HELP!

[Eddy Flycatcher]

I really don't know which forum to post my problem in, sorry.
I have a Fiio M11 filled with 2 Kingston 512 Gb cards filled (45%) with ALAC files, lately I had been noticing that there were frequent "drop-outs"occuring, so after becoming more and more frustrated I purchased a brand new Fiio M11 Plus and a brand new Sandisk 1Tb Micro SD card. I filled it about 35% with ALAC files again. Unfortunately the same problem still occurs, less frequent, but still the "drop-outs" occur totally random, and the weirdest thing is that if I rewind to the position just before the problem area it will be gone, no more "drop-out".
What could be the problem? The ALAC files? (I did consider years ago to switch to FLAC, but I couldn't get used to Mediamonkey, MusicBee, Foobar etc)
I am 60+ so I can't hear the difference between 320Kbps MP3's or ALAC/FLAC so should I consider converting my collection?
My collection isn't small, it's 3,21 Tb ALAC files in iTunes.

Thank you for all suggestions

 

[KinGensai]

Dropouts? The track skips? Audio glitch?

Just off the cuff, that sounds like a buffer problem, your DAP probably needs a longer buffer time to process the audio stream. I use UAPP/Neutron, those let you control how long the buffer is to avoid problems like that.

Another potential problem is the size of your SD cards. The technology used to make super cap SD cards makes them unreliable because each electronic "switch" is modified to represent more and more potential positions, this allows the electrons to more easily fluctuate due to passive EM interference and other normal circuit activity. It's quite convenient in the short term (Photos/Video and you plan to store them in a full size drive right after) but highly volatile for long term storage. My files were getting corrupted constantly on SD cards higher than 256GBs.

 

[Eddy Flycatcher]

Thank you for the suggestion, I will try it out tonight by listening to music played from the internal memory if there's no problem then it must be the SD card, but I still have to ask myself am I the only one using SD cards of 256 and higher (I read on the Fiio website that cards up to 2Tb are supported)

 

[Roseval]

should I consider converting my collection?

No. It is lossless so keep it that way.
If the Fiio is struggling with large files, get a better DAP!
You might try a your phone. Mine has a 1TB SD card with FLAC and performs flawlessly.

A simple solution is transcoding (converting on the fly)
You have your collection in a lossless format.
You specify an other format e.g. AAC for use on a portable.
You might limit the amount by making a playlist
You tell the media player to synchronize to the portable while converting to AAC at the same time.
An example using Musicbee: https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MusicBee/MusicBee_Sync.htm

 

[gregorio]

What could be the problem?

Unfortunately, there are quite a few potential causes. Some setting you’ve selected or some bug in the Fiio’s firmware would seem the most likely, or maybe some incompatibility with certain makes/models of SD card. A fault with the card/s itself is less likely, though still possible.

G

 

[Eddy Flycatcher]

If the problem was in the SD card wouldn't be possible to repeat the problem? After the drop out occurs I rewind to before the thing happened and it's not there any more!
The card is a Sandisk Extreme Pro, the fastest I could find.
If the problem was in the firmware that is highly unlikely since the first M11 had different firmware and the same dropouts.

 

[Eddy Flycatcher]

If the Fiio is struggling with large files, get a better DAP!

The Fiio M11 plus is not a bad DAP I thought? it cost more than enough.

 

[KinGensai]

It might be best to go to a specialist forum or to the manufacturer for help. Just saying.

Just as a note, speed is not the issue here. Audio streams are nowhere near enough to strain that. The SD cards causing me serious problems were sandisk, they were corrupting my music files at an alarming rate. I now use samsung evo SD cards, no more corruption problems.

 

[castleofargh]

Before that, I'm guessing there is a dedicated thread, even if only an appreciation thread for that device. The various owners might be more aware of issues and what to do about it.

 

[Ryokan]

I'd convert them to something else personally. Not had an issue with Sandisk cards, but I don't go higher than 512gb even if the product is supposed to handle it.

 

[Born2Cuddle]

I really don't know which forum to post my problem in, sorry.
I have a Fiio M11 filled with 2 Kingston 512 Gb cards filled (45%) with ALAC files, lately I had been noticing that there were frequent "drop-outs"occuring, so after becoming more and more frustrated I purchased a brand new Fiio M11 Plus and a brand new Sandisk 1Tb Micro SD card. I filled it about 35% with ALAC files again. Unfortunately the same problem still occurs, less frequent, but still the "drop-outs" occur totally random, and the weirdest thing is that if I rewind to the position just before the problem area it will be gone, no more "drop-out".
What could be the problem? The ALAC files? (I did consider years ago to switch to FLAC, but I couldn't get used to Mediamonkey, MusicBee, Foobar etc)
I am 60+ so I can't hear the difference between 320Kbps MP3's or ALAC/FLAC so should I consider converting my collection?
My collection isn't small, it's 3,21 Tb ALAC files in iTunes.

