one DAC whenever I changed sample rates.  I'd lose the first four or five seconds of program material, but wouldn't experience the issue when playing consecutive tracks of the same sample rate.  Maybe OP is seeing something similar?

In my case it was the DAC that was misbehaving: when I tried with other DACs they didn't exhibit the same issue, so I chalked it up to a flaw in the Linux driver implementation with my original DAC. 

So OP do you see the issue whenever you start playback regardless of sample rates?  How about in between tracks?  Alternatively, can you test with a different DAC and see if you see the same behavior?
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fegelmej

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2024, 07:49:01 pm »

So OP do you see the issue whenever you start playback regardless of sample rates?  How about in between tracks?  Alternatively, can you test with a different DAC and see if you see the same behavior?

Thanks for digging in.  Sample rate does not seem to matter.  The loss occurs when I first play a track, and at the beginning of tracks in the PLAY NOW list.  Unfortunately, I do not have an alternative DAC to compare with.  But, I'm hoping a Benchmark DAC 3 is not the problem, as I went back to a Pi3 setup and am not seeing the issue. 

OS?
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JimH

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2024, 08:32:33 pm »

Maybe the driver.
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fegelmej

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #7 on: July 23, 2024, 07:57:46 am »

Maybe the driver.

Thanks Jim, would that driver be in MC, or Rasp Pi OS?  If the former, would a reload of MC likely improve, or is a patch needed?
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JimH

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2024, 08:40:47 am »

Drivers are part of the OS. 

I'm only guessing.
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bob

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Re: Tracks start 5-8 seconds into material
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2024, 01:00:45 pm »

bob, I saw a similar issue on Linux with one DAC whenever I changed sample rates.  I'd lose the first four or five seconds of program material, but wouldn't experience the issue when playing consecutive tracks of the same sample rate.  Maybe OP is seeing something similar?

In my case it was the DAC that was misbehaving: when I tried with other DACs they didn't exhibit the same issue, so I chalked it up to a flaw in the Linux driver implementation with my original DAC. 

So OP do you see the issue whenever you start playback regardless of sample rates?  How about in between tracks?  Alternatively, can you test with a different DAC and see if you see the same behavior?
Maybe try messing with the parameters in the audio settings. Divide the defaults by 10. Perhaps the device is returning the wrong capabilities for hardware buffer size.
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