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[Kimota]

Greetings to the forum!

I'm a new JRiver MC26 user, and I've recently installed it on a Raspberry Pi 4B (4GB).

I'm running the latest build  (version 26.0.29).

I've had mixed results using HDMI playback to a Marantz SR6013. Occasionally the playback is flawless - multi-channel playback of DSD sounds awesome, and no stuttering or pauses.

However, more often the music during playback has a slight but noticeable "static" or "clicking" in the the sound. It almost sounds like it's clipping the output, but I can't be sure.

I've performed all the recommended optimizations (threads, prioritizing audio, etc.), but I still get the "static". I've done A/B comparisons with the source material to ensure there's no static in the original music.

If people have some suggestions on how to get rid of the "static," I'm open to suggestions!

Here are the specs and benchmark of my system:

Running 'Math' benchmark...
    Single-threaded integer math... 5.370 seconds
    Single-threaded floating point math... 4.671 seconds
    Multi-threaded integer math... 2.712 seconds
    Multi-threaded mixed math... 2.372 seconds
Score: 1256

Running 'Image' benchmark...
    Image creation / destruction... 2.639 seconds
    Flood filling... 2.460 seconds
    Direct copying... 2.226 seconds
    Small renders... 3.073 seconds
    Bilinear rendering... 12.683 seconds
    Bicubic rendering... 1.731 seconds
Score: 887

Running 'Database' benchmark...
    Create database... 1.104 seconds
    Populate database... 4.886 seconds
    Save database... 0.699 seconds
    Reload database... 0.190 seconds
    Search database... 5.704 seconds
    Sort database... 3.378 seconds
    Group database... 2.577 seconds
Score: 1160

JRMark (version 26.0.29): 1101

Library
    Total files: 8,923
    Audio files: 8,135
    Image files: 788
    Video files: 0
    Other files: 0
Processing
    Thumbnails built: 28% (2477 of 8923)
    Audio analyzed: 0% (1 of 8135)
Background Tools Running
    No tools currently running
Power
    No entries that affect the system power state
Media Center
    Version:
    Install path: /usr/lib/jriver/Media Center 26/
    Interface plug-ins:
    JRMark: 1101 (version 26.0.29)
    Program run time: 7.8 days
    Memory used:
    Handles used:
Advanced System Info
    Memory & CPU
        CPU features: NEON
        Memory Available:  3 GB
        Memory Size:       3.6 GB
        Total Logical Cores: 4
    Operating System
        Linux - ARM

[JimH]

Multichannel, DSD, and HDMI may not work well.  Try converting to PCM.

[Kimota]

Ok, trying out PCM options. I'll report back in a few days after I experiment.

Thanks!

[Kimota]

I wanted to give an update: I made sure the output was PCM, but I'm still getting clicks.

The Marantz SR6013 reports that it's receiving 88.2KHz PCM in 3/4/.1 format. That's all good. But there're still some static when playing multi-channel DSD and FLAC files.

Stereo files seem to play just fine, so I'm thinking this is a performance issue for the RPi4. Arrrgh!

If anyone has had luck with multi-channel files on an RPi4, please share your secret sauce with me. I very much want to be able to play "Hotel California" and "Walk Between Raindrops" using MC26 so I don't have pull out my SACD disks.

(FWIW, the SR6013 sounds really fantastic when it plays back a stereo file in faux surround sound  )

[Kimota]

Since a new version was just released, I wanted to give it a try to see if things have changed/improved on v 26.0.37 for Linux on an RPi4.

Bottom line: The "static" still happens on multi-channel files (multi-channel DSD and FLAC).

Stereo DSD and FLAC files play just fine, and sound great.

I'm sending the audio over HDMI to a Marantz SR6013, and I've tried numerous of the output drivers. I have to specify the drivers with dev=1 so that the music plays on the proper HDMI cable. Other than that, I'm impressed that I can get multi-channel files to play at all. I'm hoping that the performance improves on the audio drivers, or that someone can figure out the "secret sauce" to configure the RPi4 properly to get "smooth" sounding music without the intermittent "static."

I think MC26 works fine, and it's nice to have it able to be a music server, player, and ripper (plus more) all in one.

[JimH]

Multi-channel on an RPi could be borderline.    You could try turning off any background processing.  Import, audio analysis, etc.

[Zhillsguy]

I also recently got a Pi4 4GB.

Although much better than previous versions, it is a very low power device with limitations. I installed the latest Raspbian, which is very lightweight. I use an external USB DAC (Scarlett 6i6) and occasionally music would "drop out" for a few seconds, both listening to Radio Paradise and from local network (all wired gigabit).

I installed DietPi running LXDE, even lighter weight than Raspbian, and I noticed an improvement well worth the effort. I think MC performance in general will be improved a little when the Buster version is released.

If you have an extra micro SD card, maybe try another OS, or get an external DAC that natively supports decoding whatever format you are sending to it? Another option is (using MC) to convert the files to a reduced bit-rate format that the pi can handle, if what you are hearing is performance related. You want to avoid the pi doing any on-the-fly bit rate conversion if possible.

[bob]

I'm actually pretty amazed the Pi4 plays multichannel through HDMI. That's a change in the kernel for sure from the Pi3 Jessie distro.

[max096]

I have one of the Hifi berry boards on a pi 4gb and donīt really have any playback issues. I play mixture of mp3 and flac files that come over the wire with no prior decoding. Only dual channel, but I mean it does not really break a sweat doing that.

Although much better than previous versions, it is a very low power device with limitations. I installed the latest Raspbian, which is very lightweight. I use an external USB DAC (Scarlett 6i6) and occasionally music would "drop out" for a few seconds, both listening to Radio Paradise and from local network (all wired gigabit).

I think this does not have anything to do with power, the pi should be plenty powerful to playback music (just the onboard DAC/AMP s*cks). My bet is on itīs the USB ports/controller. I have the same issue on my desktop when connecting my jotunheim to a USB 3.1 port I get the occassional audio dropout. On USB 2.0 no problem what so ever. Thatīs on a x470 crosshair VII hero, so itīs also not like I cheaped out on the board or anything like that. USB ports sometimes are just a bit picky. I do have another standalone DAC now, could try that on a USB 3.1 port if I see the same problems. But I donīt think I would. Itīs like the known working USB stick I own that on some computers I canīt use to install an OS for some reason and on others it works.