I just acquired a Merging+NADAC DAC. Using the current version of Audirvana or the most current version of Audirvana Plus 3.2, I experience audio dropouts and occasional crackling distortion on DSD256 files. I have tried every recommended setting from Merging Technologies for the DAC and for Audirvana, and have tried every network topology they recommend, all to no avail. I decided to try Roon, and these DSD256 files play flawlessly, though I believe (as many do) that Audirvana playback sounds better than Roon, so I am very frustrated. Has anyone experienced this issue? If so, is there a fix, or do I have to abandon my favorite player software, Audirvana?
Hello @kipdent,
Can you send me a copy of the “Debug Info”? You can get it in Audirvana Settings>General>Debug Info
Note: By clicking on the Debug Info Audirvana button automatically copies all its content, all you have to do is paste it in response to this message.
Have you tried installing the Ravenna driver software and playing through this virtual device?
Shall I post it here since I do not have a private email address for you?
If you are referring to the Merging Ravenna Virtual Audio Device driver that is used for the Hapi or Horus instead of the Merging NADAC driver that came with my DAC, the answer is no. Do you know if it work with the NADAC? If so, perhaps I should try that just to see if it makes a difference.
You can post it here, it would be more convenient.
Yes, that one. It should, or at least it used to work.
Damien–here it is:
Mac mini i5 debug info:
Audirvana Plus rev. 3.2.19 (3703) debug information:
running on Mac OS X 10.12.6 with 8192MB RAM
User preferences:
Remote control: IR: off, Media Keys: off (with volume control: off)
Playlists
Use UTF-8 for all: on
Start playback at launch with audio file: off
Volume knob control in rotation axis
Sample rate converter
Apple CoreAudio with no forced upsampling
Polarity inversion: global=off, per track=on
Volume control
DAC only
Max volume limit = 100.0%
AudioUnits not in use
SysOptimizer enabled:
Priority: Extreme
Spotlight: on
TimeMachine: on
iDevices USB: on
iTunes settings:
iTunes integrated Mode: off
Completely deactivate iTunes playback: on
iTunes volume control: deactivated
iTunes play position control: deactivated
iTunes safe factor: 4
Library settings:
Sync list : 5 folders
Auto: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/CD rips
Auto: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Kip’s Hi-res Downloads
Auto: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Low-res downloads
Auto: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Tape Archives DSD128
Auto: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Vinyl rips
Database path: /Users/kip/Library/Application Support/Audirvana
iTunes Synchronization: inactive
Audio settings:
Hog Mode: off
Direct Mode: off
Integer Mode: off Mode 1
Max Mem for audio buffers: 5888MB
Max Sample rate limit: None
Sample rate switching latency: 0.5s
CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 512
Preferred device: MERGING+NADAC Model UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
Active Sample Rate: 705.6kHz
Hog Mode is off
Selected device:
Local audio device
ID 0x28 MERGING+NADAC Manufacturer:Merging Technologies S.A.
