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[meep]

Hi All

My MC setup comprises MC 11, M-Audio Delta 410 and a Pioneer VSX-2011 receiver powering my master zone as well as T-AMPs powering other zones.

I've been busy ripping all my CDs to WMA lossless format and have enjoyed the flexibility of MC over the last few months. However, one thing was really bugging me;

Occasionally, while listening to music, there would be a blip or splutter lasting less than a second. The closest I can describe it is like the needle skipping on a record, but with a bit of digital intereference thrown in.

On searching here, I found some references to similar problems for which the solutions were to increase the cross-fade time, increase buffering etc. (note sure if these are the correct terms, don't have MC open in front of me as I write).

I implemented these and it seemed to help but I still got the occasional playback error (about one track in 4 would have an issue).

I eliminated the file itself as the cause of the problem - playback the same file again and there would be no problem, or it would occur in a different place. It was not an amp issue as this occured on all olutputs (where different amps were used).

I had been driving my main zone using ASIO and upsampling to 96KHz. I changed to WAV for a few days but still no joy. Yesterday, I changed back to ASIO but set the output sample to match the source. Voila! no more blips.

So, while my problem is fixed, devs. might like to know that upsampling to 96KHz playing out to an M-Audio Delta 410 sound card can result in playback problems.

Of course, this could be a hardware/driver issue and I'm not going to be jumping up and down for a fix. However, my main zone amp supports 96kHz input and I do 'think' I hear more air in the playback when 96KHz is on. Anything that can be done in future relases would be appreciated. Hopefully this will help identify the problem.

Peter

[JimH]

Thanks for posting your solution.  Can you also copy your system info from MC Help and paste it here?

You're correct that it could also be a driver issue.

[meep]

Media Center Registered 11.0.309 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 11\

Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 3002 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 334 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2900.2668 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.050430-1553) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2900.2620 (xpsp_sp2_gdr.050225-1820) / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping /   Drive E: PIONEER DVD-ROM DVD-120S  Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: Yes /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
  Eject after ripping: Yes /  Play sound after ripping: No 

Burning /  No burners found.
  Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: Yes /  Write CD-Text: Yes
  Use playback settings: No /  Normalization: None

[meep]

Actually, I've also come across today a setting in my sound card CP labelled DMA Buffer Size.

This allows me to set latency by number of samples. The help text associated indicates that setting low latency, particularly at higher sample rates, can impinge on playback performance.

I have bumped up the latency and reverted to 96KHz output. Will report on progress.

Even if this is not an MC issue (which I now doubt) it may be helpful for those searching against a similar issue in the future...

Peter

[jgreen]

Meep--
I've seen one or two discussioons here regarding trying to finesse these issues.  The sense I get is that it's a moving target.  My own limited experience confirms this.

A couple of impressions from what you reported.  On the issue of sample rate, if CD is your original source, then your sound waves are described at 44.1 khz and doubling the samples isn't going to round off any square waves.  Note that in college I was a literature major and Proust, Chaucer, etc are all silent on the topic of sample rate, so I'm just winging it here.

If you're going to manipulate the signal (DSP), there might be a benefit, but Matt (jriver) didn't seem to enthusiastic on the idea, from what I read.  I would add that converting on the fly to 96 khz adds a whopping CPU load to your playback process, something that is NOT handled by the sound card and which may be to blame for your blips.  Watch task manager as you play back.  If you're determined to go 96 khz, you might use dbpoweramp to convert your files ahead of time.

You didn't mention bitdepth, and Matt recommended bumping up the bitdepth ahead of any DSP or EQ changes.  I won't pretend to understand the concept, but I would note that it's a very light CPU load, so why not.

As you mix and match your output settings, try Direct Sound, and increase the buffer size.  These are not MC issues, IMO, as I've had to tweak each card /  software /  driver config I've ever used. 

I'd be interested in your ongoing struggle with ASIO.  I'm still using windows drivers, because I got them to work  and I'm not going to rock the boat.  I run Win2k, but from what I've heard, XP has special issues, both with rumored resampling of OS audio, and with blips in ASIO, FWIW.

[chrisjj]

I wonder if that's related to the noise burst I get at track switch. Driver issue? I doubt it, since no other player program shows it on this computer.

[Galley]

I wonder if that's related to the noise burst I get at track switch. Driver issue? I doubt it, since no other player program shows it on this computer.

The same thing also started happening to me.  Aaargh!