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[Lynn]

I have a fairly revealing hifi system, I have had a problem with a sporadic popping sound when playing APE files in many of the most recent builds (since 9.1.213).  It occurs infrequently, perhaps every few minutes or so, and sounds a lot like a pop that one might hear playing a record.  

I have tested using a clean windows XP pro install, and 9.0.180 does not have this problem, yet 9.1.289 does using the same clean install on the same hardware.  

The PC is a 2.4/P4 with 512mb of memory and is exclusively dedicated to playing music using MediaCenter.  I am using ASIO output to a RME Digi96 card that routes the digital signal to an eternal DAC.  Drivers and patches are all up to date on the system.

I really like the changes in 9.1, and would like to use it.  Any thoughts on what this might be?

Thanks.

[Rizlaw]

I have a fairly revealing hifi system, I have had a problem with a sporadic popping sound when playing APE files in many of the most recent builds (since 9.1.213).

Hi Lynn,

I, too, had a similar problem. If you do a search on the MC9 forum for "Pops in ripped tracks", you will see a bunch of posts between me (Rizlaw) and JohnT (Admin) regarding the problem. Up until I did a clean reinstallation of XP, I would have sworn the problem was somewhere in MC 9.1.2xx. I was probably wrong. The clean install of XP (and I do mean "clean" - deletion of partition; creation of new partition, format and reinstall of XP and all software) resolved my problem. My guess is that somewhere during one of the beta installs of MC 9.1.2xx, some file or registry setting got corrupted and each new download and install of MC 9 didn't overwrite or change the corrupted file or setting. In my experience, trying to find the problem is pretty useless. I know you mentioned that you have done a "clean" install of XP twice, and it hasn't helped. I also know that JohnT or JimH or Matt may suggest that it is a driver problem. It could be, but I doubt it. I am using a CardDeluxe to an external DAC. I am not using ASIO but I do alternate between Analog and digital out on the CardDeluxe and there are no pops/ticks in the output of MC 9.1.286.

So here's my "bite the bullet" suggestion. Try another clean install and then only install your sound card drivers and MC 9.1.286; no other software. Make sure that in your control panel "sound and audio device" applet you have your sound card set for digital output on the "audio" tab. Make sure, if your motherboard has a built-in sound chip, to disable it in the BIOS, or on the motherboard. Make sure MC9 is also set for digital out for your soundcard. Then, Play your APE or MP3 files and see if you get pops. If you do, then it could be some kind of issue between your sound card and external DAC; a marginal digital interconnect cable. I would also try analog output from your sound card to see if this makes a difference.

Best of luck.

[JimH]

There are all kinds of reasons that sound output can be bad.  I suggest a search on google, a search at Microsoft, and checking the sound card manufacturer's support pages.

I believe that corrupt headers in the files can also cause the problem, as well as via chipset problems.

[Lynn]

Hi Guys,

I re-installed windows using a newly formatted patition. I then created a backup image of the partition before installing MC.

I then installed MC 9.0.180 and everything works great.

I then restored the partition from the backup, and installed 9.1.289 and the popping problem occurs.

I then restored the partition from the backup, and re-installed 9.0.180 and everything is fine again.

It is strange the the same install of windows works fine for one version of MC and not the other.  

Thanks for the advice,
Lynn

[Rizlaw]

Hi Lynn,

Isn't this fun? My earlier post recommended you try MC 9.1.286 instead of 9.1.289. It seems between build 286 and 289 there were some serious issues (bugs) for a lot of folks. This could be the cause of the pops in 289 and no pops in 9.0.180; although no one has complained about pops in playback for awhile now.

Another suggestion would be to download the last "stable" build of 9.1 instead of 9.1.289. See if this gets you to a no pop condition during playback. The last stable build is the first download link in Matt's post for 9.1.289.

[Lynn]

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestion, and it should be easy to try.  Do you happen to know the version number of last stable 9.1?

Regards,
Lynn

[JimH]

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestion, and it should be easy to try.  Do you happen to know the version number of last stable 9.1?

Regards,
Lynn

It's always available on the downloads page.

Did you try updating your sound card driver?

[Lynn]

Hi,

Yes, all drivers are latest, and with earlier 9.0.180 work fine.

Thanks.

[xen-uno]

You could try either of these (in the link below). It's not likely to help (since it appears to be build specific)...but it is something to check.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=16329

10^-27