Hiccups with AS when playing Tidal FLAC MQA music

[sandsOfArrakis]

Yesterday I’ve went ahead and bought a shiny new M1 MacBook Pro. It’s the base model with 8 gb of RAM and 256 gb of storage. It is an awesome little machine.

However I’ve noticed that playback stutters about every 10 seconds or so when streaming Tidal music. It only happens with music that AS lists as FLAQ MQA. I’ve attached an example. It’s an 16/44.1 kHz stream, and AS outputs it to my Mac’s external sound card which plays it as 24/96 kHz. It doesn’t matter if I use the sound cards analogue line out (two cinch stereo) or it’s TOSLINK optical output.

I’ve tried other FLAC’s from both Tidal and Qobuz. Those are listed as normal FlAC’s and they play normally and also get forwarded normally to my Audiotrak Prodigy 24/96 Black Cube USB sound card.

The example track that I have listed, Led Zeppelin’s “The Immigrant Song”, plays normally with Tidal’s own app.

Here’s an example of Massive Attack’s “Angel” which is a normal FLAC from Qobuz. It’s an 16/44.1 kHz track and it also gets forwarded and played as such by my sound card.

[sandsOfArrakis]

Audirvana Studio 1.10.2 (11002)

macOS 12.2.1 with 8GB physical RAM

Connected account of : XXX

SIGNAL PROCESSING:

Polarity Inversion:
	Globally: OFF
	Per track: ON
Effects plugins NOT ACTIVE

UPSAMPLING:
r8brain not in use
r8brain filter parameters
Bandwidth = 99.5%
Stop band attenuation 218dB
Phase linear

AUDIO VOLUME:
Max allowed volume: 100
Replay Gain: None
SW volume control: OFF

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 1 folders
AUTO: /Volumes/Antarctica/Music
iTunes/Music library synchronization: not synchronized
Library database path: /Users/erwinbron/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite

Remote Control server:
Listening on 127.0.0.1 on port 49159

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
Qobuz: Connected as Qobuz Studio
TIDAL: Connected as PREMIUM

=================== AUDIO DEVICE ========================

CoreAudio audio path, buffer I/O frame size: 512

Max. memory for audio buffers: 5120MB
Exclusive access: Enabled
Integer mode: Enabled

Preferred device:
GYROCOM C&C CO., LTD PRODIGY CUBE 24/96
Model UID:ProDigy CUBE 24/96:1852:7921
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD:Audiotrak ProDigy CUBE:124000:2,3

Currently playing in Integer Mode:
Device: 2ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24bits little endian Signed Integer, 6 bytes per frame 96kHz

Active Sample Rate: 96kHz
Hog Mode is on

Bridge settings:
Sample rate limitation: none
Sample rate switching latency: none
Limit bitdepth to 24bit: OFF
Mute during sample rate change: OFF

Selected device:
Local audio device
ID 0x73 ProDigy CUBE 24/96
Manufacturer: GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD
Model Name: GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD ProDigy CUBE 24/96
Model UID: ProDigy CUBE 24/96:1852:7921
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD:Audiotrak ProDigy CUBE:124000:2,3

6 available sample rates up to 96000Hz
8000
16000
32000
44100
48000
96000
Audio buffer frame size : 15 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 512
Volume Control
Physical: No
Virtual: Yes
MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: Yes
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA
DSD capability: Unhandled
Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:1 R:2
Channel bitmap: Ox3, layout:
Channel 0 mapped to 0
Channel 1 mapped to 1

Audio channels in use
Number of channels: 2
Use as stereo device only: No
Simple stereo device: Yes

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 0x74 2 channels starting at 1
18 virtual formats:
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 32kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 16kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 32kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 16kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 32kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 16kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 8kHz

24 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 32kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 16kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 32kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 16kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 32kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 16kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer 8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 32kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 16kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 16 little endian Signed Integer 8kHz

Local devices found : 4
Device #0: ID 0x61 LG Ultra HD Manufacturer: GSM Model UID: 1E6D085B-0000-0000-0B1C-0103803C2278 UID: 1E6D085B-0000-0000-0B1C-0103803C2278 Model Name: GSM LG Ultra HD
Device #1: ID 0x73 ProDigy CUBE 24/96 Manufacturer: GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD Model UID: ProDigy CUBE 24/96:1852:7921 UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD:Audiotrak ProDigy CUBE:124000:2,3 Model Name: GYROCOM C&C Co., LTD ProDigy CUBE 24/96
Device #2: ID 0x33 Externe koptelefoon Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: Codec Output UID: BuiltInHeadphoneOutputDevice Model Name: Apple Inc. Externe koptelefoon
Device #3: ID 0x2c MacBook Pro luidsprekers Manufacturer: Apple Inc. Model UID: Speaker UID: BuiltInSpeakerDevice Model Name: Apple Inc. MacBook Pro luidsprekers

UPnP devices found : 0

[bitracer]

Reduce the pre-load cache to 2000MB.