Model UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
9 available sample rates up to 705600Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
Audio buffer frame size : 212 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Physical (analog) volume control: Yes
Virtual (digital) volume control: Yes
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to MQA Decoder
DSD capability: DSD via PCM 1.1
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Multichannel: 8 channels
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1
Channel 2 unused
Channel 3 unused
Channel 4 unused
Channel 5 unused
Channel 6 unused
Channel 7 unused
Number of channels: 8
Use as stereo device only: Yes
Simple stereo device: No
1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1
Stream ID 0x29 8 channels starting at 1
9 virtual formats:
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 705.6kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 384kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 352.8kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 192kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 176.4kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 96kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 88.2kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 48kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 44.1kHz
9 physical formats
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 705.6kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 384kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 352.8kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 192kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 176.4kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 96kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 88.2kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 48kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Float 44.1kHz
Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x37 Built-in Output Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleHDA:88 UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0
Device #1: ID 0x28 MERGING+NADAC Manufacturer: Merging Technologies S.A. Model UID: MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID UID: MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x0 marantz SR6007 UID: uuid:5f9ec1b3-ff59-19bb-8530-000678112ba2 Location: http://10.0.1.2:8080/description.xml
———————————————————————————————————
MacBook Pro i7 debug info
Audirvana Mac Version 3.5.33 (3563)
macOS 10.14.3 with 16384MB RAM
Registered to Kip Peterson
SIGNAL PROCESSING:
Polarity Inversion:
Globally: OFF
Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE
UPSAMPLING:
SoX not in use
SoX filter parameters
Bandwidth at 0dB = 99.5
Filter max length = 30000
Anti-aliasing = 100
Phase = 66
AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF
LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 4 folders
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/CD rips
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Kip’s Hi-res Downloads
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Tape Archives DSD128
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Vinyl rips
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/kip/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaPlusDatabaseV2.sqlite
ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================
CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 512
Max. memory for audio buffers: 6094MB
Local Audio Engine:
Exclusive access: Enabled
Integer mode: Disabled
Preferred device:
MERGING+NADAC
Model UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID
UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
Active Sample Rate: 705.6kHz
Hog Mode is off
Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: 1s
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: ON
Mute during sample rate change: OFF
Selected device:
Local audio device
ID 0x3a MERGING+NADAC Manufacturer:Merging Technologies S.A.
Model UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
9 available sample rates up to 705600Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
Audio buffer frame size : 212 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: Yes
Virtual: Yes
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability: DSD via PCM 1.1
Device audio channels
Multichannel: 16 channels
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1
Channel 2 unused
Channel 3 unused
Channel 4 unused
Channel 5 unused
Channel 6 unused
Channel 7 unused
Channel 8 unused
Channel 9 unused
Channel 10 unused
Channel 11 unused
Channel 12 unused
Channel 13 unused
Channel 14 unused
Channel 15 unused
Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 16
Use as stereo device only: Yes
Simple stereo device: No
1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1
Stream ID 0x3b 16 channels starting at 1
9 virtual formats:
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 705.6kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
9 physical formats
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 705.6kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
16 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x28 Built-in Output Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleHDA:94 UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0
Device #1: ID 0x3a MERGING+NADAC Manufacturer: Merging Technologies S.A. Model UID: MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID UID: MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
UPnP devices found : 1
Device #0: ID 0x0 marantz SR6007 UID: uuid:5f9ec1b3-ff59-19bb-8530-000678112ba2 Location: http://10.0.1.2:8080/description.xml
I think I may have posted the wrong information–below is following your directions specifically, Damien:
Audirvana Mac Version 3.5.33 (3563)
macOS 10.12.6 with 8192MB RAM
Registered to Kip Peterson
SIGNAL PROCESSING:
Polarity Inversion:
Globally: OFF
Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE
UPSAMPLING:
SoX not in use
SoX filter parameters
Bandwidth at 0dB = 99.5
Filter max length = 30000
Anti-aliasing = 100
Phase = 66
AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF
LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 5 folders
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/CD rips
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Kip’s Hi-res Downloads
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Low-res downloads
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Tape Archives DSD128
AUTO: /Volumes/Synology NAS/Main Music Folder/Vinyl rips
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/kip/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaPlusDatabaseV2.sqlite
ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================
CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 512
Max. memory for audio buffers: 5888MB
Local Audio Engine:
Exclusive access: Enabled
Integer mode: Disabled
Preferred device:
MERGING+NADAC
Model UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID
UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
Currently playing in standard 32bit float mode
Device: 8ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Signed Float, 32 bytes per frame 705.6kHz
Active Sample Rate: 705.6kHz
Hog Mode is on
Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: 1s
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: ON
Mute during sample rate change: OFF
Selected device:
Local audio device
ID 0x39 MERGING+NADAC Manufacturer:Merging Technologies S.A.
