Yggdrasil Gen 5 24 Bit problem

[Ran]

3 hours ago, Frege said:

Thanks.  Which version of Linux are you running.  I'm using Ubuntu from Armbian. 

 

Raspbian

[Frege]

Just did a Linux/Ubuntu update/upgrade.  No success!  Problem remains as before.  So, apparently not an OS problem,

[davide256]

6 hours ago, Frege said:

Just did a Linux/Ubuntu update/upgrade.  No success!  Problem remains as before.  So, apparently not an OS problem,

 

The way you phrase the problem makes me leery.  When you say 24 bit files won't play properly, please describe what you hear wrong?

Do you have this problem when playing 24 bit flac or other lossless file format?

[Dr Tone]

6 hours ago, Frege said:

Just did a Linux/Ubuntu update/upgrade.  No success!  Problem remains as before.  So, apparently not an OS problem,

 

You can't come to that conclusion from doing an update or upgrade only.  You can only rule out your version of Linux/Ubuntu by trying others with the same results.

[Ran]

7 hours ago, Frege said:

Just did a Linux/Ubuntu update/upgrade.  No success!  Problem remains as before.  So, apparently not an OS problem,

 

Unlikely. Post logs from your app when playing 24bit files.

[Frege]

1 hour ago, davide256 said:

 

The way you phrase the problem makes me leery.  When you say 24 bit files won't play properly, please describe what you hear wrong?

Do you have this problem when playing 24 bit flac or other lossless file format?

 

Please see the initial post in this thread to which is attached two audio clips - one 16 bit, the other 24 bit - that illustrate the problem. 

 

All files are lossless, in all formats, including wav, flac, Apple lossless.

[Frege]

1 hour ago, Dr Tone said:

 

You can't come to that conclusion from doing an update or upgrade only.  You can only rule out your version of Linux/Ubuntu by trying others with the same results.

 

Fair enough.  I have tried two different distributions with the same result.

[vk80]

In my experience, Linux apps using ALSA "hardware mixer" (not software mixer) need to have the bitrate set to the max for the USB Receiver. Yggy USB chip has a 24bit max bit rate so if you have a way to select the bitrate in your apps, set it to 24bit and try again. Of note, is that when you play a 16bit file, it will play at 24bit, but those extra bits won't have any bearing on sound quality as its just extra padding; Unlike increasing 'sample rate' (i.e., 44.1k to 96k), adding extra bits to the bitrate won't make a difference in sound quality. 

[Frege]

1 hour ago, vk80 said:

In my experience, Linux apps using ALSA "hardware mixer" (not software mixer) need to have the bitrate set to the max for the USB Receiver. Yggy USB chip has a 24bit max bit rate so if you have a way to select the bitrate in your apps, set it to 24bit and try again. Of note, is that when you play a 16bit file, it will play at 24bit, but those extra bits won't have any bearing on sound quality as its just extra padding; Unlike increasing 'sample rate' (i.e., 44.1k to 96k), adding extra bits to the bitrate won't make a difference in sound quality. 

 

In Roon, when the Max Bits is set to Disabled or 24bit, the problem occurs.  When it is set to 16 bit and 24 bit files are played, then the problem goes away.

[vk80]

Can you enter these two commands separately in the linux terminal and report back what it says for both? This will display the OS and Kernel info to help research the issue better.

 

lsb_release -a

 

uname -mrs

[Frege]

$ lsb_release -a

No LSB modules are available

Distributor ID: Ubuntu

Description: Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS

Release 16.04

Codename: xenial

 

$ uname  -mrs

Linux 3.14.79-odroidc2 aarch64

[vk80]

Looks like you're using the latest OS and Kernel for your Odroid C2 so to your point earlier, OS is clear. Level setting on the checklist so far:

 

1 -- Gen3 board worked fine

2 -- Replaced Gen5 board

3 -- MacMini direct works

4 -- OS & Kernel are up to date

5 -- Adding iFi iUSB3.0 to clean up signal doesn't make a difference

6 -- selecting 24bit as default in Roon causes both 16bit and 24bit to produce same 'crackle/pop' sounds; playing at 16bit does not

 

A few additional things:

 

7 -- Are you using a WiFi dongle, or ethernet with your Odroid? On the Roon support pages they do report some similar issues with Raspberry Pi devices related to using WiFi and DSD. http://kb.roonlabs.com/Audio_On_Linux. While it's different hardware and you're not playing back DSD, figured it worth a shot to ask given all the other 'green' lights in the troubleshooting checklist. 

 

8 -- Also, if you're comfortable and willing (warning: can break your system and require a complete reinstall), you may want to try switching to latest beta kernel by running "armbian-config" command in terminal. According to this page: http://www.armbian.com/kernel/, the latest beta kernel is 4.14.18 which may bring some hardware compatibility fixes. 

 

9 -- May also be worth a shot to post your question to the Armbian Forums here: https://forum.armbian.com/forum/16-amlogic/ (e.g., "24 bit audio playback crackle/pop").

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Frege]

1 hour ago, vk80 said:

Looks like you're using the latest OS and Kernel for your Odroid C2 so to your point earlier, OS is clear. Level setting on the checklist so far:

 

1 -- Gen3 board worked fine

2 -- Replaced Gen5 board

3 -- MacMini direct works

4 -- OS & Kernel are up to date

5 -- Adding iFi iUSB3.0 to clean up signal doesn't make a difference

6 -- selecting 24bit as default in Roon causes both 16bit and 24bit to produce same 'crackle/pop' sounds; playing at 16bit does not

 

A few additional things:

 

7 -- Are you using a WiFi dongle, or ethernet with your Odroid? On the Roon support pages they do report some similar issues with Raspberry Pi devices related to using WiFi and DSD. http://kb.roonlabs.com/Audio_On_Linux. While it's different hardware and you're not playing back DSD, figured it worth a shot to ask given all the other 'green' lights in the troubleshooting checklist. 

 

8 -- Also, if you're comfortable and willing (warning: can break your system and require a complete reinstall), you may want to try switching to latest beta kernel by running "armbian-config" command in terminal. According to this page: http://www.armbian.com/kernel/, the latest beta kernel is 4.14.18 which may bring some hardware compatibility fixes. 

 

9 -- May also be worth a shot to post your question to the Armbian Forums here: https://forum.armbian.com/forum/16-amlogic/ (e.g., "24 bit audio playback crackle/pop").

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks very much for your feedback.  You're checklist is correct except for 6.  When selecting 24bit in Roon, 16 bit files play fine, but not 24 bit files - i.e. the problem issue does not change.  When it is selected in Roon to limit to 16 bit, both 16 bit and 24 bit files play fine.

 

Regarding 7, the Odroid is connected via Ethernet. 

 

I will try 8 and 9.

 

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[davide256]

1 hour ago, Frege said:

 

Thanks very much for your feedback.  You're checklist is correct except for 6.  When selecting 24bit in Roon, 16 bit files play fine, but not 24 bit files - i.e. the problem issue does not change.  When it is selected in Roon to limit to 16 bit, both 16 bit and 24 bit files play fine.

 

Regarding 7, the Odroid is connected via Ethernet. 

 

I will try 8 and 9.

 

Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I'm wondering if booting from a memory stick with a player like Volumio would give you a valid A/B comparison so that you could determine if it was SW or HW in the Odroid that has a conflict with Schiit Gen 5 USB? Also, in troubleshooting, you need to simplify variables as interactions can sometimes be complex.  Have you tried playing 24 bit music on a USB stick locally attached to the Odroid?