Audio signal drops out briefly

[RichM]

Having had my B2 for 10 days, I am now starting to play music, not just rip it and have a recurring problem. During playback, the audio signal drops out for a second or two and then continues. It is not a pause, but missing music. However, if I replay the track it plays fine. This is happening several times over the space of a couple of hours.

I am using HDMI to play through my own amplifier but this doesn't happen with other sources. I have checked I have the latest software and done a disc scan.

Thanks

[PMB]

Hi RichM,

If you have some headphones or ear buds with a 3.5mm jack please try plugging these into Line Out - you'll have to turn off 'Audio on HDMI (TV)' - uncheck the box - and turn the volume up to 50+ to hear anything - does the B2 play normally without drop outs?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[RichM]

Thanks Paul,

I wondered if it might be a power problem. What do you think? I have no surge protection which would be a good thing to add anyway, so maybe I'll try that before I get the earphones out (not sure I have a 3.5mm jack any more).

Cheers,

Rich

[PMB]

Hi RichM,

Also try running Scan Disk (Settings menu).

Paul

Brennan Support.

[RichM]

Paul,

An update. The only thing that makes a difference so far is connecting my speakers direct to the B2, which seems to fix it.

The problem occurs on both HDD and internet radio playback. Power surge protection, use of a different hdmi input to the amp don't help. I haven't been able to try feeding another sound source into my amplifier through hdmi, but the problem doesn't occur with optical input or my Arcam box's inbuilt tuner or CD player.

I've done lots of Scan Disks - as I am still in the conversion phase, I tend to do Scan Disk after every batch.

I think I am prepared to live with it as it is so sporadic but any further thoughts would be welcome.

Cheers,

Rich

[Daniel Taylor]

Hi Rich,

I'm one of the few folks here who use the HDMI connection with my A/V receiver (which is several years old).  I've had problems getting the B2 and my receiver to connect.  But once connected, it seems to be fine.  Until last week when my main TV needed to be removed for repair and I put a newer one in place for the interim. 

With the new TV connected, there seemed to be additional communications being attempted between the TV and the receiver.  I noticed that when the B2 started playing, the TV turned itself on, even though it is not connected to the B2, just to the receiver.  So I turned the TV off, and then I started gettting audio dropouts just like you describe.  So I unplugged the HDMI cable from the TV and the problem went away.  The new TV seems to be trying to communicate with the receiver in a way that the receiver was never designed to do.  The receiver is approximately 10 years older than the TV.  The problem does not occur with my primary TV, which is also older.

I hope that information gives you some ideas of what to try.  Or you might want to consider using either the analog or optical digital output from the B2, as it might be less problematic.  I'm also still thinking about changing that.  When using either the HDMI digital or optical digital connection, the volume control in the WebUI does not work (by design).  But it does work when using the analog output connection.

Please let us know how things progress for you.

[Keith Conrad]

OK Gents,

I have been having audio drop outs for quite some time.  It has happenned with brand spanking new optical cables, and brand spanking new hdmi cables.  I just set up a new Denon 6500, an upgrade from 

Marantz SR7009, and the dropouts continue.  Two nights ago(Wednesday) there were four cutouts in one song playing from HDD.  The dropouts also occur on Internet Radio.

Both of my receivers show the input signal coming from whatever device is being played.  I set myself up in front of the receiver and waited for a dropout, and sure enough, the signal is dropping from the B2, it never

loses power, just drops the signal.  The song keeps on playing, the drive is not stopping, 

Exampler 'Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buring along with her name'  winds up 'Eleanor Rigby ...............................................along with her name".

I know there is a raspberry pi for the audio (I know nothing about pi).  I looked up audio drop outs on the Raspberry pi boards and found out that there are alot of them,,,There might be something about refresh rates

or just updates about audio adjustments when connected to hdmi audio inputs to receivers.

Just ordered more hdmi cables to try, and will also be disconnecting all other hdmi cables from receiver and tv, but that doesnt anser why a signal is lost from the B2.

Hope to have some kind of resuts in a couple of days.

Keith Conrad

USA

[PMB]

Hi Keith,

Thank you for the useful feedback.

Please let us know what you find out.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[RichM]

It is good to know others are having similar problems. I could try switching to optical but I use the optical input on my Arcam a/v receiver for my TV and prefer not to have to rejig all that and get another connector. I'll try to get another HDMI input to the receiver and see what that throws up.

Rich

[Keith Conrad]

PMB

I did this for science.  For the past few days I have been diligently playing with the B2, hdmi cables, IR remote controls and aluminum foil.  I do have the latest software, brand new high-speed hdmi cables and notes.

I can definitely tell you that the audio cut out seems to be from the HDMI handshake-hdcp protocol whatever it is called.  This morning, Friday the 16, I spent 35 minutes turning tv, B2 and Denon receiver on-off, switching

cables and even wrapping the B2 in foil to see if it was the remote control from the tv/cable box.

The B2 is connected via hdmi splitter to Denon 6500 and Marantz Sr7009.  The Denon is brand new, but these problems had been around with the Marantz.  OPPO 203 is connected to Samsung tv, audio from OPPO

directly to Denon.  xFinity  calbe box to Denon with hdmi pass through on ( Wife uses sound bar during the day, I turn things on when I get home).  Amazon fire cube to Denon.  With the exeception of the OPPO,

all the components send audio to Denon 6500.

Turned B2 on first, waited one minute, turned on Denon, waited one minute, with all hdmi DISCONNECTED FROM SAMSUNG TV, and B2 playing a cd, I turned the tv on/off, waiting at least 60 seconds before turning it

on/off again.  With no hdmi connection to the tv, the B2 did not lose any audio connection from playing album or from internet radio.

Turned everyting off.  Reconnect hdmi cables to tv.  B2 on first, then Denon.  As soon as i turned on the tv, the audio connection was lost.  Did this back and forth several times.  While  playing around yesterday,

I had pulled out the optical cable from my soundbar, which is connected to the tv, and the B2 lost signal.

The aluminum foil?  Thinking it may have been a remote control issue, I wrapped the b2 in foil to thwart the IR from getting to it, but it is apparently the hdmi, because it dropped audio when the tv powered on/off.

With the web ui off, this thread keeps on popping up when powering the tv on/off:

THREAD (): >E0E040BF

I have all the hdmi controls turned off from the tv and the Denon receiver.  From the raspberry pi forums I have paged through, is it possible that there is a refresh rate/issue/ or just a possible update for

hdmi to tv/receivers.  The forums all have the same issues where audio is dropping out momentarily, the comes back.  There is also an issue when with nothing else playing or being turned off/on that 

the b2 is losing its audio.  Last night, Wednesday, when I had turned everything off, and just had B2 playing internet radio, the signal was lost several times in about a 5 minute period.  

