[SOLVED] Short spikes or peaks in sound during video

I am having an odd problem. When I play a video (h.264, approx 4.7 gb for 1 hour video) I get spikes or peaks in the sound. It is random, not very often, but very distinct. Hard to explain what it sounds like, but is it like a distorted high pitch, very short duration. At first I thought it was in the video, but rewinding does not reproduce. Which make me believe it is random. When I play music through airplay, no issues whatsoever. Sound is configured to 2.0 channels.

Setup:

Pi 2 with latest OSMC, file on NFS share on NAS (network throughput perfect)
HDMI through Marantz NR1605 receiver
Sony KDL47-W805

Not sure which configuration details are relevant, so please ask me if you need to know specifics. I am at a complete loss, because I can’t figure out where it is coming from.

Thanks!

Logs.
Always provide logs.

To get a better understanding of the problem you are experiencing we need more information from you. Please see How to submit a useful support request - General - OSMC for advice on how to help us.

Alright, I did some logging (Logfiles). I cleaned it up a bit, removed movietitles and series. Shouldn’t be an issue. Left the rest in place.

My setup:

Pi 2 with latest OSMC (normale clock settings)
HDMI video & sound, through Marantz receiver
Sony KDL-47W805 tv

I played around with the advancedsettings.xml a long time ago, not sure if updating OSMC overwrites these changes. So could be something I did myself obviously.

The problem:

During a movie or series, I can hear halts or spikes in the sound. When I play music through AirPlay directly (!) through my receiver, I have no issues. So it should be something between Pi and receiver. I saw some errors regarding Alsa, but I am not sure that is the problem.

Any help is much appreciated.

I just did a completely fresh install of the latest OSMC and configured it all from scratch again. And it all feels so much more sluggish. Couple of things I noticed:

  • starting a video takes about 5-6 seconds, before it was virtually instant. Now the sound starts, you can see the menu and then it switches to the video, audio is noticebly syncing and then it resumes.
  • posters in movies view are often unloaded. I never turn my Pi off, and before, even with 150 movies, the posters, fanart, screenshots were always instantly available. Something changed in the kodi library with Jarvis?
  • responsiveness has gotten worse, even with 60 Hz (matched with tv) it feels sluggish and slow, never had that before.
  • stopping a movie or episode takes again about 5-6 seconds and oddly enough leaves the subtitle lines of that scene on a black background during this period

When I look through the forum, I see a lot of recent posts about slow video, dropped frames, lost audio and slow performance. However, I am not sure if this is all related to each other.

Is there something odd in my logfiles that you can identify? I can upload new ones, from the fresh install, if you want.

Anybody? You asked for logs @CaNsA :slight_smile:

Why is nobody responding to this? I did what you asked: provided logs. I am willing to try any settings, but you just completely ignore it.

Mainly because eight months have passed.

I replied to your other post though.

Let’s get this solved. We’re happy to work with you on this.

  • Try play back locally. Does the issue persist?
  • Can you send me a file to reproduce the problem?
  • Can you confirm existence of the problem on Nov 2016 update, on a fresh install?
  • Have you tried a Kodi Krypton build?

I read all posts, but only reply when I have some ideas on how to help users.

That is a little unfair… 8 months have passed because nobody replied :wink:

But, let’s give it another go!

  • I did play locally, still getting the spikes in audio. But I will try again this week to make absolutely sure.
  • I can send you a file. However, the problem cannot be easily reproduced. The spikes are not always at the exact same moment. I tried rewinding numerous times to record the phenomenon on my phone, and each time, the spike wasn’t there. It looks as it occurs randomly. I will try again by recording longer period and shorten the video as ‘evidence’
  • Yes, I can confirm that the problem exists on Nov 2016 update, freshly installed. That is mainly why I bumped this post, because I gave it another try.
  • No, I have not tried Kodi Krypton, will try this week.

I will share an update with my findings this week. Thanks for helping.

Need MediaInfo, logs and a list of attached devices as a minimum.

1 Like

I did some testing last week and interestingly enough, it looks like the Krypton build doesn’t have the same issues as the ones between 2016-05.02 and the latest November update. Needless to say, I am pleased with the findings!

However, I will keep doing some testing. I want to switch back to the November 2016 build and watch a couple of movies this week to see if they are still occuring on that release. I haven’t changed anything in my setup, so I expect the spikes to be there. If they are, I think it is safe to assume that Krypton solves the issue. Although I don’t understand how and what could be the reason.

Will report back with some definitive findings.

Sam, I am happy to tell you that the spikes have not accured since I switched to Kodi Krypton.

I did test with the same files on the same setup - but with Jarvis instead of Krypton and the spikes where clearly there. Not sure what eventually solved my problem, but I am happy with the current performance.

I think it is pointless for now to look for the bug in Jarvis and if - god forbid - the spiked return in any of next versions of OSMC, I will let you know :wink:

For now, thanks for the support.