Kernal streaming requires 'initializing'?

Studio
1

Hi,
I’ve been having a quirk while trying to use kernel streaming.

The only way I can get it to work with sony wf-1000xm5’s through my motherboards Bluetooth is first running though Wasapi, then ASIO4ALL(Other ASIOs dont work) for a while and then finally I am able to run through kernel streaming. If not, I get nothing or a small hitch before nothing.
If I accidentally run kernel though another interface(Onboard sound) before the sonys after this sequence it does not work.

Also, the control panel does not seem to remember the last used interface when changing audio handing method which is a tad bit annoying.

From my understanding there isnt any difference with Kernal and a good ASIO apart from better bitrate and PCM handing/switching from my experience.
And when I run through only flac 16/44.1 I can’t notice any quality difference so its not an issue. Feel free to correct me.

I use the A2DP driver to get full bitrate through LDAC
In case helps my motherboard is the MPG X670E CARBON WIFI with the only info I could find about the Bluetooth and wifi card being AMD Wi-Fi 6E. Realtek® ALC4080 Codec if it helps.

I’m not sure there will be a fix but someone might be able to explain why this is the case.

Thanks for any info,
Cheers!

2

The short answer is no. I never had problems with ks, except in the early days of AS when BSODs were present sometimes (onboard realtek / inLine usb dac with native asio driver). As for SQ I don’t give a damn about technical explanations, I believe what I hear wich îs, of course, subjective. For me the top is: 1.KS 2.WASAPI 3.ASIO. This doesn’t mean KS îs best, they all sound different but I prefer ks High, dop 1.0, pcm upsampling. Happy listening!

1 Like
3

Thanks for your reply!

Yeah Its tough but I think I notice a difference with Direct also. Almost feels less, flat?. May be in my head though also
Ive found some ASIO’s are better than others. I think mostly due to how they handle changing formats.

I did pose it like a question, didn’t I. I know Kernal shouldn’t require this sort of ‘initializing’, for lack of a better word.
But I cannot get it to work without it.

Just seeing if anyone might have a clue as to why and maybe a way to improve my experience, as it takes a while to get it running each time. Especially as Audriana doesn’t remember last used devices.

Cheers!
Hayden

1 Like
4

You mean with Kernel? Yes, This îs my perception too. With ASIO I hear more Air and instruments, but with long sessions prefer Kernel. You can try to post your Debug Info here, sooner or later somebody will ask for this and may be helpful.

1 Like
5

Oops yeah I meant Kernel. I think I need a bunch for A B test sessions to have more of an idea but many times Ive said, “Naa thats better I swear!”

Good idea!

Debug dump:

Audirvana Studio 2.7.0 (20700)

Windows 10 (19045) with 32GB physical RAM

Connected account of : xxxx

NETWORK
Status: available
Available network interfaces:
Ethernet ({75349c6a-cb68-4ea2-8567-40839012f51e}) is private
Windows Defender Firewall status for this instance of Audirvana Studio
Active profile types: all
Private profile:
Firewall: enabled
Inbound: allowed
Outbound: allowed
Notifications: enabled
Public profile:
Firewall: enabled
Inbound: blocked
Outbound: allowed
Notifications: enabled

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: C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\Flac
Library database path: C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Packages\Audirvana.Audirvana-4118-9684-d80dbb7827cd_q3nymrkmej12j\LocalCache\Local\Audirvana\Audirvana\AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite

Local audio files fingerprinting
Tracks with no MBID: 140

Remote Control server:
Listening on 192.168.1.38 on port 55973

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
TIDAL: Connected as HiFi Plus

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

Active method: Local

Max. memory for audio buffers: 16384MB

Local Audio Engine: WASAPI
Use max I/O buffer size: ON

Preferred device:
Headphones (WF-1000XM5 Stereo)
Model UID:BTHENUM{0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb}_VID&0002054c_PID&0e63
UID:\?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{8cd57d9b-4106-410c-905e-e9d105c0333f}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}