Hope this info helps.  If I can provide anything else, please let me know.

Cheers,

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

Keith,

All for science, but well done. I was thinking about putting another post on here as, touch wood, cross fingers etc., the drop outs seem to have stopped over the last few days. No changes made to any connections or software, and I haven't been able to find an alternative sound source to put through my receiver's HDMI inputs.

So at the moment, I'm leaving well alone and hoping for the best.

BTW, Keith, 16th is Thursday over here in the UK :)

Rich

[RichM]

Talk about tempting fate. Just had another drop out, although they seem less frequent.

[Keith Conrad]

LOL

I guess I want the week to be over, I work different hours each day and wanted to get the post in so Paul at Support could get a look at it.

Hope tomorrow is the 17th............

Keith

USA

[PMB]

Hi Keith,

Have you tried just the B2 connected to your amplifier, via HDMI, with no splitter or other equipment connected?

If this plays OK try adding the splitter and then the other systems one by one.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Keith Conrad]

Paul,

Yes it has been like that before with hdmi and the optical cable.  I think that with the isolating that I did, it seems to be the raspberry pi audio/video card.  With other pi users having

the same issue, could it not be some type of update or code change to the software??

Keith Conrad

USA

[Clan]

I would think the Raspberry Pi does not have the capacity to play the music and run the HDMI calculations at the same time .. I have stuttery music when I play 24/192 HD files as if the processor can't keep up . Why not just the optical output ?   Putting a DAC in between this and the amplifier makes a noticeable difference to the sound quality too .  

[Daniel Taylor]

On Monday, January 20, 2020 at 6:36:13 AM UTC-5, Clan wrote:

I would think the Raspberry Pi does not have the capacity to play the music and run the HDMI calculations at the same time

Good theory.  I hope that Brennan will consider that worth looking into.

[Keith Conrad]

Clan,

Hello....................I dont know how familiar you are with pi............I have no idea how it works.  My audio cut outs had occurred with both optical and hdmi.  I was under the impression they were on the same

audio card.  The cut outs happen with the tv display on or off (hdmi displays the current song and countdown time on the tv).  Users of pi have noticed audio cuts on their own creations, and some of them

had used updates and new refresh rates and apparently got rid of the audio cut outs.  I am not sure which pi is in the B2, or even if an update is possible.  I had just thought it strange that the

users of pi with the hdmi audio were experiencing some of the same issues we were having.

Cheers,

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

As this seems a basic B2 function, I would hope Brennan could run some diagnostic tests to determine where the problem lies. Fixing it may be another matter.

Rich

[Daniel Taylor]

 I've had problems using the HDMI connection for the entire time (over a year) that I've had my B2.  Although there has been some minimal attempt to help me trouble shoot the problems, I really don't think Brennan is spending much (any?) time working on HDMI.  My impression is that it was sort of an afterthought.  Not many people use it.

Is it true that you are getting the same drop out symptoms using the Toslink optical digital output?  If that is the case, it could be that your unit has a hardware problem.  Best to communicate directly with Brennan about that.  thebrennanb2 (at) gmail (dot) com

[Keith Conrad]

Daniel,

Good Morning,

Yes the dropouts happen with hdmi or optical.  Again, brand new cables, different lengths, splitter-no splitter, and into two different higher end avr's. Marantz Sr7709 and now Denoon 6500.  I keep harping on

an update or refreshing of the audio card because pi users have reported the same issues over hdmi connections to their tv and avr.

I love my B2, have owned it for four years.  Martin and the Team do a great job at the troubleshooting, and other forum members have also helped out.  Years ago I purchased an OPPO 103 bluray player.

At setup, all was good until I enabled the inernet card............................dead in the water.  Reset, start the internet..............dead in the water.  OPPO said it must be your internet/router could not possibly

be the OPPO.  I took the OPPO to three other houses, three different internet setup, three different failures.  OPPO says, OK send it back while they send me a new one.  New one arrives, no issues, then I 

get an email................oooops sorry, bad internet card.  Imagine that.

I do not want to disconnect my tv when I listen to the B2 so I dont get drop outs.  I either live with the dropouts, which happen when the tv is turned on/off or just  indiscriminately during any hour, or hopefully

get some kind of answer regarding the hdmi refresh rate/audio card update with the pi.  If soo many of us are having the same issue, it must be a severe hardware problem.

Thanks for listening,,,,,

Keith Conrad

USA

[PMB]

Hi Keith,

If the drop outs happen with 'optical connected and no HDMI connection' it sounds like it may be a hardware fault.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[RichM]

Hi,

Just an update for those that are interested. I have switched to a wired connection, rather than wifi, and I now get virtually no drop outs (I hesitate to say none - 1 in a week, I think). Not sure if that will help anyone track the issue down, but might help others to overcome it.

Cheers,

Rich

[PMB]

Hi RichM,

Thanks for the update.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Keith Conrad]

Here's a wrench for the works.........

Today, Thursday the 6th, I had few minutes to burn before work, so I turn on the B2 to listen to ELP's The Locomotion.   Five cutouts within the first two minutes of the song.  Only the B2 and the Denon 6500 are on.

I restarted the song, four cutouts within a minute.  What the hey????????  I stopped the B2 ran a scan disc, which took longer than normal.  Restarted the song and it played all the way through....

I have had the wired (ethernet) connection for quite some time, and even that cuts out, and it is not loosing the internet because I am looking at the UI and no signal is dropping.  I usually get 98% on

internet radio.

I still run into the B2 cutting out when I turn off the Samsung tv. So there must still be something going on.

Cheers all,

Keith Conrad

USA

[Daniel Taylor]

Keith,

You may have to switch to either the Toslink optical digital connection or the analog line in connnection to your amp.  This thread has grown long, so I don't remember if you've tried either of those yet. 

[Keith Conrad]

Hi Daniel,

Yes, I had tried the optical before in the Marantz, and the B2 still cut out.  Last night, Thursday, again with only the B2 and the Denon on, I listened to the B2 for over an hour, then, it cut out twice, but did 

not do it again for the rest of the listening time, about another hour.  Not internet radio, the hard drive music,

It is a bit of a nuisance to get to the connections to the receiver because of my room and setup.  I am going to try something this weekend with the hdmi cables to see if the problem goes away.