[sandsOfArrakis]

That didn’t work. It still stutters at random.

[bitracer]

Do you have any other DAC you can try with?

Disable integer mode.

[sandsOfArrakis]

Working on that atm. Testing my Mac’s own speakers.

Here it gets played at 24/88.2 kHz and that goes fine so far.

[bitracer]

I suspect the issue is related to the USB interface of your device. Try with exclusive access off.

[sandsOfArrakis]

Ok. I’ve tried it with Exclusive mode off and also with Integer mode off. And I’m still getting random stutters. Bit odd. Because the device worked fine with my Windows laptop running Windows 11. Windows and Mac both detect the sound card without requiring drivers. And it only happens with AS. Tidal’s own app runs fine.

[bitracer]

Well it’s a kinda prosumer device that sometimes creates problems. Just to confirm I would test with another USB DAC if that’s an option for you.

[sandsOfArrakis]

I do have a Terratec Aureon 7.1 USB connected to my gaming laptop. I’ll give that one a shot. I do know that macOS recognized it in the past. Only the analogue output worked fine on it. The optical output give a ticking sound like the a clock ticking. I do seem to remember though that that one maxes out at 48 kHz.

[bitracer]

Try with that. Maybe one more shot would be to disable MQA auto detect feature.

[sandsOfArrakis]

It seems it’s the Audiotrak. The Terratec plays fine. It plays those MQA FLAC’s as 24/48 kHz. And 48 kHz is indeed the maximum that sound card supports.

MQA autodetect didn’t resolve it either.

Hmm. As a test I’ve set the maximum sample rate to 48 kHz in AS for the Audiotrak and that plays without hiccups so far. 44.1 kHz works fine too. I guess for FLAQ MQA I have to use either 44.1 or 48 kHz, while the rest works fine with an unlimited sample rate maxing out at the sound cards 96 kHz.

Thanks for the help.

Edit:
And it still acts up occasionally. As explained in a post below it only acts up with AS…

[Harvison]

I know this has been solved, but reading through the posts here, I now have a question.

I noticed, the soundcard in the new Macbook Pro is limited to 24/48? I am a bit confused. My antique 2013 iMac can go to 24/768. I am running Catalina.

Is this a limitation of new Macs and or the newer OS?

I will someday be in the market for a new Mac and want to be prepared.

[sandsOfArrakis]

It goes to 24/96 on the head phones output, same with the internal speakers.

Edit:
I guess I “solved” it a bit too quickly. Still got a few hiccups with the Audiotrak sound card. It only acts up with AS. Not with any other app I’ve tried (Tidal, Qobuz, Roon, Apple Music, JRiver Media Center, Vox, VLC, Safari etc). I find it rather strange.

For the moment I’ve went back to the Mac’s internal sound card. Which works without issue. But doesn’t sound as nice.

Edit:

I’ve also checked my Intel 2017 MacBook Air. AS also lists 24/96 as the max for its internal sound. Never checked it before as my Air uses Bluetooth to connect to my Presonus monitors in the living room. And that’s limited to 48 kHz.

So I’m not certain if its a hardware limitation or a software one. Since both my Air and Pro run on the latest macOS 12.2.1 Monterey.

[mollie]

Have you allready tried another usb cable to find out wether this one is the course of your problem!?!?!

[sandsOfArrakis]

I don’t have a similar USB cable here. So I can’t check. Odd thing is. When hooked up to my Windows laptop the Audiotrak plays without an issue with AS. But on my new M1 MacBook Pro it’s the opposite. And it only appears with AS. I’ve looked up the same tracks on both Qobuz and Tidal’s native apps and no problem there.

It does seem to be the combination of my Audiotrak sound card, my M1 Pro and AS. I could give my good old Air a try tomorrow.

[sandsOfArrakis]

Well I guess my Audiotrak sound card and my new M1 MacBook Pro don’t like each other. Been toying around with my Windows laptop and my old Intel MacBook Air and no stuttering whatsoever with either of them.

Guess it’s a case closed.

[sandsOfArrakis]

Well it seems I have finally solved the problem with my Audiotrak sound card.
I’ve been playing around with the Audio/Midi configuration tool in macOS. And I’ve noticed that if I set the sound cards output to it’s maximum (24 bits / 96 kHz) I’m getting stutters. Not just in AS but in other apps as well. If I put it to 16 bits / 96 kHz I don’t hear stutters in for example the Qobuz app.
Haven’t been able to test Tidal since I’ve decided to drop that subscription and it has expired.

With 24/96 or 24/192 Qobuz files in AS I’m getting hiccups. But if I set the upsampling for both to 48 kHz it now plays without hiccups.