Audio skips every 3-4 seconds + mix not working

[patwa]

Hello.

Since yesterday my ipod Video ha started placing gaps in the track every 3-4 seconds or so, and I can't seem to find the setting responsible for this.  it was fine before this.  i did change some settings but none that I thought would affect the sound like this - I even have the 'prevent clipping' set to enabled.

In a separate issue, the mix setting under the crossfade menu doesn't work.  It just ends the track as normal and starts playing the next.  any advice on how to correct this?

Finally, and it seems pointless to start a new thread on this when it's just a one-liner, but from a powered-off state, tapping menu, then hoding down menu to go into the original Apple firmware doesn't work.  Tried the same with menu and play to no effect.

Any help is appreciated.

Hussein.

P.S Settings file attached.

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[Febs]

1.  Try resetting your settings using the Manage Settings --> Reset Settings menu.

2.  You have both crossfeed and graphic EQ turned on.  Try turning off one or the other or both to see if it helps your skipping problem.

3.  If neither of these helps, report back and let us know what build you are using.

[patwa]

Hello again.  The problem appears to be with the Equalizer presets.  I reset the settings and things were fine.  I added a bit of bass and treble (under sound settings - +8 and +4 respectively) and it only skipped about once every 30 seconds.  I then went and selected the bass.cfg preset under the Browse Equalizer Presets option and the problem of skipping every 3-4 seconds returned.

So maybe the Equalizer is conflicting with something?  Maybe an option to disable any conflicting options when a preset is selected, with the changed options saved in a file and reset when the equalizer is disabled or another preset is selected which does not require the originally conflicting options to be disabled?

I'm using the latest build from today.  I also just want to say that I really appreciate the work you guys are doing on this, even more so as you have made the ipod (which I originally got as a free gift with my phone) accessible to me as I'm visually impaired and can't read the print on the screen.  Also, I do hope this problem can be fixed, as being a music junkie I do love my bass and being able to tweak around with the sound options, and not being able to use it is killing me, lol!

Hussein.

[Febs]

I can confirm that that EQ preset causes my ipod video to skip, although mine will skip only once every 30 seconds or so.  Are you using a WPS with peakmeters?

Try this:  turn the graphical eq off.  Turn the hardware eq on.  Under low shelf filter, set the cutoff frequency to 175 Hz.  Adjust the gain to taste.

[patwa]

Hi there, did that, no joy.  Unless I'm changing the wrong setting.  I'm working purely with the config files here then testing them on the ipod.

Attached.

Hussein.

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[Lear]

So maybe the Equalizer is conflicting with something?

It is not a conflict as such. The problem is that the (software) equalizer increases the CPU load. If it gets too high, you get gaps during playback. Each active band (i.e., the gain is different from zero) increases the load.

[Febs]

Hi there, did that, no joy.  Unless I'm changing the wrong setting.  I'm working purely with the config files here then testing them on the ipod.

Attached.

Hussein.

1.  You still have crossfeed on.  Turn it off.

2.  You don't say what WPS you are using.  Does your WPS have peakmeters?

3.  You don't say whether you tried my previous suggestion of clearling all settings.

4.  "No joy" is really not a helpful description of what is happening on your player.  What is actually happening when you have the graphical EQ turned off?  Are you still experiencing the same problem, or has it changed?

5.  What type of files are you playing?

Also, note that while you have turned the Hardware EQ on, you still have the gain set at 0 so the hardware EQ isn't actually doing anything.

[patwa]

Hi i did some modifications to the config file.

Turned off Crossfeed
Turned off the EQ
Put 20 gain on bands 0 and 1 of the Hardware EQ
Also, using standard mp3's encoded at 128kbps.  Also not sure about the peak meters, I just set one of the peak settings to off.

Now there are no problems.  No skips and the mix works fine too.

Now for some questions:
1. what is the difference between the Hardware EQ and normal EQ?
2. I thought the Crossfeed function was supposed to give the illusion of surround sound.  Why does this cause the skipping?
3.  there isn't as much 'kick' as there was with the software EQ.  Any way to get that without inducing the skipping?
4.  Everything was working fine before.  I had crossfeed on, EQ set, and no problems.  what went wrong?

Thanks again.  I'm sorry if I come across as a little dense - that's not my intention, just want to learn as much as I can about something which has brought a lot of joy to my life - sounds cliched I know, but not having to drag my laptop around purely to listen to music is a real gem.

Hussein.

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[soap]

Now for some questions:
1. what is the difference between the Hardware EQ and normal EQ?

The hardware EQ is a hardware function separate from the CPU, and thus is "free" as far as CPU usage is concerned.
The software EQ has more options/settings, but is wholly implemented in software, thus uses precious CPU cycles, more cycles the more complex the settings.

2. I thought the Crossfeed function was supposed to give the illusion of surround sound.  Why does this cause the skipping?