I think going back to analog would be defeating the purpose of all connections being digital, I would try that as a last resort, but that would no be for another couple of weeks.

It cant be a thermal issue because the B2 barely gets warm and is on top of the cabinet with nothing around it.

I will post sometime next week after newest 'fiddle about'.

Cheers to all

Keith Conrad

USA

[Daniel Taylor]

Good luck, Keith.  I'm looking forward to what you discover and hope you get it figured out.

[Brennan Support]

Hello All

I've just come across this thread. I'll make some general comments first.

I dont think HDMI is used so much - I remember your early message Keith - saying it would be very popular - but really there appears to have been very little uptake.

Research about Raspberry Pi may not be very illuminating because you will almost certainly find material relating to Raspbian - which we do not use. We do share parts of the kernel however.

The Raspberry Pi itself has sold 30m units and very many of those use HDMI. It would seem unlikely that there is a fundamental problem in the SOC, firmware or kernel.

HDMI multiplexes audio and video onto the same physical wires and though I don't use HDMI for audio - I do use it for video for 1000's of hours and have never seen a dropout.

I Googled "HDMI Audio Dropout" and found quite a few results - a looked at a couple one relating to cables another to a Samsung TV that needed new Nvidia software.

HDMI has quite a high data rate so cable quality, length, connector damage or dirt and interference are considerations. Mains borne noise as well as wireless.

The CPU doesnt do any more work sending audio on HDMI - all that stuff is such a high data rate its all done in hardware.

The problem you describe is difficult to investigate - I understand I might have to listen to music for hours - before hearing something - or not.

What I would suggest is that if possible you put the HDMI on the TV screen at the same time and look for anything unusual in the debug that comes out of B2 - when you hear a dropout.

I realise the debug is a bit confusing but after a few tracks you will see a pattern. 

I am interested to read about the irregular nature of the dropouts - that sounds more like an analogue problem - than a software or firmware issue. But also I am interested in the comments about wired versus Wifi. It could be that the Wifi is interfering with the HDMI signal - so I think further experimentation there would be helpful.

Rich - I see that you bought your B2 just a couple of months ago so there would be no problem about returning it - if it doesn't do what you want.

Martin

[Keith Conrad]

Martin,

Nice to hear from you.  Some comments for your comments:

I have been using ethernet cable for quite a long time.  As posted by other owners, the front  panels on most of the modern receivers show the i/p path or signal that is coming into receiver.  Ihave

sat diigenty in front of the receiver and waited for a drop out, and sure enough, the input signal is lost from the Brennan, then cuts back in.  When the internet radio is on, the B2 constantly reads 98%

for an input signal, that never drops.

I will try to isolate completely the hdmi from any other power cable.  BTW all the hdmi cables are brand new.  The dropouts  occur with both HDD and internet radio, optical or hdmi i/p.

I should have a few hours over the next weekend to set up to see the debug screen while the B2 is playing,

In one of my other posts, I had noted that when the drop out occurs, the song keeps playing, it just picks up seconds later:

"Eleanor Rigby died at the church and was buried along with her name", winds up "Eleanor Rigby,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,along with her name".

If you think of any other way to help, please let me know.

Cheers,

Keith Conrad

USA

[MJB]

Hello Keith

I saw your observation before and - its not conclusive but it supports the idea that it is a failure downstream from my software - or more importantly - out of my control.

If there was a fault that communicated itself to the software - you might expect the software to stall and resume. If its a fault in the physical link - say the hdmi receiver loses synchronisation - the software would be blisfully unaware and you would get the kind of dropout you describe. I think you probably understand this given the detailed description you gave.

A couple of other thoughts.

Make sure the B2 and HDMI reciver are plugged into the mains very close together - if only as a test.

What version of B2 SD card are you using? On the info display does it say B2 date or B2B date - it might be worth tryng the B2B version - it has more recent kernel

I'll be interested to hear about the debug

Martin

[Keith Conrad]

Martin,

Thanks again for the quick reply.

I do have the latest software b2b/feb 19.

I will try the mains power together, hopefully this weekend.

Last night, Thursday, while playing a 45 minute albm from hdd, the drop outs happenned 4 times. I did copy the screen from my laptop ui to a file, but I am having a dilly of a time trying to send it to the forum for you to 

see, I dont want to send out a load of garbage for you to sort through,  I captured the ui on the laptop as soon as I heard the drop out occur.

Do you personally believe that the best connection is the optical, and not the hdmi ?

Working on those files,,,,,,,,,,

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

Guys,

This has got way above my tech grade, but I'm really grateful that Martin has picked this up and that Keith has the time and ability to help chase this down. I would really like to keep my B2 but get frustrated with the drop outs. If I'd bought a TV which was losing the picture from my satellite I wouldn't be happy either.

The other option I have for connection is an optical to co-ax conversion as I have a spare co-ax input on my amplifier, but that requires more kit (cheap, I know) but, more worryingly, might not resolve the issue.

Best wishes,

Rich

[Daniel Taylor]

Since Martin has ruled out a software problem, it's starting to look like a hardware problem, in which case probably a repair is needed.

[Keith Conrad]

Rich,

Thanks, I am trying.  Do your dropouts occur with hdmi?  tv on or off, is your tv connected to receiver, happens with hdd/internet radio?

Any kind of tidbits will help.

Thanks

Keith Conrad

USA

[Keith Conrad]

Daniel,

And what would need to be repaired.  I dont know why when I turn off my tv, there is a drop out from the B2 when the only thing they have in common is that they are connected to the same receiver.

Why are drop outs happening  with hdd or intenet radio, hdmi and optical.  I am not sure of the actual count of the drop outs in the B2 community, but that is going to be an awful lot of repairs going on, and I 

would hope that if it was a repair, it would be something we could possibly do by ourselves.

I would also be curious to know if the drop outs happen in 500g 1tb 2tb and sd card models.  Do the drop outs happen in b2 with ssd drives, that a user would have switched to.

Just a thougt..................or two..............

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

Hi Keith,

The dropouts occur with internet radio and hdd via hdmi. I am routing the B2 directly into my Arcam a/v receiver so generally the TV is off (actually in standby). I could try with the TV on, I guess, but I'm away from home for a week, so can't do that now.

I did connect the speakers directly into the B2 for a while, which did solve it, but that is not how I wish to connect long term.

My B2 is a 500Gb SSD model.

Cheers,

Rich

[Keith Conrad]

Rich,

Thanks for the input.  (NIce receiver...which model...almost went that route).