Thank you for all suggestions

I have had the EXACT same problem with my Hidizs DH 80 and the Hiby music player. After trying lots of things (new card, switching headphones and cables and ports, which didn't make it go away). I bought a new DAC/amp.

I am pretty sure it has something to do with Android with some music player apps.

I finally got a new DAC/amp (a Fiio q11) and had the same issue when using the Hiby music player app but no issues at all with the Fiio music player.

Try a couple of different music players and see if it goes away. One other thing that I found weird was that streaming music players worked perfectly, it was just music from my SD card that was messed up.

 

[Born2Cuddle]

Thank you for the suggestion, I will try it out tonight by listening to music played from the internal memory if there's no problem then it must be the SD card, but I still have to ask myself am I the only one using SD cards of 256 and higher (I read on the Fiio website that cards up to 2Tb are supported)

I will bet you all of my Kohl's Cash (currently $48.11) that it isn't your card.

 

[gregorio]

If the problem was in the SD card wouldn't be possible to repeat the problem? After the drop out occurs I rewind to before the thing happened and it's not there any more!

That would depend on what the fault is. If the fault is a bad memory sector and there’s lost/unrecoverable data, then the dropout will occur at the same place when you rewind but if the fault is somewhere else, say the cache or error correction for example, then the dropout probably would not occur in the same place. However, this type of fault is quite unlikely, certainly a great deal less likely than a fault somewhere other than with the SD card.

The card is a Sandisk Extreme Pro, the fastest I could find.

I’ve found the Sandisk Extreme Pro to be very good, although I’ve had Extreme Pro flash memory sticks rather than the SD cards. As mentioned by others, speed isn’t an issue, even reading 192/24 digital audio files would probably only use about 1% of the Extreme Pro’s speed/bandwidth!

The Fiio M11 plus is not a bad DAP I thought? it cost more than enough.

Audiophile gear is sold on the premise of high cost for high quality and performance. Unfortunately, that often isn’t the actual reality! The actual reality, particularly with digital audiophile gear, is that the performance is typically no better than more mass produced gear and not uncommonly actually worse. The relatively small boutique audiophile manufacturers simply don’t have the resources (number and range of highly qualified, experienced and equipped specialists) for R&D, testing and QC as the big manufacturers.

G

 

[Davesrose]

If the problem was in the SD card wouldn't be possible to repeat the problem? After the drop out occurs I rewind to before the thing happened and it's not there any more!
The card is a Sandisk Extreme Pro, the fastest I could find.
If the problem was in the firmware that is highly unlikely since the first M11 had different firmware and the same dropouts.

Where did you buy the Sandisk Extreme Pro, and did it seem cheaper than other sites? I've been involved with photography and video recording to compact flash and SD cards. Recording UHD video can be very demanding and the need for the fastest SD formats. There are many stories of photographers buying what they thought was a Sandisk and running into problems. Unfortunately since it is a popular and respected brand, it's also the most popular brand to counterfeit with SDs (you don't have that issue with their SSDs and all usual retailers). A site like Amazon has sellers that are legitimate and others that aren't. If I'm really concerned with memory cards, I'll buy from B&H Photo: they are authorized dealers for all major brands, have competitive pricing with Amazon, will let you know if a product has manufacturer warranty or is gray market (cheaper price because it's an import and has 3rd party warranty).

Here's a link to some ways of spotting a counterfeit (you can also find forums or sites showing reference photos of a legitimate Sandisk card and counterfeit ones). https://dellwa.com/memory-card/how-to-spot-and-test-a-fake-memory-card/

There can also be a possibility that something is wrong with the SD slot you're transferring files from. Wether the hardware, drivers, or software used for transfering are having an issue corrupting files. Reading your first post, I'm wondering if that's the issue (as you say you hear dropouts with 3 cards with two DAPs). Do the files sound fine on other media players on your computer before you transfer them to SD? If so, at this point it might be worth it to try a new USB SD slot to transfer files onto (if you're transferring files through a regular OS file manager). Though before that, there could also be a possibility of playback issues on Fiios and latest firmware with ALAC (I'm also involved with software development: not all bug fixes are addressed in the next version). I'd probably try converting files to mp3 to see if they play smoothly on current SD cards. Since it's the most popular format, it has the most support (followed by FLAC). With mp3 you'd also be able to fit more songs. If there's still issues playing converted files, it's more than likely file corruption (and USB SD slot would be last new hardware to try). I've found file corruption with certain storage is not always repeated at the same spot in a multimedia file: as it also depends on system cache with that stream.

Also when it comes to lossless audio: the bandwidth needed is a lot less than UHD video. You shouldn't need a terribly fast card. With my DAP, I have a less popular Samsung Evo micro SD (512GB) that I have used for several years. I did buy it through Amazon.