A- Crossfeed simulates listening to two speakers (when wearing headphones, and when listening to music mastered for speaker listening) it does not simulate surround sound.
B- Crossfeed is not implemented in hardware, thus eats precious CPU cycles, thus can lead to skipping.

3.  there isn't as much 'kick' as there was with the software EQ.  Any way to get that without inducing the skipping?

A- IF (and it is a big if) the hardware EQ is configured with equivalent settings to the software EQ, they should produce the same result.  That being said, the software EQ can do things the hardware EQ can only dream of.  
B- Minor adjustment of the software EQ does not cause skipping for me.  Try only using one band and see if that is enough to bring the 'kick' back.

4.  Everything was working fine before.  I had crossfeed on, EQ set, and no problems.  what went wrong?

Almost every feature you turn on eats some CPU cycles.  Some features eat more than others.  Peakmeters (the lines which move up and down with the intensity of the music) are a real hog.  You don't seem certain if you have them on or not.  They alone can be the cause of skipping on a 5th gen Ipod.  As for what went wrong, it could be one of many things.  Try turning features back on one-by-one.  Play with different combinations.  Are you sure you had the software EQ switched on?  (IIRC (I don't use the EQ.) turning it on is a separate toggle screen from the actual adjustment screen.)

[Davide-NYC]

Patwa,

If you want to contribute some Codec Performance data to the following wiki page it would be of great help. So far I'm the only one that has bothered with this.

http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/CodecPerformanceComparison

Eventually we will have a better test involving a decoder plugin which will spit out a detailed logfile, but until then this is the only cross platform cross-codec information we have.

Everytime I see one of these "playback stops/interrupts/ships.hangs" threads I just want to point people to the wiki page. I have started doing just that.

[patwa]

Hi, this looks like an interesting experiment which I will look into at the weekend  For obvious reasons the debug menu is not speech enabled, but then again this does mean that I'll have to get someone to help read the screen for me.  If I can just say that it is a shame that not all of the menus are voice enabled (i.e even with the voice set to 'on' they do not speak) as some of the most enthusiastic tweakers and audio geeks I know are visually impaired and would love to play around with the settings and debug info.Oh well, maybe it'll come.

BTw, all problems sorted.  No skips, no jumps, no stutters.  I have my software EQ enabled as well as the hardware one, but just toned down the gains a bit - i.e bands 0 and 1 set to 30 and 30 instead of the 50 and 35 that was set with the 'bass' preset.

Hussein.

[docrings]

Just want to say "THANKS" for the insight on this thread.  I downloaded the last config01.cfg file from Husseins last post in this thread to my iPod and after rebooting, my skipping has stopped.  I had toyed around with disabling all EQ settings, resetting, etc., to no avail.

The skipping was worse (every 5-10 sec) when the WPS was displayed (every three seconds if the WPS had a peak meter).  Switching to a "menu" view decreased the skipping to every 30 seconds or so.

Now with the new .cfg file ...skipping is eliminated.  I only tweaked a few settings like backlight settings, menu speech, EQ off, etc.

For n00bs like me, to make this work:
save the config file to your .rockbox directory,
 then goto:
"menu"
"manage settings"
"browse .cfg files"
select and "play" the config01.cfg file (which you downloaded to the iPod).
This will "install" the settings in the config01.cfg file.

Should make this thread a sticky!

Cheers,
Doc

ipod:  3g
files: 2905
disk free: 101mb
FW version:  (30 OCT 2006)  (04Nov06 FW kept crashing my unit when in menu mode...so went back to 30 OCT version).

[patwa]

Hi there,  glad I was able to help, however indirectly.  I tend to prefer more bass on my music, so others downloading the config file who aren't so keen on it may want to turn it down.
Glad you got it working though.

Hussein.

[docrings]

Here's my config.cfg file (your modified for EQ, speech, backlight on button press).

After playing around with it for the last couple hours... it still skips.  DRAT, and I apologize for posting my previous post before thorough testing.  

Skipping only in WPS mode, and I can hear the HD spin up and the HD symbol come on the screen.

In "menu" mode... no skipping.

I've tried all the WPS's, and all skip about every 11-20 seconds, but the worst have the peak meters, which skip every 3-5 seconds:
marquee
rockbox_default

No real difference between 128k, 160k and 192k noticed.

Testing on AC wall powered 3g iPod.

FW:  061030
(tried 061104, but it would crash while playing music in "menu" mode)

Still tryin',

Doc

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[nickh]

I get this on my H10, but I'm pretty certain it's the peak meter; if I switch to a menu view, the music plays in the background fine. So I guess it's the peak meter stealing all my CPU, but I'm not sure how to turn it off, doesn't seem to be a menu option.

EDIT: just found another post saying that the peak meter causing skipping on the H10 is a known issue... http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=7201.0