Active Sample Rate: 96kHz

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

Selected device:Headphones (WF-1000XM5 Stereo)
Manufacturer: Luculent Systems, LLC
Model name: Bluetooth Peripheral Device
Model UID: BTHENUM{0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb}_VID&0002054c_PID&0e63
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{8cd57d9b-4106-410c-905e-e9d105c0333f}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}

4 available sample rates up to 96000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000

Volume Control
Physical: Yes
Virtual: No
Max volume alert: Enabled

MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to not MQA

DSD capability
Unhandled (PCM conversion) with boost gain of 6dB

Device audio channels
Preferred stereo channels L:0 R:1
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: 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
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 20bit little endian aligned high in 24bit chunk 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian 44.1kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 20bit little endian aligned high in 24bit chunk 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian 48kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 20bit little endian aligned high in 24bit chunk 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian 88.2kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 16bit little endian 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 20bit little endian aligned high in 24bit chunk 96kHz
2 ch Integer PCM 24bit little endian 96kHz

Local devices found : 3
Device #0: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek USB Audio)
Manufacturer: Realtek
Model UID: USB\VID_0DB0&PID_D6E7&REV_0001&MI_00
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{e72d9e19-63c9-4b3d-8e5f-b910419901e7}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
USB Vendor ID: 0x0db0
USB Product ID: 0xd6e7
Model name: Realtek USB2.0 Audio
Device #1: Headphones (WF-1000XM5 Stereo)
Manufacturer: Luculent Systems, LLC
Model UID: BTHENUM{0000110b-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb}_VID&0002054c_PID&0e63
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{8cd57d9b-4106-410c-905e-e9d105c0333f}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
Model name: Bluetooth Peripheral Device
Device #2: Speakers (Realtek USB Audio)
Manufacturer: Realtek
Model UID: USB\VID_0DB0&PID_D6E7&REV_0001&MI_00
UID: \?\SWD#MMDEVAPI#{0.0.0.00000000}.{e6f41ef1-9501-40c9-8272-5ce2fdc4c10a}#{e6327cad-dcec-4949-ae8a-991e976a79d2}
USB Vendor ID: 0x0db0
USB Product ID: 0xd6e7
Model name: Realtek USB2.0 Audio

UPnP

UPnP devices found : 0

Chromecast

Chromecast devices found : 0

6

Don’t know if it will make a difference, but 16 Gb buffersize isn’t necessary. You could try if there is a difference in behaviour when you reduce it to 4 Gb.

2 Likes
7

Good shout,
Seems it defaults to half of available memory. And I didn’t think it would actually buffer that far, so I just left it and didnt think much on it. I’d think it’d limit at a specified time regardless of file size but maybe not.

And I suspect through streaming platforms it’d only load the current track anyways so it’s usually not an issue for my use case.

Tried as little as megabytes but unfortunately no ticket.
Thanks for the idea!

I did some testing with the default windows driver. Won’t even play through Kernel and throws an error.
So I suspect its compatibility with Alternate A2DP driver that allows LDAC and codec/Bluetooth settings customization.
Unsure if its something that Audirvana would need to look into or it’d be an issue for the Alternate Codec devs to address.
But I don’t know if there’s enough people with the issue for me to ask either to look into tbh.
Though I guess this will become more of an issue as LDAC is available on more Bluetooth devices to maybe.

1 Like
8

Was worth trying. Hopefully someone will be able to help out

1 Like
9

I don’t know if you mean the same thing, but I prefer using ASIO output, which never works right away, I always have to switch to WASAPI, start playback and then can stop right away, then switch back to ASIO, and then the track will play properly, until I unlock the device, and then play files though another player, after which Audirvana will require starting playback in WASAPI first again, before switching to proper ASIO.

1 Like
10

Yeah similar issue just different outputs. Which makes me think it might be something they can fix