Volume problem solved!
Everything plays at the same level (depending on how studio-quality the recording is)
Thanks for your support.
Unfortunately, the joy was premature. The constant hum and crackle when changing tracks has not gone away 
.
This only applies to the USB input, I tested Coaxial and Toslink and everything works fine.
The experiments continue. After listening to dozens of different tracks, I have noticed the following regularities.
There is a noise (a loud hum in the background of the track being played) when changing tracks, as I wrote earlier.
The type of file (flac, aiff, etc) does not matter, the sampling frequency does.
- change 16/44.1 â 16/44.1 - no noise
- change 16/44.1 â 24/44.1 (and vice versa) - no noise
- change 24/48 â 24/48 - no noise
- change 24/48 â 24/96 (and vice versa) - no noise
- change 24/96 â 24/192 (and vice versa) - no noise
- change 24/48 â 24/192 (and vice versa) - no noise
DSD to anything (and vice versa) - always noises
44.1 to anything ( and vice versa) - always noises
For the tests I uninsatlated all the plugins.
I observed an interesting phenomenon after reinstalling the MPD_OLED plugin.
After installing and running the plugin - the noise stopped (of course DSD didnât work, but thatâs a plugin issue). However, when I did a reboot of the Volumio with the plugin installed and enabled, after the reboot all the noise returned. I checked this several times.
When I switched off the plugin, did a reboot and then switched it on again there was no noise. And after another reboot the noise againâŚ
Info: (apart from the above) native DSD works, volume level the same for all file types.
As I wrote under Win and Ubuntu the noise is not present.
No ideas what else to test and how to solve the problem⌠
Returning to the issue of unbearable humming when changing songs (as I described earlier), this occurs with the âPLAYBACK OPTIONSâ; âMixer outputâ settings:
- Software: no noise (DSD does not work)
- Hardware: on both PCM and PCM,1 - noise
- None: noise
How do you understand this? Is this any indication of a solution to the problem?
As I said before, I think the problem is related to the way the DAC handles the frequency switch internally. The driver used for USB Audio playback is the same for all DACs under Linux, and other DACs do not show this problem using the very same driver.
Another test you could do, is to try Volumio X86-64, booting from a USB stick on the very same PC you have used for the test with Ubuntu and Windows (no need to install it on the internal SSD, botting from USB will be enough).
Anyhow, better to contact the manufacturer, asking for support.
I did the test as you wrote (dell laptop).
Everything works fine, no noise at all.
âPLAYBACK OPTIONSâ; âMixer outputâ settings:
Software: no noise (there is a short pause between switching tracks)
Hardware: on both PCM and PCM,1 - no noise
None: no noise
http://logs.volumio.org/volumio/f9y8MzH.html
Regards
OK, this test is very interesting
the usb driver for the DAC is the same on RPi and X86-64, if you have problems with RPi and not with x86-64, the issue is most probably related to the RPi-DAC combination at HW level.
Maybe it is a peculiarity of the USB Interface: Comtrue CT7601.
XMOS is more common. I have it in my Taga Harmony DA-400 DAC and everything works fine.
From what Iâve read the ComTrue is becoming an interesting option to the XMOS for cost reasons.
Regards
It could well be an issue of the firmware for CT7601 developed by Emotiva
Iâm very familiar with this chip, and I donât have such problems with RPi with the firmware I developed for it.
I have one observation, maybe it will be useful for something.
I tested my RPi 4 with MoOde and there is the same effect as I described before (plus MoOde somehow works slowly).
Then I installed PiCorePlayer (32-bit) + LMS and interestingly everything works without problems (it doesnât support native DSD, but DoP works fine).
Nothing noisy when switching, works smoothly.
I donât know what the explanation for this phenomenon is. I am still testing.
I am in contact with Emotiva. They will be testing a combination of RPi 4 with the latest version of Volumio and XDA-3. If they find the cause then maybe there will be a solution.
In the meantime, I have been wondering how to get around this problem.
Looking at how the RPi 4 behaves with Volumio maybe such functionality from Audirvana would help:
Is it possible to get this in Volumio? I couldnât find this in any settings.
Hi, i have the same problem have you find a solution?
Hi,
The shortest thing to say is that âcomprehensively not yetâ.
I use the settings: âPLAYBACK OPTIONSâ; âMixer outputâ settings:
Software and DSD via DoP.
This solves the noise problem when switching tracks with different Spl. rates.
The noise problem at startup (playing the first track after startup) does not resolve.
I am in contact with Emotiva technical support. We have exchanged several emails. They were not aware of these problems. From the last information I received is that they are working on a solution.
The funny story is that Emotiva, in March or April, is supposed to launch its own streamer based on the Volumio softwareâŚ
You can read my thread on Emotiva XDA-3 and Raspberry Pi 4 (Volumio) USB problems. | The Emotiva Lounge
From my observations I can tell you that the thing is about the XDA-3 working with Linux based systems (I checked MoOde, PiCore, Audirvana Linux Core). Basically the exact same problem is present in all of them. Interestingly, it doesnât occur under Windows at all.
So I am waiting for news from Emotiva.
From my experience with the XDA-3 (apart from the fact that it plays phenomenally), Iâve noticed that connecting a good source to the coax input gives no worse (and sometimes better) sound than the RPi via USB.
Waiting to see what Emotiva comes up with Iâm considering various options as to what to do next.
Iâll get back to you as soon as I know anything new.
I have just read your earlier post (Problem when i change file format Flac to DSD - #6 by mastri81), from which it appears that this is not about the Emotiva DAC.
So the issue is more about the USB Interface: Comtrue CT7601.
That is also an interesting observation.
Perhaps @Darmur could help?
Out of curiosity, which amplifier is it?
Regards
the dac inside my amplifier is an ES9038 but it is recognized by volumio as SXW CTUAD768 PRM-A
The amplifier is Tonewinner AD3pro+
SXW CTUAD768 PRM-A this is Comtrue CT7601 â https://www.comtrue-inc.com/doku.php?id=ct7601
CT7601 is the USB-to-I2S bridge, that provided the I2S digital audio stream to the ES9038 DAC
As in the Emotiva XDA-3.
You are an expert, what could be the communication problem linux<->CT7601 or CT7601<->ES9038? Or both versions at the same time?
Emotiva Lounge thread XDA-3 compatibility with Volumio | The Emotiva Lounge.
Perhaps it has something to do with the presence of invalid data in the buffer.
(A buffer that still contains PCM audio after the flag has been set to DSD; or data that has been switched to DSD but not yet ârecognisedâ as such).
When I switch on the DAC and switch the input to USB, the display does not show âNo signalâ as on other inputs, but shows the sample rate of the last track played before switching off (e.g. 44.1 or 96 etc.). When I switch on the RPi with the Volumio there are no visible signals on the display , that the DAC is connecting to the RPi.
Then when I start playing a file and its sample rate is different to what the XDA-3 has âmemorisedâ there is noise. Of course, when I press pause and play again, it already plays normally.
Previously I had a DAC connected with an XMOS-based USB interface and everything worked fine, and while the RPi was booting up the display showed 44.1 and then 768kHz.
BR
Same situation
" When I switch on the DAC and switch the input to USB, the display does not show âNo signalâ as on other inputs, but shows the sample rate of the last track played before switching off (e.g. 44.1 or 96 etc.)."
âThen when I start playing a file and its sample rate is different to what the XDA-3 has âmemorisedâ there is noise. Of course, when I press pause and play again, it already plays normally.â
the problem seems to be in the change of frequency and type of audio signal
Sample rate only, type of file (if PCM) flac, aiff, wav - no matter.
PCM â native DSD - yes