WDM via MC
Since version 5 I'm having some issues I haven't experienced before. Forgetting Zones for the moment, playing anything local through MC as the default system device seems to work fine always. But playing from network streams (webinar audio, youtube audio, etc), some streams are clean and stable, while others have little stutters occurring throughout. Still others have more severe stutters which include multiple stutters at the beginning of a 'sentence', or the abrupt end of audio. The stutters fade in in intensity at the beginning and fade out in intensity at the end.
In slightly problematic cases, closing MC so there is only the server running, usually clears it. But in the more severe cases of stuttering, closing MC will improve but not eliminate the stuttering.
I've tried all combinations of time settings for the device (Wasapi) and the 'live input', from 0 to 100 ms separately or together. It doesn't seem to have much impact on these. I have a fast system, audio cards that have no problems with either DSD or High speed PCM, and a very clean and wide bandwidth net connection (60 mbit down, 6 mbit up) but this stuttering shows up in WDM input on 44k streams.
There's also about 1/2 second (maybe more) latency all the time, even with nothing enabled in DSP except Output Format and Volume Leveling. I've also tried with no audio leveling with no apparent change
If I don't use MC as the default audio device, all of the streams play fine with no stuttering or hiccups of any kind, and no significant latency.
Anything else to try? I'm currently on 21.0.0.4. There was no change of this aspect from 21.0.02.
Zoneswitch
I'm aware of the weirdness that existed on 21.0.0.2 regarding zoneswitching, and all that has been corrected in 21.0.04. However, the IPC Now Playing 'IPC File' will appear on whatever zone you're in first. If you STOP it, it will re-appear in 10 seconds and start playing again. That's pretty cool and keeps the program tuned in to the system. The problem is that the only way you can change to a different zone (e.g. the one you WANT IPC in) you need to STOP the current one from playing, and quickly switch to the one you want and start audio playing there before IPC starts up in the first zone you started out in.
Once you've done that you stay in your new zone and play all the music or video you want without interruption. Now when you're done listening and you want the IPC zone to reactivate, you quit the current zone and go back to IPC zone, which is now sitting at 'opening' where it has been since you stopped it the last time to go to your music zone. It's currently blocked because the music zone got the audio device. It won't ever realize that device is free until you stop it in the IPC zone. It will promptly close and reopen IPC and start working. Then IPC works normally thereafter (for that session), until you want to listen to music directly again.
Where I'm going with this that I can't seem to break any of this behavior with zone switching. If the IPC zone is running and I play music in the listening zone, it doesn't play. I have the switching set to activate the music zone on the play of any audio filetype, and close the IPC zone. It's like the attempt to play music never gets far enough (because it can't open?) to recognize a filetype and attempt a change.
Likewise, the IPC zone can't interrupt music (which may be a good thing) for the same apparent reason. It's blocked out, so the zone switch never sees the IPC 'filename' in order to follow the switching instructions.
Both zones use the same Wasapi, exclusive-open device. I haven't been able to get any non-exclusive setting for this driver to work at all. Event style seems to make no difference either.
Is this an unresolved bug or am I misunderstanding how it should work?
Thanks for any assist on these issues.
--Bill
Author
Topic: On WDM Audio and Zone Switching (Read 1278 times)