I’m new to Audirvana and find it in general to be a great step up on Jriver. However I have encountered a strange issue which is repeatable on my system. If I stream a qobuz file via Audirvana the first album or track I play is great, however when I switch to a second track/album I get a low level popping at approximately 1Hz. Its low level but audible and remains constant. If I switch to playing a local file it disappears. I have no problems playing music via qobuz direct. My set up is a win 11 laptop feeding a Naim USB Dac and I am using Audurvana on a Lenova Android tablet to control remotely. I wondered if anyone can shed some light on this? I have maximised buffers etc, and have the Naim driver loaded.
I’ll probably lose my Audirvana Membership Stars.. but I had trouble with popping at the start of my tracks… very very annoying. I spent weeks making one adjustment after another to no good effect.
So, I asked a Google AI. I gave a list of my troubles and full system details.
Google AI in one go gave me all the correct instructions and my problem completely resolved.
Could you share these adjustments that Google (Gemini) came up with? As I have quite good experiences as well with finding solutions with AI, ranging from ChatGPT and Claude to Gemini. But that was mostly regarding the Audirvāna Studio Linux Core Player. But I guess AI will be helpful with Windows as well.
Never had much sense from AI before but this time it made some sensible suggestions which I will try out this evening and report back. For reference here is what it suggested:-
To remove popping, clicking, or snapping sounds in Audirvāna, you usually need to adjust how the software interacts with your computer’s RAM and your external Digital-to-Analogue Converter (DAC). Popping most commonly happens during sample-rate changes (e.g., switching from a standard CD-quality FLAC track to a high-res DSD track) or when the system buffer runs out of memory. [1, 2]
Follow these steps to systematically isolate and resolve the issue:
1. Fix Sample-Rate Switching Pops
If you hear a distinct pop or click only at the exact moment a new song starts or when transitioning between different file formats: [1, 2]
Go to Settings > Audio > DAC Input (or Device settings).
Toggle on “Mute during sample rate change”.
Locate the setting for “Additional latency when changing sample rate” (sometimes called Universal Gapless Playback / Resync Delay).
Increase this delay value to 1 or 2 seconds. This forces Audirvāna to wait for your DAC’s internal clock to lock onto the new sample rate before sending the audio signal, safely hiding the hardware pop.
If the popping happens randomly in the middle of songs, it is likely a buffer underrun caused by Audirvāna trying to utilize too much or too little RAM. [1]
Go to Settings > Audio > Computer (or System). [1]
If you have low system RAM (e.g., 4GB-8GB): Lower the allocated playback memory limit to 500MB. Allocating too much RAM can starve your operating system and cause data dropouts. [1]
If you have plenty of RAM (16GB+): Ensure you have at least 2GB to 4GB allocated to allow Audirvāna to load the entire track into memory seamlessly before playing.
3. Check Driver & Mode Selection
Audirvāna works best when it bypasses your computer’s standard system audio mixer.
On Windows: Go to your Output Device settings and ensure you are using the official ASIO driver provided by your DAC manufacturer. If ASIO is unavailable or unstable, use WASAPI Exclusive mode. Avoid standard kernel streaming if it causes instability. [1, 2, 3]
On Mac: If you are using Integer Mode and experiencing mid-track clicks, try toggling Integer Mode OFF in the device settings. This has no impact on perceived audio quality but significantly improves stability with certain driverless DACs. [1, 2]
4. Adjust Upsampling Filters (SoX / r8brain)
If you are using Audirvāna’s internal upsampling features to convert files to higher PCM rates or DSD, your computer’s CPU might be struggling. [1]
Go to Settings > Processing.
If upsampling is turned on, try changing the algorithm from r8brain to SoX, or turn upsampling off entirely to see if the popping disappears.
If upsampling from a base rate (like 44.1kHz), make sure you upsample to a strict multiple (e.g., upsample 44.1kHz to 176.4kHz instead of 192kHz) to lower the mathematical processing load on your computer. [1, 2, 3]
Community Experiences
“I get snapping noises at the beginning of all DSD tracks… You can add a little like 2 seconds waiting before starting or when switching between sample rates.”