Does the display on the Arcam allow you to see the i/p signal, and do you know if it also cuts out when the B2 drops audio?

I find it interesting (Artie Johnson) that the B2 did not drop out when speakers were hooked up directly ????????

That's gotta mean something.

I know what you mean about the long term, there's 11 speakers hanging around my rec room that need something to do.  I dont want to isolate the B2 with its own set of speakers.

Thanks for the input.

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

Hi Keith,

It's a Solo Movie - got a good deal and we try to keep the number of boxes down to a minimum 😁. Anyway, good question. Normally the display shows the selected input (AV in this case) and PCM 2.0. When the signal drops the PCM 2.0 disappears, then comes back with the sound.

I hope you are enjoying this - it's a lot of extra effort to sort out somebody else's problem, but I hope you can get to the bottom of it.

Cheers,

Rich

[Keith Conrad]

RichM

Thanks for the info.  Gonna be playing around for the next few days, I have another (brand new) optical cable coming, so I will be futzing with that when it shows.

Had several drop outs last night as soon as I started playing hdd album.

Cheers again,

Keith Conrad

USA

[Keith Conrad]

Now what??????.......My wife's frequent question when my head is again poking in back of my audio cabinet.

Hello all, Rich M sorry it took soo long, but this had to be thorough.

I had been plugging, ungplugging, with power, without power, tv on, tv off, avr on avr off, b2 on/off, you get the picture.  This has been going on for a week.  For whatever reason, the B2 does not like the

hdmi handshake/hdcp when turning on/off my Samsung tv, and in some cases my optical connected soundbar (dont know why).

Rich M, just saw your new post.  I know you had a Arcam avr, dont know if you have or are using your optical input.  Since last Thursday the 26th of February, my b2 has been hooked to the avr with

the optical cable, and I must say, NOT ONCE HAS IT DROPPED OUT WHEN TURNING ON OR OFF MY TV OR SOUNDBAR! 

The initial setup I put on a brand new Kabeldirekt mini toslink optical digital cable.  Had told Paul from Brennan support a very long time ago that the cable has to be in just right, to work, and after a little wiggle, it

started playing'  I turned the tv on and off with the same remote for about half an hour, and the audio did not cut out at all.  That night I went back and forth between hdd albums playing and internet radio, with 

no cutouts.  I am guessing no more hdmi, until someone, somewhere along the line finds why the handshake or powering off make the B2 take a hit.

The audio cut outs did not stop no matter what process was taken, which included: unplugging from power(mains) all equipment, incuding the hdmi connections for 30 minutes (one time I did it overnight) plugging in

hmi cables one at a time, powering on equipment one at a time, all Anynet/hdmi controls turned off/on/off.  The oddest item is that the b2 always dropped when the tv was powered off or on.  Is it at all possible that 

the Power Off/On on the remote pauses the B2?

All you folks having audio drop outs with hdmi, you may want to swap over to the optical option.  My connections were made with the b2 and my avr unplugged from power(Mains).  It is coming up on a week and

I try to have the B2 on all the time with the avr to see if audio is cutting out, so far, it has not..........

Best to you all.

Rich M.,,,,,,,,,,,,,hope this helps you

Ketih ConraUSA

[Toby Bertrand]

I have also been having audio drop outs using HDMI. Sometimes it happens as soon as I start listening using HDD and other times it will not show up for over an hour but if I listen long enough it will start happening. I will get the optical cable and try this connection.

[RichM]

Hi all,

Keith, the problem is my Arcam box only has one optical input, which I use for the TV, hence my desire to use HDMI as I have plenty of those. My plan now, as you have seen, is to use the digital coaxial connection which is nominally for a set top box from the B2 optical output. Your experience sounds encouraging.

More updates once I have wired it all up, although it will be a while before I trust it. It can be a couple of days between drop outs, then a couple of minutes.

Random faults are the most frustrating.

Rich

[Keith Conrad]

Hello Rich,

I looked up what I thought was you avr, I saw your single input for the optical.  Make your connections with power off, and like I posted before, my B2 is a lttle touchy with the toslink connection in the back.

Hope you have lots of 'ooops' free listening ahead.  I know it will take a few days, please let us know how you make out.

Keith Conrad

USA

[Keith Conrad]

Toby,

Yes, I had the same experience.  It sometimes was almost instant to as many as 3 or 4 drops in one song.  Make sure your connections are with no power coming in, and make sure to 'uncheck' the hdmi audio 

out in the cog setup on the ui.  If you dont get sound immediately, try to jiggle the connection in back of the b2, then it should connect.  Scandisc wont hurt either.  Please let me know how you make out.

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

Keith,

Thanks for your input. As an aside, although it doesn't bother me as it is controllable, switching my Samsung TV on when I am already listening to something through my receiver causes a brief audio drop out, irrespective of the sound source (FM, CD, B2 etc.).

Rich

[Keith Conrad]

Rich M,

Thanks for the input.  Do you have your hdmi control/anynet turned on/off from your Arcam or tv menu ?  On or off, it did not make a difference in my setup.  I had read in a couple of AVS forum posts, that

some users had no dropouts or interrupts with anynet/hdmi control turned off.

Also, if you disconnect your tv from your Arcam, does audio cut out when you turn the tv on ?  In an effort to do a cable clean up, I ran a shorter optical cable from my tv to my soundbar, and that caused audio

dropout.  Since then, I ran a new optical cable from my cable box directly to my soundbar, with no dropouts when I turn that on/off.

Cheers to all,

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

Keith, not sure where to look for the HDMI control but I would guess it is on. I disconnected the TV from the Arcam, stuck FM radio on and then turned the TV on. I got a momentary drop out, but nothing like the one I got on the B2.

Rich

[JJ...@comcast.net]

Forgive me if this is the wrong place to post this. I'm having the same problem. B2 connected to Sony receiver via HDMI. Read this thread and ran Scan a couple of times. 9 Mar software version. Almost every song has at least one blackout. I listened to some songs on my PC from my backup copies - thinking it might be a compression error, but they played flawlessly. FYI, I purchased the B2 in June of last year but was rebuilding the wall and cabinetry where it's housed so I am just now using it. I think it's great, but I need to fix the drop out problem or I can't use it.

[Daniel Taylor]

After experiencing the same problem, experimenting, and reading all the comments in this thread, I've come to the conclusion that the drop-outs experienced with HDMI connection are due to a combination of the B2 and the audio component to which it is connected.  I have been able to solve the problem by not having any newer equipment connected to my A/V receiver.  I'm sorry I cannot designate which version of HDMI this includes.

