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[jdb2]

I've been running JRiver Media Center on Raspberry Pis since December 2014, when I got a Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ for Christmas. I eventually upgraded the SD card to a 16GB Sandisk class 10 card and I moved the root filesystem off onto a Patriot memory USB flash drive. I was primarily using the Pi as a media server, as, I was running JRiver Media Center 20 on the Pi. The Pi was connected via a USB cable to a Schiit Modi 2 Uber and that was connected to a Schiit Magni 2 Uber which was then connected to a Behringer XENYX 502 mixer and then, finally, the main out of the mixer was connected to my two M-Audio BX8 full-range studio monitor speakers.

For months, things were going good, and I listened to music being played from my pi without any problems, even when I was streaming music from a Windows CIFS share via JRiver Media Center. Then, some time ago, when the RPi was still using the Linux ARM 3.x.x kernels, I updated either my kernel or firmware or both and then I got continuous audio hissing, popping, clicking and distortion. I tried just about everything including installing a real time kernel, but nothing seemed to help. I then bought an RPi 2 Model B but the problems persisted. I tried RaspFi, Kodi media center, OpenELEC and others but the USB audio problems persisted. What was strange though, was that if I streamed via DLNA from JRiver Media Center 21 to a DLNA rendering device, like my bluray player, from my pi, and I switched the input on my Schiit Modi 2 uber to the digital coax output of my bluray player, I'd hear no distortion at all.

Anyways, I bought a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B a few months ago, and I'm still having the same problem. Also, I bought a Schiit Wyrd "USB Decrapifier" . That seemed to help the popping some, but it didn't get rid of it completely. I then bought two AudioQuest Jitterbugs and put one in series with my Schiit Wyrd and the other in series with my RPi certified Pluggable USB HUB. The new setup helped, but I could still hear the occasional click or pop.

Specifically, my audio setup is : My AV setup is : RPi->USB->Schiit Wyrd ( http://schiit.com/products/wyrd )->Audioquest Jitterbug ( http://www.audioquest.com/jitterbug/jitterbug )->Schiit Modi 2 Uber ( http://schiit.com/products/modi-2 )->Schiit Magni 2 Uber ( http://schiit.com/products/magni-2 )->Behringer XENYX 502 mixer ( http://www.music-group.com/Categories/Behringer/Mixers/Analog-Mixers/502/p/P0576 )->M-Audio BX8 studio monitor speakers ( http://www.m-audio.com/products/view/bx8-d2 )

I'm currently running JRiver Media Center 21 off of a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, from the Raspberry Pi Starter Kit which I bought a few months ago. I'm running Raspbian at the moment with the kernel CPU governor set to "performance".

My kernel version is :

Linux raspberrypi 4.4.19-v7+ #906 SMP Tue Aug 23 15:53:06 BST 2016 armv7l GNU/Linux

My firmware version is :

Aug 23 2016 15:55:25
Copyright (c) 2012 Broadcom
version f23e65aeeffca65654550c93254a0ee55f34fb07 (clean) (release)

I should mention that I have my music library for JRiver Media Center 21 on a Windows CIFS share, which you might think would cause audio latency problems, but, I've also tried attaching a Western Digital Black 7200 RPM 3 TB hard drive in a Macally external HDD enclosure, where my music library is on the HDD, and I noticed no difference.

If anyone has any idea of what the cause of my problems are, or has any suggestions or ideas, then I'll be grateful to hear them.

Regards,

jdb2

[mwillems]

What you're describing is almost certainly electrical or radio frequency noise, which is why it disappears when you play via DLNA (the network transmission interrupts the circuit path).  If I were in your position, my first step would be to migrate the os back onto an SD card and off of the usb stick (USB drives can generate significant electrical noise in some settings).  I would also remove as many USB peripherals as humanly possible until there's nothing left but the DAC.  I would also suggest removing some of the pre-amps/amplifiers you have downstream for testing purposes as well.  You've got a DAC feeding through two pre-amplification stages into a powered monitor which is almost guaranteed to amplify any existing hiss and noise dramatically.  Try connecting the pi to the DAC directly to the speakers and see if you still hear the issue with nothing but the DAC connected.  If you still hear it then, try the same setup with another computer.

Your signal chain is too complex to troubleshoot in total, you need to isolate elements.  I know you think the issue is in the firmware (and it may well be), but it could just as easily be a ground loop or a gain structure issue that's aggravated by the software.  The pi is producing noise (all equipment does), but there may be easier steps you can take to mitigate it. 

FWIW, I've never had any kind of pi generated interference with USB DACs with any kernel or firmware combination, so I'm betting something local to your setup is aggravating it.

[JimH]

There is an MC22 board here for Linux.  You will find some Raspberry Pi threads there.

I keep a list of problems caused by drivers and other software and you might read it just to see if you get any ideas.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=24031.0

What kind of files are you trying to play?  Are you using any DSP?

I don't think you need to set the CPU to "performance".

I noticed that you also posted here:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=159261&p=1034863&hilit=jriver#p1034863

[jdb2]

What you're describing is almost certainly electrical or radio frequency noise, which is why it disappears when you play via DLNA (the network transmission interrupts the circuit path).

