[korzena]

 
Hi, whenever I move the song forward using the seekbar in Foobar, I always hear a slight crackle and pops sounds before it plays from a new place.  This is annoying!
 
Do you know a way to get rid of the crackle sound?
 
I've tried changing buffer size in Foobar, but no improvement. Priority in Foobar is highest (7).
 
 
(I'm running the latest version of Foobar2000 (v.1.1.10); No DSP plugins loaded; I'm using WASAPI output on Windows 7 64bit to an external DAC, then to my amplifier; I play lossless FLAC files)
 
 

 

[NA Blur]

1.)  Try not using WASAPI as the audio processing there is probably hurting the audio quality rather than helping it.
 
2.)  Try lowering the bitrate setting in Foobar to something below 25 bit.The bitrate really changes the noise floor as well as a few other things and that just might do the trick.
 
3.)  Try another DAC to make sure yours is not causing the noise issue.
 
I hear crackles often if I use the DAC within my PC instead of my m903 or bithead.

 

[korzena]

NA Blur, thanks for your advice!
 
Actually, in the meantime I've tried Kernel streaming instead of wasapi and to my surprise (because for windows 7, wasapi is recommended!) the problem is solved! (well, in 90% because I still get a very minimal crackle from time to time , but it's almost nothing in comparison to wasapi). I will not be looking for anything else for now- this is perfect solution for me. 

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

1.)  Try not using WASAPI as the audio processing there is probably hurting the audio quality rather than helping it.
 
2.)  Try lowering the bitrate setting in Foobar to something below 25 bit.The bitrate really changes the noise floor as well as a few other things and that just might do the trick.

1. Why?
 
2. You mean bit depth? The setting you use in Foobar has really nothing to do with noise floor. That depends on the file being played, whether it's 24 bit or 16 bit. Setting Foobar to a higher bit depth just allows those files to play without the least significant bits being removed. Any file under Foobar's bit depth will just be padded with empty bits (zeros). However, you shouldn't set Foobar's bit depth to above what the DAC can handle. Always set it to the highest the DAC can handle, no more or less.

 

[korzena]

Head Injury,
 
I've set it to 24bit which is what my transport (Hiface MK3) and DAC are capable of.
 
I really don't understand why kernel streaming appeared much better for me than wasapi.
 
From time to time, even when playing only (not forwarding or skipping songs) I get occasional little crackles, but they are really really small. Still I would be nice to get rid of any even minimal disturbances.

 

[Head Injury]

Try to download this and see if you have latency problems.
 
Is this a laptop or desktop? What are you using to connect your DAC? What sampling rate setting are you using in your DAC's Sound Properties (found in Control Panel>Sound).

 

[korzena]

Quote:

Try to download this and see if you have latency problems.
 
Is this a laptop or desktop? What are you using to connect your DAC? What sampling rate setting are you using in your DAC's Sound Properties (found in Control Panel>Sound).

Thanks! I was going to do this, but didn't think it can really matter. I will do it now then
 
I use laptop, going thru USB to transport (JKeny modded HiFace MK3- 24/192 asynchronous USB - SPDIF output  ), going to DAC (24/192k)

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

I use laptop, going thru USB to transport (JKeny modded HiFace MK3- 24/192 asynchronous USB - SPDIF output  ), going to DAC (24/192k)

What sampling rate are your music files? If most of them are 44.1 kHz, just set your output to 44.1 kHz. The upsampling could be causing problems.

 

[korzena]

Quote:

What sampling rate are your music files? If most of them are 44.1 kHz, just set your output to 44.1 kHz. The upsampling could be causing problems.

They are mostly FLACs 16bit 44.1kHz. 
Where am I supposed to change the rate? In Manage audio devices in Control Panel? In window "Sound" tab: Playback, there is a section "Which of the following sample rates are supported by your digital receiver? I've checked all of them - from 44.1 to 192kHz, because this is what is supported by my devices.
 
I've done the latency check and it get some spikes, not huge around 2000us, sometimes almost 4000. Can it really cause the crackles I hear from time to time in my playback? (The comment says: "Some device drivers on this machine behave bad and will probably cause drop-outs in real-time audio and/or video streams.") Sh..! Do I really need to go through the drivers check?
 

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

They are mostly FLACs 16bit 44.1kHz. 
Where am I supposed to change the rate? In Manage audio devices in Control Panel? In window "Sound" tab: Playback, there is a section "Which of the following sample rates are supported by your digital receiver? I've checked all of them - from 44.1 to 192kHz, because this is what is supported by my devices.
 
I've done the latency check and it get some spikes, not huge around 2000us, sometimes almost 4000. Can it really cause the crackles I hear from time to time in my playback? (The comment says: "Some device drivers on this machine behave bad and will probably cause drop-outs in real-time audio and/or video streams.") Sh..! Do I really need to go through the drivers check?

2000 and 4000 us spikes is pretty huge. I peak at 907 us, and that's while playing with the seek bar with Folding@Home utilizing 75% of my CPU and 95% of my GPU, with average latency around 150 us.
 
That much latency can cause popping and skipping, I expect. Try to reduce your CPU usage, and use a wired internet connection if you aren't already (turn off wifi).
 
Do the spikes increase when you use the seekbar? Have you tried checking the latency with WASAPI instead of Kernel Streaming?

 

[korzena]

Quote:

2000 and 4000 us spikes is pretty huge. I peak at 907 us, and that's while playing with the seek bar with Folding@Home utilizing 75% of my CPU and 95% of my GPU, with average latency around 150 us.
 
That much latency can cause popping and skipping, I expect. Try to reduce your CPU usage, and use a wired internet connection if you aren't already (turn off wifi).
 
Do the spikes increase when you use the seekbar? Have you tried checking the latency with WASAPI instead of Kernel Streaming?

Ups! I thought they are not so big as the scale goes up as far as 16000
 
OK, here is something interesting. I compared kernel streaming latency vs wasapi latency and they are very similar, actually wasapi (which gives me the pops and crackles) has less latency spikes.
I've also checked what latency rate is when I use the seekbar (when the crackles can be heard) - and it is quite normal (no big spikes -it is between 500-1000, no more no less than during normal "non-crackle" playing)
So I suspect that maybe the crackles happen not because of latency, but because of something else. I don't know what!
 
 

 

[korzena]

Is there a way to increase Foobar system priority other than in Foobar options?