Try disconnecting other HDMI equipment from the Sony receiver. If you can't find a setup that works for the B2 on HDMI, then the next best thing is to use the B2's optical digital output.

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

If you have read all the posts here, you will notice that this has been quite an issue.  I had asked Martin repeatedly about adding the hdmi for the avr input, which he eventually did.

Not knowing how deep you are into your audio setup, let me ask you to try something before you go the optical route, which I went back to, and have not had a drop out since.  Dan Taylor

and I were futzing back and forth with our hdmi cables for awhile.  I read "AVSforums' for lots of input in avr's, speakers etc.  I recently read about a person having audio dropouts on their hdmi with their

audio equipment.  One of the bloggers had mentioned that he had disconnected/stopped/turned off the wifi on his tv, and their were no more dropouts.

I, too was going to try this when I got a chance.  It is a small hassle to get to the back of my cabinet to replace or rearrange wires or cables.  I see you are 'comcast.net', me too,  If you have your

cable box attached hdmi from your receiver, is it possible for you to disable the wifi on you tv, and try the b2?  You may not even have your wifi on, also what brand of tv is it?  Also, here in the States?

Please let me know if we can help you out.

Keith Conrad

USA

[JJ...@comcast.net]

I’ll try that. Even though I built the wall to accommodate easy cable changes, I’ve ended up with so many cables that it’s still a bit of a hassle to route them. At least the B2 sits next to the receiver, so routing the cable is a non-issue I actually prefer wired networking when possible. I’m using wireless on the TV temporarily. TV is a Sony as is the receiver and blu-ray player to hopefully maximize compatibility with amp and blu-ray.

 

Cable box (and B2 and blu-ray) connects to receiver via hdmi. HDMI out to TV ARC connector.

 

It's so frustrating because the B2 is such a terrific product, but I can't really use it yet. Thanks for your help.

 

Jim

[Daniel Taylor]

One reason I use the HDMI cable is because it's long enough to reach from my B2 to my receiver.  If my B2 was right next to the receiver, I'm sure I'd use an optical cable.

[JJ...@comcast.net]

I can do that and have ordered the optical cable. My preference - based on absolutely no knowledge - was to use the optical input on the receiver for the audio from the TV. My logic being that the longer run from the TV would benefit from the electrical noise resistance of the optical connection. Also, pleading ignorance here, I had never heard of an optical cable that could be plugged into a 3.5mm audio jack and Brennan didn't show one on their web store.

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

Thanks for the try. I had 'spaghetti' central in back of my cabinet for quite some time, I still manage to clean something out here and there.  At Christmas I treated myself to the Denon x6500h, and moved my Marantz

SR7009 over to handle Atmos speakers and zone b for the patio.  

You did not mention if you had a soundbar or not, my wife is not into the whole techy aspect of the Dolby while watching tv, but I did purchase a soundbar just for better sound as the tv speakers were um,,,,,tv

speakers.  Let me explain my setup, which is pretty much like yours, and the whole hdmi handshake/b2 interrupt.

As mentioned before, my b2 would be playing throug the receiver via hdmi, I would turn off the tv, and within 30 seconds an audio cutout would occur.  It could happen several times in one song, or a couple of times

an hour.  After reading soo many differnt posts from different  sights about audio drops/raspberry pi/and tv's being involved I had switched over to the optical, and no problems.

From what I can gather, no matter which sequence you use to turn hdmi devices on, the hdmi on the tv is 'checking' to make sure it is connected.  A post on AVSFORUMS suggested that turning off the wifi 

connection to the tv (which does the software updates for the tv, or for streaming service) stops the hdmi 'checking' back through the other devices, and should end the audio drops.  Of course

I found this after I switched over to the optical.

I was going to try this route when I had a free weekend, hopefully begore the end of March, but that did not happen.  I am still going to try, and will post my progress.

xfinity cable box hdmi to denon (believe it is an ARRIS box)

xfinity cable box optical out to soundbar

hdmi video out from denon to hdmi 1

OPPO hdmi audio to denon./video to hdmi 2

fire cube hdmi to denon

B2 optical out to LINKfor digital optical splitter 1 to denon/1 to marantz.  I used kabel direct mini toslink optical digital audio cable from the B2 to the splitter.

Again, let us know how you make out, and please any questions.  Yes the B2 is a terrific product, we will try to get you around the dropout issue.

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

It is 3 months to the day since I started this thread. Sadly it is still going, although credit to Keith and Daniel for much of that. I switched to optical digital out with a coax converter, but grudgingly. We still get drop outs but they are much shorter than with the HDMI connection. We did consider returning the B2 but decided the benefits (not having to crawl on the floor to find CDs, playlists, combining multi CD sets etc.) outweighed the drawbacks (dropouts).

However, any system is only as good as its weakest link and in this case the converter is definitely it, so I would love to be able to use HDMI.

Following Keith's latest thoughts I have disconnected my TV from Wi-Fi and reverted to HDMI for the B2. Not an acceptable solution in the long term but might help to isolate the problem.

Report to follow.....

Cheers all,

Rich

[Keith Conrad]

RichM,

Nice to hear from you,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,thanks for the kind words.

Notice that you are going to try the hdmi, a couple of thoughts...

 

1) disconnect hdmi from b2....run scandisc (just for the hell of it) power off b2....

2) wifi off your tv.......turn tv off

3) reconnect hdmi to b2

4)turn your tv back on....then listen to b2 as you normally would.  Sorry to hear that the coax/optical did not clear the audio drops,,,I will look into that one.

With all the covid going on (I work for a transport company in NJ) I might have time this weekend to try the hdmi hookup myself.   

Thanks for trying.

Keith Conrad

USA

[RichM]

Well after 3 days of using HDMI with the Wi-Fi on the TV disconnected (and I have the time to play a lot of music at the moment!) I am reluctant to jump too soon, as I have been bitten before. However, I have noticed just one very brief drop out, similar to what I very occasionally get with the optical/coax connection route.

Today I decided to reconnect the Wi-Fi and got a long drop out on the very first album. So I think, Keith and Daniel, that you are right in that it is some kind of handshaking between the TV and the receiver.

I guess the obvious answer is to leave the Wi-Fi off, but one of the points of having a smart TV is to be able to watch YouTube and streamed video, a popular activity at the moment. The TV doesn't remember the Wi-Fi password so I have to reenter it every time.

At least we seem to be bottoming the problem out.

