Suddenyl, no sound. OSX, iTunes or Audirvana+?

[Gilles]

Good day all,

 

I seek your kind input in trying to solve a problem I experienced yesterday.

 

I was listening to music and, suddenly, no sound came out of the speakers. I clicked on the iTunes play/pause button and on the track I was listening to and it would not resume or restart playing. Clicked on a few other tracks...no sound.

 

I then quit iTunes and Audirvana+, relaunched both programs and clicked again on the same and other tracks, with the same result, no sound. I noticed though, when I clicked on any track, that the iTunes progress bar would either not move or stop at no more than 2 seconds, whether sound was produced or not during these 2 seconds.

 

I did a restart of the computer, clicked on that same track that stopped playing the first time and it played, and lost sound again 10 or 15 minutes later and once more about 30 minutes later. I did restarts each time and music would then play.

 

Each time I lost sound, the external HDD was spinning and generating the same heat as usual. Every thing else seemed normal to me.

 

I am assuming this is a software rather than a hardware problem, and sure am no expert with these things.

 

I have a MacBookPro with an internal SSD, external HDD, USB cable to DAC, and run OSX 10.8.5, iTunes 11.1.5(5) and Audirvana+ 1.5.12. I use the computer exclusively for audio and have deactivated a limited number of processes and programs.

 

Any assistance with solving this problem will be greatly appreciated.

 

Gilles

[appledave]

Check you System Preferences to make sure that your Sound output hasn't changed to another setting than your USB DAC. (sometimes it will revert to the Built-in audio jack).

 

DE.

[Gilles]

Thanks Appledave,

 

I forgot to mention that I did check the prefs and they are fine, they point to the DAC for sound output.

 

Gilles

[REShaman]

Thanks Appledave,

 

I forgot to mention that I did check the prefs and they are fine, they point to the DAC for sound output.

 

Gilles

 

Have you repaired permissions? Do you need to delete the Plist (preference file) and re-enter your preferences in a new preference file. Hog mode? Integer mode? What processes have you disabled that might interfere? Can younplayntheough iTunes without interruption? Through Audirvana Plus in stand alone mode?

 

Best,

Richard

[Gilles]

Hi Richard,

 

I hope all is well with you!

 

I tried a few different settings over time and adopted new ones for pre-ringing and anti-aliasing in A+ 3-4 months ago.

 

Never had to repair permissions. I listen in Exclusive access, Direct and Integer modes.

 

As for processes, I disabled Mission Control, Spotlight, iTunesHelper, Time Machine, Journaling and Repair Disk Permissions. I also limited Language and Text to English, and unchecked marks for the presentation order in Spotlight. I did what is recommended in Larry D. Moore's book "The Audio Optimization Guide for Apple OS X - Mountain Lion" about one year ago. Mind you, I remember now that I made the changes he recommends before I updated to OSX 10.8.5 a few months ago. However, I never before experienced yesterday's problem.

 

Sorry Richard, I am not sure I understand your question: Can younplayntheough iTunes without interruption? Music plays without interruption, until I loose sound...well, that was yesterday. I have been playing music for about 3 hours now, without problem.

 

I do not use Playlists and have not yet tried A+ in standalone mode.

 

Maybe I should wait and...hear if this happens again.

 

Gilles

[REShaman]

Hi Richard,

 

I hope all is well with you!

 

I tried a few different settings over time and adopted new ones for pre-ringing and anti-aliasing in A+ 3-4 months ago.

 

Never had to repair permissions. I listen in Exclusive access, Direct and Integer modes.

 

As for processes, I disabled Mission Control, Spotlight, iTunesHelper, Time Machine, Journaling and Repair Disk Permissions. I also limited Language and Text to English, and unchecked marks for the presentation order in Spotlight. I did what is recommended in Larry D. Moore's book "The Audio Optimization Guide for Apple OS X - Mountain Lion" about one year ago. Mind you, I remember now that I made the changes he recommends before I updated to OSX 10.8.5 a few months ago. However, I never before experienced yesterday's problem.

 

Sorry Richard, I am not sure I understand your question: Can younplayntheough iTunes without interruption? Music plays without interruption, until I loose sound...well, that was yesterday. I have been playing music for about 3 hours now, without problem.

 

I do not use Playlists and have not yet tried A+ in standalone mode.

 

Maybe I should wait and...hear if this happens again.

 

Gilles

 

Hello Gilles,

 

Three hours without interruption? That is good, n'est-ce pas? To clear up what I was asking about iTunes, Imwas asking if you play through iTunes without Audirvana Plus launched are or were there any impediments? Then if you play through Audirvana Plus in stand alone mode (without iTunes launched) were/are there any impediments.

 

Having played for three hours without problems, do you know what the difference is that makes the difference? Just being supportive. I have no specific insights into what (was) a problem. Unless there was a hardware conflict or software conflict that was somehow resolved by something you did while managing your system to address this problem.

 

So glad that you are enjoying the music presently.best,

Richard

[Gilles]

Hello Richard, and thank you for your support.

 

I always play through iTunes with A+ launched, and have not experienced impediments. As I wrote, I never before had this problem.

 

I will test playing through iTunes without A+, and have yet to play in A+ standalone mode. My current schedule will allow me to do this in 2 or 3 days only, after which I will post results.

 

Best,

 

Gilles

 

P.S.: attending the Montreal audio show this weekend!

[REShaman]

Hello Richard, and thank you for your support.

 

I always play through iTunes with A+ launched, and have not experienced impediments. As I wrote, I never before had this problem.

 

I will test playing through iTunes without A+, and have yet to play in A+ standalone mode. My current schedule will allow me to do this in 2 or 3 days only, after which I will post results.

 

Best,

 

Gilles

 

P.S.: attending the Montreal audio show this weekend!

 

Hello Gilles,

 

Given you are not experiencing the Gremlins, perhaps, eliminating NS then adding back one element at a time is no longer necessary. The only purpose was to they to discover the trigger to the problem. That trigger is apparently de-fused. Wouldn't be the first time a problem appeared, drove us crazy, then disappeared. Any victory is worth celebrating. Take full credit for solving your own problem. And let's leave the Gremlins to their own devices, but not ours.?

 

Enjoy the music,

Richard

[Guest Joseph]

Good day all,

 

I seek your kind input in trying to solve a problem I experienced yesterday.

 

I was listening to music and, suddenly, no sound came out of the speakers. I clicked on the iTunes play/pause button and on the track I was listening to and it would not resume or restart playing. Clicked on a few other tracks...no sound...

 

Any assistance with solving this problem will be greatly appreciated.

 

Gilles

 

Are you sure that your external hard drive is mounted correctly?

 

I had a similar experience this a.m. I'm using a Mac Mini with my music library on an external Firewire drive. Every time I launched Audirvana then hit play, I would get the spinning beach ball of death. It turns out the external hard drive firewire cable wasn't seated 100 percent.

 

There are a couple of things you can do to check. Launch Disk Utility and make sure your hard drive is showing up in the list on the left. If it is there, try repairing the disk (if it is not your boot drive). If all of that is okay, navigate to your external disk via the Finder, find your music folder and single click on any song to choose it. Now hit the space bar and a window will open and the song should start playing. If the song plays your hard disk and music file(s) are probably okay and you will have to investigate further.

 

Good luck.