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Thread: Help. Intermittant loss of sound on file based system.

  1. #1
    Join Date: May 2011

    Location: Glasgow

    Posts: 7,718
    I'm Brian.

    Default Help. Intermittant loss of sound on file based system.

    Hi guys looking for some advice . I started on file based audio around 6 months ago and know very little . The problem is as follows . I didn't listen to any music for a couple of days over the new year and when I started listening today I encountered some problems . The replay seems to be suffering from loss of sound , very briefly for a split second , intermittantly .
    I have unplugged and reconnected all of the cables but still doing the same .
    My system comprises a Dell 510m laptop running on XP . Using windows media player 11 and WAV music files ripped on my PC and transferred to the laptop using an external hard drive. . USB cable to V-link,
    then digital coax to Caiman SEG.
    I tried bypassing the V-Link and connecting straight into the Caiman USB , but still the same. I tried connecting the external hard drive and playing the music files on it , still the same . Was working fine up til today .
    I think that the battery could be suspect . Could a dodgy battery cause this problem ?
    I'm afraid I'm a bit of a numpty with all this so any help will be vert much appreciated as this is driving me daft.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Aug 2010

    Location: Montseny National Park, Catalonia

    Posts: 3,254
    I'm John.

    Default

    It could be a number of things.

    Generally, intermittent sound is caused by software rather than hardware; hardware tends (in general to work or not)
    Do you still get dropouts when the battery is charging?

    Download this
    http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
    It doesn’t install in the system so you can run it from the download folder.
    Play a file in your Windows Player and minimize the player to your task bar.
    Then run dpc latency checker.
    If you get spikes when the dropouts happen then you’ve probably got a system process interrupting the audio stream.

    If this is the case then a possible easy temporary solution may be to use this
    http://www.windowsxlive.net/fidelize...le-workstation

    However, take care when installing because it will try to change your browser homepage to the site, and if I remember right also try to install some other crap as well.
    Just be careful to un-tick the right boxes.
    One other problem with Fidelizer, it doesn’t like it when you shut windows down and tends to hang.
    Just click the End Now option.
    You have to start Fidelizer each time you want to play music because it quits at shutdown.
    Single spur balanced Mains. Self built music server with 3 seperate linear PSU, Intel i5, 16 GB RAM no hard drive (various Linux OS). Benchmark Dac2 HGC, single ended XLR interconnects/Belkin cable. Exposure 21RC Pre, Super 18 Power (recap & modified). Modded World Audio HD83 HP amp. Hand built Monitors with external crossovers , Volt 250 bass & ABR, Scanspeak 13M8621 Mid & Scanspeak D2905/9300 Hi. HD595 & Beyer 880 (600 ohm) cans.

    The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.
    -Bertrand Russel

    John.

  3. #3
    Join Date: May 2011

    Location: Glasgow

    Posts: 7,718
    I'm Brian.

    Default

    Thanks John . I don't have the internet on the laptop as I only intended it for music playback . Can I download onto my PC and transfer via a pen drive ? Yes I still get dropouts when the battery is charging . Should I change the power settings to
    'never' run on battery power i.e run on mains all the time .
    Brian.

  4. #4
    Join Date: Jun 2011

    Location: Skien, Norway

    Posts: 932
    I'm Jostein.

    Default

    You can try to turn off the PC, take out the battery and start up with only the mains connected to see if that affects the sound. If the battery is faulty it will discharge very quickly or at once instead of lasting the usual time. This happens a lot with laptop batteries.
    My hifi system:

    Turntable: Technics SL-1200 MKII, Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge, Mike New bearing, MCRU PSU (c), Oyaide HS-CF headshell, Oyaide MJ-12 TT mat, Vantage Audio Copper mat, Isonoe Isolation Feet, Isodek IF-2 isolation platform, Furutech Monza LP stabilizer, Herbie's Hal-O JR damper Phono Stage: Hagerman Cornet 3 (prototype) Amplifiers: EAR 868L Preamp, Transcription Audio 211 Heaven Power amp, Bob Carver Cherry 180 power amp CD Player: Ear Yoshino Acute Tuner: Magnum Dynalab 90T Speakers: Vandersteen 2CE SigII, Townshend Audio Super Tweeters, Transcription Audio Speakers Cables and stuff: LFD Audio interconnects and speaker cables, Mark Grant G2000HD, BlackCat Electronics, Van Den Hul Clearwater, Black Rhodium mains cables, Black Rhodium mains block, Finite Elements Resonator, Townhsend Stella Speaker stands, Pro Audio Bono hifi rack, Herbie's spike gliders, Herbie's Ultravox and Hal-O tube dampers, Super Black Hole CD mat Record Cleaning Machine: Loricraft PRC4

  5. #5
    Join Date: May 2011

    Location: Glasgow

    Posts: 7,718
    I'm Brian.