Cheers all,

Rich

[Daniel Taylor]

Can you connect the TV to your receiver using something besides HDMI?  That might help.

[JJ...@comcast.net]

I disconnected the HDMI from the B2 and connected using an optical cable. Disabled WiFi at TV and receiver. I prefer using wired networking when I can anyway. Things got no better regarding dropouts and went really crazy regarding tracks not playing and bizarre artist-album-track selection. The selection issues do not seem to affect my desktop Windows 10 PC. I have to say this is pretty disappointing.

[RichM]

Daniel,

Given all the different components I don't have an alternative to HDMI for the TV. But I feel a lot happier now that I am reasonably certain I can stop the drop outs if I am in serious listening mode.

As another option, I wonder if having the TV on (muted) might help? I can find a non-distracting screen or even use the feed from the receiver. One to investigate.

Best wishes to all,

Rich

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

A couple of things to try, things should not have gotten 'crazy' because of the audio out switch.  Many of the AVR manufacturers ask that connections are made with Power off or the amp disconnected, againI

I cant always get in back of my audio cabinet, so at least Power off whatever you disconnecting.

If you are going to use the optical cable.....1) run a scan disk 2) power off the B2.........3) power off your amp,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,4)disconnect and reconnect the b2 to to your avr  making sure the connection is good

on the back of the B2.....(more on this in a second),5) power on your avr then the b2.  I have found that my connection on the b2 has to be sitting just right for the optical connection.  

I have been using the optical for quite awhile now, with no drops at all.  I am guessing that you had enabled/selected the 'hdmi audio to tv' on the b2, this is deselected when you use the optical

Another 'issue' I am looking at is 'Remote Control' interference'.  I am not ashamed to say that I have far too many remotes (but I can operate them all with either hand in the dark)  I am pretty sure

that at least two remotes have some effect on the b2, and I know that the b2 remote changes my LED light strip.

JJ, just for 'ha-ha's', do you have x1/infinity cable box ??

Let us know what happens,

Keith Conrad

USA

[Keith Conrad]

Rich M,

Again,nice to hear from your.  Yes, the smart tv does have alot of options for wifi/streaming.  Glad to hear audio drops have subsided.  Because of my cable setup, I can get 'stuff' on the tv, the same thing

on my cable box, and pretty much the same thing on my Amazon Cube.  I will be knocking off the wifi on the tv in the next few days to try the hdmi hookup again.  You should not have an issue

with having your screen on, it was usually the powering off/on that caused the drop on the b2, and yes, this was when the wifi was enabled.

My Samsung tv has the current software update anyhow, and yes, it is a bear to keep on putting the wifi password back when you try to log equipment back on.

AS JJ is saying in the other post, I may try ethernet cable to see if that can stop the audio drop, but the hdmi handshake may not care how it is connected, and will still check the connection.

Happy Listening to All

Keith Conrad

USA

[Keith Conrad]

A few updates for those interested,

Friday April 3.

With all equipment powered of or disconnected from any electrical source, have reconnected hdmi from b2 to denon, (still kept the otical).  Turned on the denon, turned on the b2,established internet

radio connection, powered on the Samsung tv, and Instantly, audio drop.  Waited one minute, powered off tv, within 30 seconds of power off, audio dropped again.

Disconnect hdmi input from the denon to the tv input, power on tv, no dropout,,,,,,,,,,,,power off tv............no dropout.  Reconnect hdmi input to tv and dropout occurs immediately at the power on, and mind you,

just for giggles, I am aiming the tv remote dirctly at the tv about a millimeter away from it.

Have also turned the OPPO bluray on/off several times with b2 on with no interrupt.

Went as far as diconnecting the xfinity cable box from the denon, just to make sure that hdmi signal was not causing interference with the handshake/protocol baloney.  That did not work,  the b2 still got

the drop.  This was all done within about 90 minutes, I still dont know if there are intermittent drops, I will try that tonight I hope when I have time to listen uninterrupted.

I did disconnect the wifi, and the anynet is turned off on the tv.  To be fair to Martin and Paul, I think this needs to be called an interrupt rather than an audio drop.  Some signal somewhere is 

making the b2 stop what it is doing, whether playing internet radio or hdd.

I will try to reach out to the AVSforum crew to see if they have any input, then next would be samsung to see if they can offer an explanation.

Keith Conrad

USA

[Daniel Taylor]

Keith,

I have experienced the same thing with different equipment connected by HDMI, but with the B2 off.  I have attributed it to the receiver and HDMI handshaking.

[Keith Conrad]

Daniel,

Hello, do you believe that tv turning on/off and the handshake going back to the receiver is the issue?

The OPPO and the Amazon Cube going on/off do not seem to have any effect on the B2, it only seems to be the tv.  Even when all hdmi components are off, the interrupt still occurs.

I would still like to see some type of fix for this, some of the b2 owners only have the hdmi connection to work with, without spending extra monies for optical cables or splitters with amps on them.

Off to work soon. I will try to listen to the hdmi connection tonite, hopefully with no interruptions.

Keith Conrad

USA

[Daniel Taylor]

At this point, I can't say exactly what did what.  Just that the B2 was not involved, and the TV, cable box, probably the Oppo, an the receiver were involved.  In that situation, the drop out was only when something was coming on.  After all were on, the system stabilized and there were no drop-outs.

Now when my usual old projection TV was out of the picture, and I had a small, new TV connected as a spare, I would get repeated drop-outs of the B2 when the TV was off (probably not completely powered down, but in standby) and when I turned the TV on, the drop-outs stopped (or at least were greatly reduced).  Again, I don't necessarily think this was caused by the B2, but more likely the receiver, and that being provoked by the TV.

[Keith Conrad]

Daniel,

Not quite sure about what you mean about 'The B2 was not involved'.......I am not trying to blame the B2 for what is happening, I am trying to find out why it is happening.  I had plenty of instances when the B2 and the 

receiver were the only equipment on, and there were many interrupts, whether it was hdd or internet radio.  It seemed strange that receivers, (not just mine) showed that the input signal was interrupted, and why several times

in one particular song or within an hour or two, that's a whole lot of handshaking goin' on.

Early day Saturday.......

Cheers to all

Keith Conrad

USA

[JJ...@comcast.net]

Here's an update. I am not trying to do anything fancy, just play music from the hard (SSD( drive. I have disabled WiFi to all of the A/V devices. The B2 is connected to my receiver using an optical cable. Only other connections are a hard-wired network cable and power. Still get the drop outs. Gotta admit I'm really frustrated. This is an elegantly designed piece of hardware and brilliant software ... that's worthless if it doesn't work. Arrrgh!

