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2
AAC - General / Re: QAAC: discussion, questions, feature requests, etc.
Last post by nu774 -
I didn't realize it immediately—the possible explanation seemed too far-fetched—but I this is what I guessed .

Those broken players likely don't use the MP4 sample access/seek structures (stts/stsz/stco) at all. Instead, it reads the necessary AAC codec startup data from the esds section, and then just moves to the mdat section to sequentially read and decode frames, almost as if it were just a WAV file. Although it's not using the container's features, and thus wouldn't know the frame boundaries, decoding should still be possible—provided there aren't any other tracks in the MP4 file.

When seeking, they just calculate the byte offset from the seek point as if it were a WAV file again, and just jumps there. Of course, this only works if time and byte length are linear—that is, in the case of constant bitrate (CBR). After seeking, it would need to re-synchronize to align with the start of an AAC raw frame.

In this scenario, it doesn't need to be as strictly CBR as MP3. Apple's AAC doesn't have exactly fixed frame sizes even on CBR, but as long as the bit reservoir is used to maintain a constant bitrate over slightly longer time spans than a single frame, there shouldn't be an issue.
3
Wiki Discussion / Re: Playback Buffer, Hardware Buffer, Read-Ahead, Full File Buffering
Last post by DVDdoug -
Quote
which is why I'm hear. I ASSUME if things are working CORRECTLY as one would expect, I wouldn't ever be encountering any stuttering.
You need buffers because your multitasking operating system is always multitasking and interrupting, even when you're only running one application.    The size buffer you need depends on what the operating system is doing, what background process are running, what any other applications are doing, and how powerful your processor is.

Oh...   Of course "higher-resolution" audio has to process more data so that generally requires bigger buffers too.
4
Wiki Discussion / Re: Playback Buffer, Hardware Buffer, Read-Ahead, Full File Buffering
Last post by Chibisteven -
Quote from: Cormy1 on
You seem to have entirely missed the point of what I'm doing.
I'm still using my system, therefore putting it into standby or hibernation is not an option. I'm not turning off my system.
It's rare that I will have 6 minutes of inactivity while playing music, since most songs are less than 6 minutes long.
My power draw at the wall just listening to music is under 20W. A hard drive will easily take 5W of that. It's not insignificant at these levels. This is a laptop. Most of the power draw is likely from the monitor, not the CPU or GPU while I use it for basic web browsing, documents and music.

>Adjust buffer settings
WHICH buffer setting and HOW?

This doesn't help at all.
The wiki needs proper documentation.

Laptops are designed to be energy efficient.  My desktop computer uses 3 times the power at idle compared to that.

The power settings I use for a laptop.
When plugged in = always on, just shut the lid when I'm not using it or turn it off if I won't be using it for extended period and unplug it.
When on battery = standby operation after an hour or two and hibernation a few hours afterwards.
When in a carrying bag = turn it off or hibernate manually before putting in the bag.

That aside I set the CPU utilization settings under power management and try moving the minimum to 100% and the max to 100% when plugged in and see if that helps with stuttering.  When on battery I set the minimum to be as low as possible to conserve battery life.

Random stutters assuming your playback buffer settings aren't too low can be caused by a variety of problems such as misbehaving devices and poorly configured system settings.  If a system is quite old, it can also be sign that you need an upgrade or newer computer.  Laptops age faster than desktops do.

I swap the laptop's hard drive for a solid state drive as well as that might improve system performance a lot and an SSD is just better for a laptop overall as they have no moving parts and will consume less power.
5
General Audio / Re: Bluetooth, transcoding and audio quality
Last post by DVDdoug -
Quote
Amplifiers shape the sound. They shape the sound in a way to match the speaker system that they are connected to.
WRONG! The amplifier's job is simply to amplify.   An ideal amplifier is often described as "a straight wire with gain".

Most amplifiers do a very good job of that unless you overdrive it into clipping/distortion.     Sometimes there is audible noise (hum, hiss, or whine in the background). 

Of course if it has tone controls or EQ, that an alter the sound.

Quote
That is why you can not power a headphone with a rack amp or can't power your tower speakers inside your living room with a headphone amp.
A low-power amplifier is often fine.   Sometimes the same chips designed as low-power speaker amps are used to make headphone amps.   High-power amplifiers have too much output voltage and gain.   You might accidently blow-out your headphones/IEMs or your ears!   And the higher gain amplifies any background noise which is more noticeable with something next to, or inside, your ear.  
6
Wiki Discussion / Re: Playback Buffer, Hardware Buffer, Read-Ahead, Full File Buffering
Last post by Cormy1 -
You seem to have entirely missed the point of what I'm doing.
I'm still using my system, therefore putting it into standby or hibernation is not an option. I'm not turning off my system.
It's rare that I will have 6 minutes of inactivity while playing music, since most songs are less than 6 minutes long.
My power draw at the wall just listening to music is under 20W. A hard drive will easily take 5W of that. It's not insignificant at these levels. This is a laptop. Most of the power draw is likely from the monitor, not the CPU or GPU while I use it for basic web browsing, documents and music.

>Adjust buffer settings
WHICH buffer setting and HOW?

This doesn't help at all.
The wiki needs proper documentation.
7
Wiki Discussion / Re: Playback Buffer, Hardware Buffer, Read-Ahead, Full File Buffering
Last post by Chibisteven -
Putting your hard drive to sleep every 6 minutes is a good way to kill it fast.  That's a little too low.  I turn that feature off and instead use system standby or hibernation as those two options will save you a lot more power.  Alternately you could just set your system up to be turned off manually, too.

The most power hungry component in a modern computer is usually the graphics card.  The second most power hungry component is usually the CPU.  CPUs are typically less power hungry than GPUs.  Storage devices typically aren't very power hungry unless you got a ton of them all running at once (i.e. a server with many hard drives or SSDs).  A single consumer grade hard drive isn't going to consume much power and even if you got two or three of them or if it's paired with an SSD it is still not going be as much as what the CPU and GPU probably draws.

If you're getting playback issues:
- Check your system load.
- Adjust buffer settings.
- Use a different output sampling rate.
9
3rd Party Plugins - (fb2k) / Re: JSplitter (splitter + SMP x64 alternative)
Last post by bogi -
Hi I was successful to setup a script for SMP in foobar2000 32bit but I wish now to use the script in 64bit foobar2000.
I installed JSplitter into 64bit foobar2000 but I didn't find where to enter the script.
I attempted to follow @regor 's post but my right click menu contains 'Panel list' and 'Add Panel >' but I see no Configure Panel option and Win + Shift + R. click does not help.
Do I need to add some panel, even if my intention is to insert no GUI script from this post?
I don't know about 64bit SMP component and I am confused what should I do in JSplitter to be able to run my script.

EDIT:
I found I have to quit layout editing mode, after that the missing 'Configure panel...' item appears in JSplitter context menu.
It would be helpful if it would be added into the opening post or into the second one.
10
Audio Hardware / Re: Possible to Connect Cassette Player's Headphone Jack to USB Port?
Last post by cwb -
Thank you all for the replies.

I think @bryant  that the converter you posted is exactly what I was envisioning. It already has a built-in 3.5mm adapter to plug into the cassette player's headphone jack. I'm still using a twenty year old Curtis Mathes portable cassette player.

Quote from: bryant on
I've had good luck in the past with these converters that are a little cheaper and smaller than the Behringer.

The Behringer's look promising and are not very expensive, except I know myself and I would spend hours sweating over trying to figure out the correct cable to purchase. But I will definitely keep the Behringer's in mind.