Model UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID UID:MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
9 available sample rates up to 705600Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
Audio buffer frame size : 15 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: Yes
Virtual: Yes
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability: DSD via PCM 1.1
Device audio channels
Multichannel: 8 channels
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1
Channel 2 unused
Channel 3 unused
Channel 4 unused
Channel 5 unused
Channel 6 unused
Channel 7 unused
Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 8
Use as stereo device only: Yes
Simple stereo device: No
1 output streams:
Number of active channels: 2, in 1 stream(s)
Channel #0 :Stream 0 channel 0
Channel #1 :Stream 0 channel 1
Stream ID 0x3a 8 channels starting at 1
9 virtual formats:
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 705.6kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
9 physical formats
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 705.6kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
8 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x28 Built-in Output Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: AppleHDA:88 UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0
Device #1: ID 0x39 MERGING+NADAC Manufacturer: Merging Technologies S.A. Model UID: MergingRAVENNAAudioDeviceModelUID UID: MergingRAVENNAAudioDevice:0
UPnP devices found : 0
Hello @kipdent, do you have a setting in your driver that allows you to change the latency of the audio buffer?
Yes. Any suggestions as to what setting I should try? Merging states 1000ms (1 second) in their documentation should be selected for Audirvana which I did.
Are you able to put a setting above 1000ms like 1500 or 2000ms?
Damien–I misstated the ability to change latency in their driver. It does not have that feature. I was thinking of the one inside Audirvana. I could try 2s within Audirvana to see if that helps, but maybe that is a different buffer than what you are thinking. I don’t know what else to try.
Damien–I don’t know if this will help in diagnosing what is wrong, but I’ve noticed that the playback progress bar changes color a little after the distortion occurs, as seen in this screenshot. The instant it begins, the bar gets lighter in color behind the moment it happened, and stays darker as it moves forward. Does this mean anything? Thanks–
Hello @kipdent, the screenshot you made is from an old version of Audirvana (3.2) do you also have the issue on the other version of Audirvana you have (3.5)?
Yes, it occurs with the most current version, too.
If you don’t have the possibility to change your buffer latency then you need to contact Merging on how you can do this since it’s a buffer issue of your DAC.
Damien–I have made what appears to be a breakthrough in my dropout issues with Audirvana playing to the Merging+NADAC by changing some preferences settings in a perhaps counterintuitive way. Here’s the story of my discovery today.
Believing perhaps that a RAM issue was at least partly to blame, I upgraded my Mac mini to 16GB of RAM, then specified Audirvana to use 10GB as the amount for track pre-load. For the first time it almost made it through an entire DSD256 track without dropout, but near the end of the track, dropout occurred. I was very disappointed, but felt I was onto something since it made it almost to the end of the track before occurring. I used the Activity monitor in macOS X to look at the memory pressure graph changes during playback. Please notice the red-circled area that shows a sudden “ramp up” of memory use in the graph screenshot below. This behavior correlates exactly to the point the dropout occurred:
Also, notice how much memory Audirvana was consuming and how much compressed memory was being reported (3.69GB, circled in yellow). This seemed odd to me, so as an experiment, I decided to turn off “Exclusive Access Mode” in Audrivana’s preferences. It then played the onerous DSD256 track again with no dropouts whatsoever! Take a look at the memory usage under these settings which allowed this success. It contains no sudden “ramp up” at all of memory consumption and the graph remains very flat:
As you can see, with Exclusive Access Mode turned off, Audirvana consumed only half the memory as when Exclusive Access Mode was invoked, and also note that no compressed memory was used at all! Could this be why dropouts have been eliminated? All I know is that I am very pleased now. I wonder if you should recommend the following settings, then, to customers who are experiencing dropouts to the NADAC while using Audirvana, instead of recommending Exclusive Access Mode.
Still, one of the oddest things I see in the Audio Preferences panel is that it reports “DSD512” in the position that “DSD256” should be located (circled in red in the screenshot below), and the second instance of “DSD512” is still (as expected) grayed out. A visual bug, perhaps?
Please let me know what you think of these discoveries—
Kip Peterson
Hi Damien–I thought I would see since my last post on this issue back on May 6, 2020, if you had any thoughts to post on my discovery above.
Thank you–
Hello @kipdent,
We had a request from Mergin, maybe it’s yours. I would like to know if you also have this issue with Audirvana 3.5?