(System wide) audio problem

[toiva]

I realize since this is a system wide issue there might be better places to ask for help.. But i'll start here.

Problem is that every time audio playback starts, there's a small chunk missing from the beginning, maybe about 0.5 seconds. This happens with all kind of audio tracks (pcm, ac3, dts). Every one of those formats play just fine, after the initial silence.
Also, every time i, let's say skip mp3 tracks in XBMC, i can see the pcm led turn off and back on in my av receiver.

System specs: Full intrepid desktop, Abit i-n73hd with Realtek ALC888 (optical to a Yamaha AV receiver), i've tried alsa .19 and .20. All kinds of audio should be directed to optical out. Pulseaudio is removed from the system.

Do i need to modify my asound.conf or what? My asound.conf looks like this, if i remove it i lose stereo sounds in XBMC and Rhythmbox etc.

pcm.!default {
        type hw
        card 0
        device 1
}

aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 0: ALC888 Analog [ALC888 Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 1: ALC888 Digital [ALC888 Digital]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: NVidia [HDA NVidia], device 3: NVIDIA HDMI [NVIDIA HDMI]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

aplay -L
front:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
    Front speakers
surround40:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, ALC888 Analog
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, ALC888 Digital
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=NVidia,DEV=0
    HDA NVidia, NVIDIA HDMI
    HDMI Audio Output
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)

Any help is appreciated.

[ronie]

I believe this is an issue with the receiver, not Ubuntu.

Check this thread for some more info:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50015

[toiva]

There isn't any problems in Windows.. I never really paid attention to receiver leds while using Windows, but there's no such pause/silence there, that's for sure.

[prae5]

I have the same problem with both of my Yamaha amps - it is the amp. If i use my Cambridge Audio amp I don't have this problem. It is the amp, although i only get it at the start of audio playback - can't say i've ever noticed it during playback or seeking.

[toiva]

In that case it sounds () like it's alsa which doesn't play nicely with Yamaha. Maybe i'll try live and see if the problem exists there.

[ronie]

Mine is a Sony, same problem.
Although i'm convinced there's no solution, i hope someone will prove me wrong. :-)

Please report back if you find a fix.

[toiva]

Hmm http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Docum.../powersave.txt

Note that you might hear click noise/pop when changing the power state. Also, it often takes certain time to wake up from the power-down to the active state.

This sounds very familiar..

[ronie]

Originally Posted by toiva

Hmm http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Docum.../powersave.txt



This sounds very familiar..

i checked it's current state:
cat /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save
0

so mine's disabled. i guess it's disabled by default.

[topfs2]

Just a fyi, XBMC will close and reinit the audiorenderer on skip. If it's passing through the playlist (no skip) it won't necessarily do it, just if the samplespecc changes.

It's a known issue which we are trying to mend and I for one is hoping to fix it until next point release.

It has also been suggested that xbmc should send nulldata when nothing is playing to keep the receivers busy to stop crackling, but is impossible with current design. perhaps MasterAudio will be able to fix this though. BUt I'll leave thoose questions to phi to answer.


Cheers,
Tobias

[ronie]

thanx for the feedback topfs2. good to know it's being looked at.