 

I don't think I explained my setup clearly enough -- I apologize. When I play from my Raspberry Pi via DLNA, I'm using Media Center 21 to read ALAC files from a Windows CIFS share which JRiver Media Center then streams to my Sony Bluray player, which then outputs the audio signal through the Bluray player's coaxial S/PDIF digital out which in turn is connected to my Schiit Modi 2 Uber, which is then connected to my Schiit Magni 2 Uber, which then is connected to my Behringer XENYX 502 mixer which, finally, is connected to my M-Audio studio monitor speakers. If there were a problem in my audio circuit path, then I'd still have the same problem when using the coaxial S/PDIF in to my Schiit Modi 2 Uber DAC, but, the problem only manifests itself when the DAC is connected to my Raspberry Pi via USB. The only difference between the signal path when playing audio using JRiver Media Center via DLNA compared to playing the same audio via USB to my DAC is that my DAC takes an S/PDIF coaxial input, the Schiit Wyrd is bypassed, as well as the Audioquest Jitterbugs, which I bought for the USB audio signal path. Schiit claims that the Wyrd is a USB audio "decrapifier" and it seems to work somewhat, but not enough. The same goes for the AudioQuest Jitterbugs. Also, before I started experiencing USB audio problems on my Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+ last year, my signal path was about the same except for the Schiit Wyrd and the Audioquest JitterBugs in the USB signal path.

If I were in your position, my first step would be to migrate the os back onto an SD card and off of the usb stick (USB drives can generate significant electrical noise in some settings).

 

Well, I forgot to mention that I'm currently running just off of an SD card with my Raspberry Pi 3 Model B.

I would also remove as many USB peripherals as humanly possible until there's nothing left but the DAC. 

Well, all I've had connected to the various Raspberry Pis on which I've run JRiver Media Center, starting in 2015, have been one USB flash drive ( which is not currently plugged into my RPi 3 ) and then a Raspberry Pi certified Pluggable powered USB hub, which has two Logitech mouse and keyboard wireless adapters plugged into it, and a Raspberry Pi certified gigabit Pluggable Ethernet adapter ( I know the Pi can't support the max bandwidth ). Back in 2015, with my Raspberry Pi 1 Model B+, I never experienced any USB audio problems when playing music from JRiver Media Center 20/21 with the output device being the USB input of my Schiit Modi 2 Uber DAC, until after an update to my Raspberry Pi's firmware or kernel and other system packages ( I think I performed an "apt-get dist upgrade" ).

I would also suggest removing some of the pre-amps/amplifiers you have downstream for testing purposes as well.  You've got a DAC feeding through two pre-amplification stages into a powered monitor which is almost guaranteed to amplify any existing hiss and noise dramatically.  Try connecting the pi to the DAC directly to the speakers and see if you still hear the issue with nothing but the DAC connected.  If you still hear it then, try the same setup with another computer.

Thanks for the suggestion I'll try what you suggested, but, my Schiit Magni 2 Uber preamp and my Behringer XENYX 502 Mixer never caused me any problems when my Raspberry PI USB audio was working correctly in 2015. I should note that I'm using unbalanced inputs to my mixer, but the mixer is supposed to support balanced or unbalanced inputs. Also, although I can take the mixer out of the signal path, I really need the Schiit Magni 2 Uber preamp as my Schiit Modi 2 Uber DAC's output is quite weak, but, I guess I could test it without the Magni, just to be sure. Oh, after the USB audio problems started, I did start hearing some hiss and hum from my studio monitor speakers. I tried using an isolation transformer ( ie. hum eliminator ) as well as two other XLR cables with built in isolation transformers, but they lowered the signal gain to my speakers too much. Perhaps I need a direct input box?

Your signal chain is too complex to troubleshoot in total, you need to isolate elements.  I know you think the issue is in the firmware (and it may well be), but it could just as easily be a ground loop or a gain structure issue that's aggravated by the software.  The pi is producing noise (all equipment does), but there may be easier steps you can take to mitigate it. 

FWIW, I've never had any kind of pi generated interference with USB DACs with any kernel or firmware combination, so I'm betting something local to your setup is aggravating it.

Thank you very much for the suggestions

I've also posted to the Raspberry Pi forums, and one poster there has had a similar problem and he said that it was a grounding issue with the Pi's USB ports, which he fixed by soldering an earth ground connection to the Pi's USB chassis.

Thanks and regards,

jdb2

[jdb2]

There is an MC22 board here for Linux.  You will find some Raspberry Pi threads there.

I keep a list of problems caused by drivers and other software and you might read it just to see if you get any ideas.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=24031.0

Thanks for the tip!

What kind of files are you trying to play?  Are you using any DSP?

I'm playing ALAC files. As for DSP, if you're referring to Media Center's "DSP Studio" then no, I'm not using it.

I don't think you need to set the CPU to "performance".

Well, it does improve, well, performance , or, at least it is supposed to. It is a recommendation in one of the sitcky posts that contains a guide to setting up Media Center on one's Raspberry Pi.

I noticed that you also posted here:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=159261&p=1034863&hilit=jriver#p1034863

Yes. A poster over on the RPi forums seems to think that the problem is a grounding issue with the RPi's USB ports.

Thanks and regards,

jdb2