It MC17, linked zones were synced between each track. When using Tremote, this could cause a long delay between tracks and a stutter at the start of a track. To alleviate that, in MC18 the syncing was changed to avoid the long details. I have done a few tests on MC18 and the long delays between tracks are gone. However, there are a couple of problems with the new method.
The "syncing" seems to happen in the middle of a track, which causes a hiccup in the music. That makes the playback pretty much unusable. It seems like any syncing should be done between tracks, not during a track.
The client and server are out of sync by as much as 4 or 5 seconds when the first track starts. That timing seems independent of the link timing setting. That means that the 2 linked zones never really get synced. The client always seems to lag the server. IN MC17 I could use link timing to sync the 2 zones pretty well.
When adjusting the link timing setting, it does not seem that the adjustment is always remembered. If I adjust the timing and hit OK, ,then try it again, sometimes the old setting is still present and sometimes the new one is there. I have not seem a pattern, but I have only tried it a few times.
So, the new method has eliminated the buffering between tracks, but has introduced some other issues. I have only tried this a few times, but the results are consistent. I will do some more testing.
I am using build 51. Both systems are W7. The server is a Netbook and the client is an i5 desktop. Connection is wireless and it works fine for Tremote without linked zones. Both systems are using WASAPI - Event Style. Playback Silence at the Beginning of Track for Hardware Sync is set a 1 second. Memory playback is not being used.
Thanks.