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

Sorry to hear about this.  For the past few nights I have been using the hdmi cable and there have been no drops on both internet and hdd.  I have been doing a specific on off procedure where the tv has been off for at least a minute.

Then turn on the b2, waited a minute, then turned on the amp, waited a minute the engaged the b2, no drops.  The only wifi I disabled was off the tv.

JJ, the only other thing I can offer is that try a Cleanup from the Maintenace Menu, then a Scandisc, just to clean things up, then give your b2 a try.

Let us know how it works out.

Keith Conrad

USA

[PMB]

Hi JJ,

I notice you say you have the B2 connected to your network via a (Ethernet) cable - have you also got the WiFi dongle plugged into the B2? If you have you could try removing it to see if it makes a difference.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

Here you go,,,,,,PMB is asking to disconnect the wifi dongle, if you are using the ethernet cable, I dont know what that has to do with playback from the hdd.  If you could, disconnect your wifi, and ethernet, and if you can, just use your 

b2 remote.  Your b2 would only be connected to your amp.avr, then see if you have any drops,  I will try to do the same tonite.  If the b2 is stand alone with no wifi attached and you are only playing back the hdd and there is a drop...........

well we'll see.

Keith Conrad

USA

[JJ...@comcast.net]

Thanks Keith. I never use WiFi if I have a choice. Dongle is definitely out. I was going to try disconnecting the ethernet cable today.

[JJ...@comcast.net]

So, a little update:

I removed the B2 from my system and plugged in a headset. I only played a few tracks, but it seemed to work flawlessly. So, I brought it back to my system and connected it using the optical cable. It performed better than it has been, sometimes - but only sometimes - getting through a track without dropping. I want to try using HDMI, but I think I have to reconnect the B2 to the network to select that option - I don't see it selectable using the B2 controls. Since the headphones worked fine, I have to think the problem lies in digital I/O processing. 

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

Yes, you get a cigar for that..........you can make the hdmi choice via the web ui, then disconnect the ethernet cable.  Are you going through a sequence in turning b2/amp on off?  The optical drops are interesting.  I have been switching back and

forth between the optical and hdmi, but with the hdmi, I have been making sure that the tv is off for a minute before switching the amp over to the b2 input. (Have been watching Tales from the Loop), which sounds incredible in 5.1.  Then I have

been listening to the b2.

Happy listening,,,,

Keith Conrad

USA

[PMB]

Hi JJ,

I mentioned the WiFi dongle because it was found, on an unrelated issue, that the problem was with the B2 constantly trying to reconnect to a network when it had a poor WiFi signal.

Do you have another piece of equipment with an optical in (the TV, a DAC, etc) that you could test the B2 with?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[JJ...@comcast.net]

I may have used WiFi with the Brennan dongle to see how it operated before I had my full system set up, but I have removed both it and the bluetooth dongle.

I feel like Indiana Jones navigating the obstacles to get to the Holy Grail. If it worked - it hasn't - it might be a minor inconvenience, but it doesn't help. I have a pretty plain system setup and I just want to listen to music through it so nothing as exotic as YouTube or internet radio. There's a blu-ray player and the cable box attached to the receiver, but nothing else. My receiver, blue-ray and TV are all Sony to hopefully minimize any compatibility issues there.

Today I reconnected the HDMI cable. Selecting  "Audio on HDMI" option wouldn't stick so I ended up having to keep it connected - wired - to my network. While I had the box open to reconnect the Ethernet cable, I re-seated the SD card.  I still get the dropouts. Another thing I noticed is that the VU meter continues to show activity during a drop out so it seems to me the issue must be in the digital output. 

Very frustrated. But thanks for the suggestions Keith and Paul. I guess the big question is what can I do next.

Thanks again.

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

Sorry to hear about the troubles........Kudos for the vu meter, I completely forgot about that, I had mine on for about two minutes, then turned it off. Smart to have all Sony components for compatability. Last night, Wednesday, I did 

disconnect the ethernet cable and let a playlist go for a few hours, and I had no drops, this was on hdmi, which is now a big baffle because hdmi had all the drops before.

If you wouldnt mind trying one more thing......When I switched all the cables over last time, time had got away from me, and I know that the b2 was unplugged (no power) overnight, and no cables were attached.  The next morning, I had

made the cable connections, connected the power back to the b2, but did not turn it on until that night, and there have been no drops with either the hdmi or optical.  Could you pull the power cable out of the b2, or disconnect from the wall,

disconnect the ethernet, hdmi and optical, and let it sit overnight?  Then make the hdmi, optical, ethernet, then power cable.  Then turn on your amp, and see what happens ?

Happy listening

Keith Conrad

USA

[JJ...@comcast.net]

I’ll give it a try. Thanks Keith.

[Daniel Taylor]

I know that in general, we've been trying to figure out what is causing the drop-outs.  But I think it might be helpful to determine if there is actually a problem or not with any individual B2. 

If you connect your B2 to an A/V receiver by either optical digital or HDMI, and the receiver has nothing else connected to it in the way of digital inputs or outputs (and speakers), the B2 should play without dropouts.  If, under those conditions, the B2 is still having drop-outs, I think it is highly likely that that B2 has a problem that needs attention by a repair center.

As you know, I have experienced digital drop-outs over HDMI, but in my case, I've attributed it to having other things connected to my receiver with HDMI.  If drop-outs were to continue for me, I would try that experiment to rule out all other equipment.

[JJ...@comcast.net]

Today's installment in this continuing saga:

I was going to try the disconnect everything including power approach that Keith mentioned yesterday, but I forgot. So today I just tried disconnecting all the other sources from the receiver. The B2 was connected using HDMI. Songs played more or less flawlessly with two caveats.

 

1) Selecting songs / albums was an iffy affair. Sometimes it worked, often it would scramble at least part of the song sometimes with bits of other songs on top of the one I was trying to play.

 

2) It would not play an album. I had to select one song at a time. If I had a nickel for every time I ran scan disk ...

 .

I shut everything down  and tried the same thing using the optical cable. Same results.

I've ordered a cable with  3.5 mm stereo to two RCA connectors (from CableCreation). I'm guessing that will bypass the handshaking that is likely causing the problem. Analog output, but it's many years since my high frequency hearing rivaled a dog's. I'll let you know how that works.

