Stutter sound/music during playback on rpi4 and ES9018K2M

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Hi Devs! Can someone help me how to fix this i am having experiencing stutter sound during playback in any bit file format Using ES9018K2M and raspberry pi 4 2gb with latest os version.
I’d tried so many setting like setting the sampling rate and also try two i2s driver. Audiophonics i-sabre es9028q2m and generic Dac driver. None of theme to work.

Thanks,

2

Hi @Edrian_Lois_Villanue ,

Thanks for your post - there are several factors that could cause stuttering with the ES9018K2M on a Raspberry Pi 4, especially relating to I2S clocking, DAC compatibility, and overlay behavior. In order to assist you more precisely, we’ll need a few key details:

Please provide the following:

  1. Which exact ES9018K2M board do you have?
    There are 30+ known variants of ES9018K2M modules on the market - some are:

    • Self-clocked (with onboard crystal)
    • I2S-only (expecting MCLK from Pi)
    • USB-to-I2S (with XMOS or SA9023 interface)

    A photo or model number / seller link would help a lot.

  2. Which exact Volumio OS version are you using?
    There is no such thing like latest version, each release build has specific version number. Please paste the output of this command via SSH:

    cat /etc/os-release

  3. Enable SSH and generate a full Volumio debug log for each I2S DAC setting you test:

    • Go to http://<your-volumio-IP>/dev
    • Enable SSH if not done yet
    • In the Web UI, go to Playback Options → I2S DAC, then:
      • Select the DAC (e.g., Generic I2S, Audiophonics ES9028Q2M, R-PI DAC, etc.)
      • Save settings
      • Reboot your system
      • After reboot, reproduce the stuttering
      • Generate a log by going to http://<your-volumio-IP>/dev → “Create Log”
      • Copy the full log URL

    Please repeat this for each DAC setting you try, so we can compare what overlay is being loaded, how I2S is initialized, and whether any errors are logged at boot.

This info will help identify whether you’re using a DAC that requires MCLK, if the overlay is being applied correctly, and whether the stuttering is tied to a known kernel-level issue.

Kind Regards,

3

Hi @nerd !
Thank you for reaching my concerns.
here i provide all information that you need.

https://ph.shp.ee/Wf3P5QE.

volumio@volumio:~$ cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)"
NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="10"
VERSION="10 (buster)"
VERSION_CODENAME=buster
ID=raspbian
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/"
SUPPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianForums"
BUG_REPORT_URL="http://www.raspbian.org/RaspbianBugs"
VOLUMIO_BUILD_VERSION="f6610a1100d2380eef33bd3004af43153c786f96"
VOLUMIO_FE_VERSION="e7cae168f9927391640a091813b8a9656b6909b6"
VOLUMIO_FE3_VERSION="df82a8f23c90a3617c15c55572c8aaea90d8b32a"
VOLUMIO_BE_VERSION="1c0e5daee99fe3a72cc38b0d1fe6cd78d7f001fe"
VOLUMIO_ARCH="arm"
VOLUMIO_VARIANT="volumio"
VOLUMIO_TEST="FALSE"
VOLUMIO_BUILD_DATE="Mon 16 Dec 2024 09:30:04 AM CET"
VOLUMIO_VERSION="3.785"
VOLUMIO_HARDWARE="pi"
VOLUMIO_DEVICENAME="Raspberry Pi"
VOLUMIO_HASH="fe0ac4b79aed19ccde4b5bd83d468193"
volumio@volumio:~$

http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/LJf0tS0.html

http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/MiwAdse.html

http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/IKhgFvT.html

http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/UmiqmIi.html

http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/v4PqpdR.html

http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/ds9A4cv.html

Regards,

4

Hey @Edrian_Lois_Villanue,

Thanks for the logs.

The link you provided (https://ph.shp.ee/Wf3P5QE) redirects to a login page and cannot be accessed. Please provide one of the following so we can verify the DAC model:

  • Full product name and seller description
  • Screenshot of the DAC listing
  • Clear photo of the DAC board itself (top view)

This is necessary to confirm whether your DAC requires an external master clock (MCLK) or includes onboard clocking. Most ES9018K2M boards need MCLK, which Raspberry Pi 4 does not provide via I2S by default. If your board has no onboard oscillator, this could explain audio instability.

Additionally, your configuration includes two active plugins:

  • PeppyMeter Screensaver
  • Rotary Encoder II

PeppyMeter is known to interfere with audio playback by consuming CPU, framebuffer, and SPI bandwidth. On I2S DACs, this can result in audio stutter or underruns. RotaryEncoder2 may contribute if it aggressively polls GPIO or interacts with system timing. The combination should be ruled out.

Please perform the following:

  1. Disable both plugins:

    • Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins
    • Disable PeppyMeter Screensaver
    • Disable Rotary Encoder II
    • Reboot the system

  2. After reboot, re-test playback with the same DAC configuration.

  3. Immediately after playback starts (or stutter is noticed), go to http://<your-volumio-ip>/dev and click Create Log.

  4. Post the new log URL here.

Please repeat the steps for each DAC driver you’re testing (e.g. Generic I2S, Audiophonics ES9028Q2M) with the plugins disabled. We’ll compare these logs to the previous ones to verify whether the stuttering is tied to plugin activity or hardware limitations.

Kind regards,

1 Like
5

Just my 2cts, During a recent test run I did, even connecting a Rotary encoder caused problems, so you might also consider to disconnect it from your board. Just run a these test with a bare minimum of connected things.