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Author Topic: Streaming chirps and noises  (Read 2231 times)

jmcafee

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Streaming chirps and noises
« on: October 13, 2010, 12:47:30 am »

I really need your help as I am at wit's end trying to conquer this problem.

MC14.x and 15.x produces chirps and other brief digital noises when listening to streaming Internet broadcasts, or when MC is acting as a server streaming to devices on the local network. This occurs at irregular intervals 10-60 seconds, the noise probably 50-100 ms long with a sharp quality.

This will occur with mp3 and asf streams from the Internet, and streaming wav and mp3 from the local server. This is repeatable from 3 different independent home and business networks, and different hardware. Other programs (WMP, VLC, Winamp, embedded player in Foxfire) perform perfectly with the same hardware and network.

MC indicates Internet stream buffer minimum of 8 seconds beyond the current time. This will occur with music and conversation, and DSP studio indicates peaks generally 50-60%. I have tried all of the various output settings (some are valid like Wave and DS, other don't work with my hardware), and adjusted the buffer slider far left, quit and restart MC after the change. I've tried converting the output format with DSP Studio. I have changed the Windows mixer settings.

None of this makes a darn bit of difference.

MC versions: many from late 14.x (as I recall) through 15.122
OS: Win7 x64, up to date.
Hardware: various, including AMD & Intel CPUs, and various embedded sound chips with drivers up to date.
RAM: 2-4 GB
HD: many GB free

Why does MC do this when other programs don't? What have I missed?

Please save me and don't make me regress to WMP!

Thank you.
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JimH

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Re: Frustrated: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2010, 07:41:55 am »

May be the network hardware or driver.

Can you test the same setup on another PC?  Or are you saying you have done this?

Try the "Weird Problems" link in my signature.
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jmcafee

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Re: Frustrated: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2010, 01:21:36 am »

Jim -- as I indicated in the OP this happens on a variety of hardware and networks.
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jmcafee

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Re: Frustrated: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2010, 02:00:51 am »

Jim -- from the list of Weird Problems, the power saving settings seemed to be the best area to target. However, maximum performance settings didn't make a difference on the one system I tried.
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jmcafee

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Re: Frustrated: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2010, 07:20:03 am »

Hello Jim

Listen or d/l this short recording to hear the "whurps" and "churps": http://www.avcustomizers.com/images/KKJZ%20Stream.mp3

Proven tonight, this happens with different computers on different networks.

A flawed MC is highly implicated because the same network stream played perfect in VLC and WMP tonight.
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JimH

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Re: Frustrated: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2010, 07:28:42 am »

Please provide the original link so others can test it.

Please try the latest build of MC from the top of the MC15 board.

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JimH

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Re: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2010, 07:36:50 am »

There may be something "special" about this stream.

https://forum.reciva.com/read.php?4,53688

 Please contact the source to see what they say.
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jmcafee

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Re: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #7 on: October 15, 2010, 07:11:12 am »

Hi, Jim

I was already familiar with the thread you referenced -- thanks. My Soundbridge (and the Reciva) are growing obsolete as stations move to AAC+ and these devices are not being updated.

The link to the example I recorded is listed on this page http://www.jazzandblues.org/programming/listen/, and the specific stream URL is in the "Internet Radio" section, http://provisioning.streamtheworld.com/pls/KKJZFM.pls

Here is a link to another stream that exhibits the same behavior: http://provisioning.streamtheworld.com/pls/WBAPAM.pls

I just booted to WinXp SP3 x86, newest MC 15.0.132, with the same internet stream issue.

Granted, these two streams share the same provider. If the stream source is faulty, why do VLC, WMP, and the Soundbridge all play these streams perfectly? Could it be that MC improperly decodes the streams?

What do you think?

Thanks.
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JimH

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Re: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2010, 07:27:35 am »

I don't know the answer.  Sorry.  It seems to have to do with the stream.

I think you said that WMP works.  You could try using WMP as the playback engine in MC.  It's configured under File Types.  Find MP3 and switch from autotmatic.
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jmcafee

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Re: Streaming chirps and noises
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2010, 06:25:33 am »

Jim,

I've been experimenting with your good suggestion, and it might just work. Thank you.

I'm really impressed with the flexibility built into your program.

Jim
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