    Default

    Thanks Jostein , I will try any suggestion put forward.

    Brian

  6. #6
    Join Date: May 2011

    Location: Glasgow

    Posts: 7,718
    I'm Brian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Welder View Post
    It could be a number of things.

    Generally, intermittent sound is caused by software rather than hardware; hardware tends (in general to work or not)
    Do you still get dropouts when the battery is charging?

    Download this
    http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
    It doesn’t install in the system so you can run it from the download folder.
    Play a file in your Windows Player and minimize the player to your task bar.
    Then run dpc latency checker.
    If you get spikes when the dropouts happen then you’ve probably got a system process interrupting the audio stream.

    If this is the case then a possible easy temporary solution may be to use this
    http://www.windowsxlive.net/fidelize...le-workstation

    However, take care when installing because it will try to change your browser homepage to the site, and if I remember right also try to install some other crap as well.
    Just be careful to un-tick the right boxes.
    One other problem with Fidelizer, it doesn’t like it when you shut windows down and tends to hang.
    Just click the End Now option.
    You have to start Fidelizer each time you want to play music because it quits at shutdown.
    John , can I ask if this can be repaired by uninstalling and reinstalling the XP operating system.
    Brian.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: http://www.homehifi.co.uk

    Posts: 6,288

    Default

    One reason I don't use USB is because the USB port on a PC is in an IRQ (interrupt request queue ). So if you are playing music via USB and then operate another USB device like a USB mouse the audio signal can suddenly experience a drop out stream.
    Also check your virus checker and firewall settings. If it gives you the option to ignore scanning WAV files, then do so.
    Many years ago the USB port address 5000 strated being used by virus and trojan writers as a potential weak entry port to a PC. So virus software and firewalls ended up also doing a check on data that passed the USB port. Of course, this also includes audio and video files.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Feb 2010

    Location: Moved to frozen north, beyond Inverness

    Posts: 2,602
    I'm Dave.

    Default

    What's on the laptop? How much disk space does it have, and how much is spare? If there's insufficient spare space then problems can arise, and will probably continue and get worse.

    I'd recommend at least 10% spare space on the drive, and 15% or more may not be unreasonable.

    Try defragmenting the drive.

    Also check the processes running, and do a virus scan. However, note that virus scanning can itself be an intensive operation, and you night get audio problems if you run a checker at the same time as listening.
    Dave

  9. #9
    Join Date: Aug 2011

    Location: Bacau, Romania

    Posts: 1,215
    I'm Bob.

    Default

    Just my 2 cents...
    It may be related to the USB interface, if anything else is using the hub? Mouse?
    I don't know the V-link or Stan's DAC personally, or whether they need USB over Asio?
    That said it makes no sense that the glitch has not shown up within the last 6 months, waiting as a Happy New Year present, so has anything been updated?
    Assuming it is software or process related, either a concurrent program or the media player itself is the likely cause. Reinstalling XP is a bit drastic if only one component is causing the issue, and will not necessarily solve the problem long term.
    If it is a process causing the hiccup, and you are using it as a dedicated machine, why not turn off any unused processed which are not necessary or used, or have you already done all that?

    Might I suggest you download foobar along with the various plugins (Asio, ALAC, etc) or any other media player I guess to a memory stick, copy over to your laptop and install. Play a track and see if that clears the media player as the cause. This can be deleted later.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: http://www.homehifi.co.uk

    Posts: 6,288

    Default

    Whilst extra space on the drive helps, it isn't fast enough for buffering. If you got Windows7 use the Readyboost feature with an SD card. I did some extensive trials with and without Readyboost and can say without a question of a doubt that it makes a huge difference.

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