Thanks to all,

Jim

 

[JJ...@comcast.net]

I understand what you’re saying, but I think if the B2 can’t play nice with others, it’s still a B2 error. Kind of like when I try to convince people that I’m sane and everyone else is crazy! 

[Keith Conrad]

JJ,

Wow.......bummers all around.  Interested to hear how the rca cables work out.  Hope you have a good weekend.  Hanging the thinking cap for a couple of days.

A Peaceful weekend to all

Keith Conrad

USA

[Keith Conrad]

JJ

One more thing..............reflash the sd card ?????

Keith Conrad

USA

[JJ...@comcast.net]

I’ll give it a try. Thanks.

[JJ...@comcast.net]

Thought I'd give an update while I'm waiting for the 3.5 -> RCA cable. 

I got a couple of new 32GB microSD cards. Flashed them with the latest software. 

First one ... B2 completely unresponsive. Not even the red-green boot indication. I used Etcher to flash it.

Second one - different card - flashed with Win32DiskImager. Got the red-green blinking, but it stuck there.

I haven't gone beyond that but I did keep the original microSD card with the older software. I didn't expect this to be so much effort so I'll probably wait until I get the cable to re-install the original card.

As an aside, as an old guy whose first state of the art PC had a whopping ten megabyte hard drive - which probably was $1,000 upgrade. Here's a thumbnail size device with over 3,000 times the capacity and cost $10. Technology is amazing. 

[Keith Conrad]

Well Hello,

Nice to hear back from you. Sorry to hear about the bad news.  Definitely hold onto that original card.  I have been using both the hdmi and the optical cable and have not had one audio drop.  I also have been making sure that

that the tv is off for at least a minute before turning on the b2.

Really hope this gets stright for you. The technology thing, I worked in a IBM mainframe computer room for 14 years, we had whopping 16 meg machine. I use a 1TB Seagate to backup the b2.

Please let us know about the rca cable when you hook it up.

Keith Conrad 

USA

[PMB]

Hi JJF49,

I would try downloading the SD Card image file again in case something went wrong with the first download. Don't unzip it  for Etcher.

Even with a blank card the B2 will power and the the leds flash.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jim Webber]

Sorry to be back to this old topic, but I am still occasionally experiencing audio dropout. Everything is fine for a few days but then I get dropout for a second or two every couple of minutes. Scan disc normally fixes it, but sometimes I have to disconnect the power, restart and then do the Scan disc again to fix the problem. I am running the simplest possible arrangement, with the B2 driving a couple of venerable Tannoy speakers connected with conventional speaker cables.  Does anyone have any fresh insight into this issue?  Thanks in advance! 

[PMB]

Hi Jim,

Does this happen on the same Album/Track or is it random?

Do the cables you have used to connect the speakers have metal surrounds? Due to the sockets on the B2 being close the plug bodies may be touching and shorting. In this case try slipping a piece of card or thin plastic between the plugs to isolate them.

Failing that - if you have the web UI running trying keeping the debug window (click the COG and then the spanner icons) open while playing the B2 - it may show what is going on when the audio drop outs, if it is a software/command issue.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jim Webber]

Hi Paul.  Thanks for the prompt reply. Dropout is completely random. Doesn't happen every day -- I'd say about once a week it starts to happen and I have to try to fix it. 

Cable ends are plastic, not metal. The banana plugs I first bought were way too large for the available space so I had to go a different route.

I rarely use the web UI because the wifi signal in the vicinity of the B2 is not strong. Can I check the debug function any other way?  One thing I have noticed is that when the sound drops out, the scrolling track title on the screen hesitates for a split second -- don't know if that tells you anything.

In case it matters, I am running the 29 June software version at present, but this problem has been around ever since I got the unit in February.

Jim

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Jim,

The answer to your query could be in your statement  "the wifi signal in the vicinity of the B2 is not strong.".  The Internet radio needs a strong signal to keep the feed going.  I have a wired connection to my B2 and the radio works really well.

Some users have improved their WiFi signal by purchasing a USB extender cable which enables movement of the WiFi dongle to pick up a stronger signal.

Regards,

Peter.

[Daniel Taylor]

On Wednesday, July 8, 2020 at 1:06:37 PM UTC-4, Jim Webber wrote:

One thing I have noticed is that when the sound drops out, the scrolling track title on the screen hesitates for a split second -- don't know if that tells you anything.

That seems to me that it might be significant.  It tells me that the processor got really busy with something for a moment that made everything else stop.

Since you don't use the WebUI very often, how about trying running with the WiFi dongle unplugged.  Power down before unplugging it.  Run that way for awhile and see if the dropouts continue or not.

BTW, if you don't use Bluetooth, you should probably not have that dongle plugged in either.

[Jim Webber]

Peter: I am only playing tracks I have loaded onto the B2 hard drive. Would the strength of the wifi signal really be an issue in that case?  I can certainly get an extender cable if it would help -- would save me having to take the B2 down to the basement, where the router is located, every time I update the software!  Jim

[Jim Webber]

I'll give that a try and let you know what happens!  Since I just did a scan yesterday, it may take a few days for the B2 to start misbehaving again, so stay tuned!  Jim

[Peter Lowham]

Jim,

My apologies, for some reason I mistakenly got it into my head that the dropouts were while you were using the internet radio.  Now that I'm back in the real world, you are correct, the WiFi connection is not directly linked to playing music that is stored on the B2.

If you are not using the WiFi connection for anything other than web updates, it would be worth unplugging the WiFi dongle and seeing if that makes any improvement.  I found that the Bluetooth dongle caused problems while running 'Export' backups.  Unplugging that dongle fixed the problem in that case.

Regards and apologies,

Peter.

[Jim Webber]

No apology needed, I appreciate the help. I have removed both dongles and will report back in due course.  Jim

[Jim Webber]

OK, it's been a month since I posted about momentary sound dropouts on my B2.  Many thanks to Paul, Peter and Daniel for their suggestions at that time. I removed the dongles from the back of the B2, since they were not really doing anything, and have not had any dropout issues since. If I understand Daniel's "diagnosis" correctly, the fact that the wifi signal is very weak at the B2's normal location was causing occasional overloads for the processor, and that was causing the problem. Worth keeping in mind for anyone else with a similar issue in the future.  Thanks again for the help.  Jim  

[PMB]

Hi Jim,

Great to hear you have found a work around. However it sounds like you are not able to use the web UI, is this a problem? Also the B2 needs to be online to use the CDDB when ripping CDs.

You could connect the B2 to the router via an Ethernet cable.

Paul

Brennan Support.