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Topic: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound. (Read 5179 times) previous topic - next topic
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Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

I recently bought this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00HFGPZG6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works just fine converting USB output to optical, except that it takes a couple of seconds for sound to appear after hitting 'play'. A minor annoyance when starting a playlist; more of an aggravation when editing audio tracks in Audacity or MP3DirectCut.

Is there some way of jiggering either this thing or my laptop, so that the optical output is active before I miss the first few seconds of a music track, whatever I use to play it?

Buffer settings, perhaps (a wild guess)? I haven't fiddled with that part of Foobar's options, because everything else is working smoothly and I don't want to change anything unless I really need to.

If there's a simple solution, that'd be fantastic. If it is a bit more complicated, please try to nutshell it in plain English. Or is the converter just the way it is and I should either live with it or buy a replacement?

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #1 –
I believe that the problem you describe is a consequence of the adapter stopping the communication if it isn't active. This means that when it is activated again, it needs to renegotiate it, and receivers might additionally add a bit of silence to avoid any "blips" or noises.

I don't know this specific device, and have never actually used myself an optical soundcard, but options that you could search (in the soundcard drivers) to maintain the audio active.

If you don't find a way, then you might need some workaround like having a short silence .wav file that you play repeatedly in some player that you left in the background.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #2 –
Quote from: [JAZ] on
I believe that the problem you describe is a consequence of the adapter stopping the communication if it isn't active. This means that when it is activated again, it needs to renegotiate it, and receivers might additionally add a bit of silence to avoid any "blips" or noises.
That sounds very plausible. A USB signal is needed to fire up the Toslink transmitter, so it isn't an immediate start-up.
Quote
I don't know this specific device, and have never actually used myself an optical soundcard, but options that you could search (in the soundcard drivers) to maintain the audio active.
That might work, but how to do it is the trick - beyond my technical skills (without advice), I'm afraid.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #3 –
This seems to happen with most optical connections. I don't think it's due to that USB gadget you bought. Here, if I connect my sound card's optical out to the optical in of my speakers using a bog-standard optical cable, it exhibits the same behavior.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Nikaki on
This seems to happen with most optical connections. I don't think it's due to that USB gadget you bought. Here, if I connect my sound card's optical out to the optical in of my speakers using a bog-standard optical cable, it exhibits the same behavior.
I did wonder if it was common to this kind of converter. But is there a fix?

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #6 –
Quote from: Rollin on
SPDIF keep alive - https://github.com/handruin/spdif-ka or Sound Keeper - http://veg.by/en/projects/soundkeeper/

And specifically for foobar2000 foo_dsp_pregap (it doesn't prevent delay but it can prevent loss of first seconds of audio)- https://foobar.hyv.fi/?changes=foo_dsp_pregap
Thanks! I'll try one or more of these today.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #7 –
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
Quote from: Rollin on
SPDIF keep alive - https://github.com/handruin/spdif-ka or Sound Keeper - http://veg.by/en/projects/soundkeeper/

And specifically for foobar2000 foo_dsp_pregap (it doesn't prevent delay but it can prevent loss of first seconds of audio)- https://foobar.hyv.fi/?changes=foo_dsp_pregap
Thanks! I'll try one or more of these today.
Okay, I tried foobar2000 foo_dsp_pregap first, and while I get a delay, I'm still missing the first 2 seconds or so of music.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
Quote from: Rollin on
SPDIF keep alive - https://github.com/handruin/spdif-ka or Sound Keeper - http://veg.by/en/projects/soundkeeper/

And specifically for foobar2000 foo_dsp_pregap (it doesn't prevent delay but it can prevent loss of first seconds of audio)- https://foobar.hyv.fi/?changes=foo_dsp_pregap
Thanks! I'll try one or more of these today.
Okay, I tried foobar2000 foo_dsp_pregap first, and while I get a delay, I'm still missing the first 2 seconds or so of music.
Soundkeeper runs and shows up in the volume mixer, but doesn't solve the problem.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #9 –
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
Quote from: Rollin on
SPDIF keep alive - https://github.com/handruin/spdif-ka or Sound Keeper - http://veg.by/en/projects/soundkeeper/

And specifically for foobar2000 foo_dsp_pregap (it doesn't prevent delay but it can prevent loss of first seconds of audio)- https://foobar.hyv.fi/?changes=foo_dsp_pregap
Thanks! I'll try one or more of these today.
Okay, I tried foobar2000 foo_dsp_pregap first, and while I get a delay, I'm still missing the first 2 seconds or so of music.
Soundkeeper runs and shows up in the volume mixer, but doesn't solve the problem.
...and neither does SPDIF keep alive. Either I am doing it wrong (quite likely) or...

Help!

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #10 –
Windows there? If so then,  have you tried by using ASIO or Asio4all ...  ?
(IIRC, when ASIO device is running (any instance) it should keep the audio path open (Windows (WASAPI) closes the path when no activity on audio I/O) ... .)

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Juha on
Windows there? If so then,  have you tried by using ASIO or Asio4all ...  ?
(IIRC, when ASIO device is running (any instance) it should keep the audio path open (Windows (WASAPI) closes the path when no activity on audio I/O) ... .)
Windows 10. Installing the ASIO component doesn't give me the option to use it with the USB-to-Optical gizmo.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #12 –
Do you mean you installed native ASIO drivers or Asio4All and tried with some ASIO component (Audacity, foobar, etc.) and it won't work with that device ?

BTW, as I pointed there in my reply (tiny text part), that running any instance of ASIO might keep the audio I/O alive ... so, you could just put some ASIO compatible software to do the work in the background (use asio4all with onboard sound as target for that)?

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #13 –
Quote from: Juha on
Do you mean you installed native ASIO drivers or Asio4All and tried with some ASIO component (Audacity, foobar, etc.) and it won't work with that device ?

BTW, as I pointed there in my reply (tiny text part), that running any instance of ASIO might keep the audio I/O alive ... so, you could just put some ASIO compatible software to do the work in the background (use asio4all with onboard sound as target for that)?
I tried the ASIO component for Foobar.

I'll look into ASIO4All and see if it'll do the trick.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #14 –
Quote from: JabbaThePrawn on
....
I tried the ASIO component for Foobar.

I'll look into ASIO4All and see if it'll do the trick.

Yes, you should have some ASIO driver installed to get the compatible device(s) listed in foobar ASIO component (or in any device selection list).
Asio4all should work with most audio devices.  As aso4all uses Win audio API there's a chance that the port trick I mentioned doesn't work. I have tried it only with native ASIO.

Re: Delay between clicking 'play' and hearing sound.

Reply #15 –
Quote from: Juha on
Yes, you should have some ASIO driver installed to get the compatible device(s) listed in foobar ASIO component (or in any device selection list).
Asio4all should work with most audio devices.  As aso4all uses Win audio API there's a chance that the port trick I mentioned doesn't work. I have tried it only with native ASIO.
Giving the Foobar ASIO component a go again, with ASIO4All installed. It won't see my USB-to-Optical device.

I am currently trying direct USB connection to my DAC with ASIO, although my cranky old laptop has blue-screened regularly before with this connection. Maybe ASIO will avoid that annoyance. Probably not.