DISTORTION/CRACKLING PLAYBACK

[Chrissy7090]

Hi
I have recently added to my B2 some Albums which I have purchased from Amazon music in mp3 format. EVERY album as a distortion/crackling between and at the first few seconds of every track.
. I originally added the albums via PC as a bulk upload. Since I have added them using a usb stick. Same results.
Any ideas anyone?
UPDATE
Haven’t had too much time to investigate further until this morning .... it’s not just mp3 from Amazon that causes the distortion/crackling.. it’s also any FLAC albums that have been uploaded.. so not cds that have been compressed.. they play ok.. also it only seems to happen when I initiate playback via the Web UI.. if I search for an artist - pick album - play - that’s when the problem occurs .... one other thing.. I checked the debug screen on the last occasion the problem occurred and there were 42 identical lines “PLAYBACK PIPE RESTART E” .. means absolutely nothing to me but might to someone.. HELP!!

ORIGINALLY POSTED UNDER DIFFERENT HEADER
Chris

[Daniel Taylor]

I don't have much to add, but this:  I Import all my files to the B2 after ripping to FLAC on my PC, and I've never experienced the problems you report.  So I don't think the fact that the files are imported is the problem.  But I can't rule out that there might be something in the files that are triggering the problem.  If your files are obtained from different sources, it might help if you could narrow things down to which sources are associated with the problem - or which source is not.

The presence of "PLAYBACK PIPE RESTART E" in the debug information does look suspicious.  Hopefully, someone from Brennan can get something from that.

[Chrissy7090]

This really needs an answer from BRENNAN SUPPORT.

Can you tell what the problem is from the line (which repeated 42 times) from the debug screen.

Regards
Chris

[PMB]

Hi Chrissy,

Martin is travelling at the moment but has said -

Playback Pipe Restart is not important.

I suspect that if Chrissy has tried USB as well – it may be that the Amazon file contains a tag that B2 does not understand.

 

Perhaps Chrissy could send a sample mp3 – but it will be two weeks before I can look

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Dennis Lefebvre]

On Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at 1:47:18 AM UTC-4, Chrissy7090 wrote:

.... distortion/crackling between and at the first few seconds of every track.

Have you experimented with toggling the Seque setting? 

[John AK]

Hi,

It may be un-related but I experienced a problem of distorted music on playback. I deleted the album, via web UI, and reloaded it from CD. Experienced the same distortion problem again. I deleted the offending album again from my B2. I began to wonder whether it was a fault with the CD. So I tried loading the same album but this time from a version on my PC via a USB stick. I had checked that the music was OK on the PC. Same distortion problem when played back on the B2.

Now getting a little desperate. . . . 

I deleted the album again but then did a 'Scan Disk' before trying to reload the music again.

Having done this no repeat problem - fixed.

It was almost as if when deleting the Album via the web UI the album was not removed - a bit like deleting a file on a PC which makes it invisible and changes the attribute to allow the space to be re-used but the data is still there. Reloading without 'scan Disk' just seemed to perpetuated the problem.

KR John A K

[Chrissy7090]

Thanks guys for your input..

Been experimenting over the last day or so with segue and have also deleted offending files and reloaded via usb.. now comes the strange bit... SOMETIMES the offending files play ok.. SOMETIMES they don’t... the only common feature is this line on debug screen PLAYBACK RESTART PIPE E which only shows after a playback error. . Now Paul/Martin both say this is not relevant to the problem.. at the moment everything seems fine BUT....

Chris

[PMB]

Hi Chrissy,

It would be good to find out what's going on and do a fix if required. So as Martin suggested could we have some sample tracks to have a look at? Perhaps send us the USB stick you used to transfer the music, which we could then return to you. If you email me on -  the  brennan  b2  @  gmail  .  com  - without the hyphens and spaces - I'll send you an address.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[ChasGB]

Hi

I’ve just started to get the same issue on my B2 as described by Chrissy7090 last July concerning crackling/distortion at the beginning of tracks on playback via the web UI. This has suddenly started this afternoon after I had uploaded some more mp3 tracks from my PC.

The crackling/distortion is heard for a few seconds at the beginning of playback of:

1. CD tracks ripped directly into the B2 (though strangely not all)
2. MP3’s imported from my PC
3. vTuner radio and YouTube tracks played via the web UI.

The tracks play OK after the initial crackling but it doesn’t really enhance the listening experience!

I never had this problem till now. I carried out a Scan Disk but it hasn’t helped.

Was Chrissy’s issue resolved or does anyone have any thoughts on what might be causing this? Many thanks.

I attach a recording of an example.

[Chrissy7090]

Hi

I suppose you could say the problem has been sorted. But, frankly, I don’t know how.
All I would say is that what I do now after every action my B2 (apart from normal playback) - so adding new music, deleting music, changing names etc I do a reboot. Since then, touch wood, no repeat of the problem.

Hope this helps you

Regards
Chrissy7090

[PMB]

Hi Chrissy7090,

Did this also fix existing tracks or just newly added ones?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Chrissy7090]

Hi Paul

I have no distortion on any tracks new or old which leads to the conclusion it was never the music itself which was the issue.

Regards

Chrissy7090

[PMB]

Hi Chas B,

Try a Web Upgrade.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[ChasGB]

Hi

Hi Paul

I have carried out scan disks, reboots, software updates, web upgrades, wifi signal strengthening, deleted and recreated the GUI (I’m using Safari on iPadOS), cache clears etc etc which seemed to have no effect. I also checked if the stuttering was happening on the source files and also on the HDD (by looking at the NAS) and there was no problem (same as Chrissy7090 found).

I then switched off the GUI and accessed the B2 HDD direct and found the stuttering had completely disappeared as had the stuttering on the Internet radio. I then went back to the web UI and everything was then working perfectly! It still is so far this morning, including YouTube.

This indicates to me that the problem must have been somewhere in the GUI setup. In view of the various problems that people have with the web GUI I wonder if a review of the GUI software functionality by yourselves would be useful?

Thanks

Chas

[PMB]

Hi ChasB,

Glad to hear you have your music playing OK again.

I'll pass all the information to Martin for review.

Paul

Brennan Support.