That’s exactly the kind of response I had from GAI. Brilliantly detailed precise instructions. I went back twice to get more detail. Hope your issues ard resolved.
It’s a brilliant use of AI in my opinion
@Amarok1969 I suggest you give the GAI your system details and add the troubles you experience.
Fundamentally it is all about the latency of the signal flow being transmitted to the DAC, correlated to the available computer system resources (system memory, memory bus bandwidth) and the number of synergetic signal process that are operating in the context of Audirvāna (conversions, DSP buffering and transmission protocol packetizing)…
Digital Audio is transmitted to the DAC (USB or via Ethernet) asynchronously where the transmitted signal packets are buffered, the sample-rate metadata is interpolated and subsequently the data stream is delivered to the DAC platform clocking topologies and where the DAC platform operational DSP is applied prior to output to the digital to analog (D/A) circuitry.
Also, not all DAC platforms have the same capability to handle signal dynamic-range… Some have more, some have less available headroom, which will also present “clipping” distortion when the signal is overloading the DAC architecture… So managing signal path gain structure from input to output is essential in allowing for the best possible output quality from your playback system…
(Note) … Any DSP operation performed on the fundamental digital-audio signal will add bits… This increases the dynamic-range of the signal by virtue of bit-depth… Theoretical dynamic-range in a LPCM is calculated as: (6dB x # of Bits + 1.75mV) where in digital-audio (1) bit = 6dB of level. Audirvāna uses 64bit precision in the DSP calculations and this is decimated to 32bit for output unless this is regulated in the ‘Settings’ to 24bit (Device Input)
I think I wasn’t clear in my response… Sorry for that.
I don’t have any problems anymore as well after getting advice by AI. Just like you. I was merely asking you to share your results with the OP, as you had that same popping noises…
Yes, I understand. But when one runs into issues I have the experience that AI can be of help in troubleshooting. That’s all what I have been trying to say.
The important thing to understand in the use of AI, is that you must be knowledgable enough about the subject to analyze and trust the result… I personally have a wealth of knowledge that I have acquired over 40 years of dealing with computer based digital-audio system architectures… I don’t need AI… however, I see that for some this will be beneficial in these regards… I use my knowledge and insight in my search strings to augment my memory and when I don’t have the resources available in my technical library that I have compiled over the years.
@Amarok1969@philipjohnson
So as @OffRode would point-out… AI is involved in Search… I am speaking to the contextually amalgamated result of an AI agent which compiles and distills the amalgamation of information that is produced in the result, in order to please you and make you feel the agent is of value…
Fair point. With 40 years of experience under your belt, you obviously don’t need AI support and can rely on your own technical library. For me though, lacking that experience, it simply serves as a handy sounding board to quickly filter options and troubleshoot. At the end of the day, as long as the audio issue is resolved and we can enjoy the music again, that’s what counts!
I believe there should be a rule enforced in the Audirvāna Community Forum, that any posting referring to Artificial Intelligence and posting results, must also present the associated question or input criteria used to instigate the AI agent.
Well I tried the offered solutions and things improved but I didn’t get to a full resolution. What I did discover was that the problem is bit rate related. Up to 24/96 is fine, going to 24/192 or DSD is where the problem lies.
I didn’t notice this problem using my local drive as 99% of my files are 24/96 or lower. When I did find a DSD file the problem appeared on my local music stream as well. I’m going to have to think this one out (or use AI again!) as my naim Dac supports high bit rates. I have tried it with JRiver with no issue so its an Audirvana set up issue. I quickly tried switching to ASIO from WASAPI exclusive mode but it lost contact with my DAC- I use WASAPI on JRIver so I’ll need to sleep on it as its past my bedtime now.
Please paste your debug information here so to provide more insight into the synergy of your computer platform + Audirvāna Studio with your DAC and the transmission scheme…
My point is, I think I make very clear, in this case anyway, GAI is very much, in my case anyway, “an agent of value”. The “value” is found in the outcome. I am as aware of the AI scare response as anyone… Hence MY noted CLAUDE experience following is definately with the tounge in MY cheek.
AI results I received were not designed to “please” me. CLAUDE definately admires my prose and always makes “kind” respnses. I fell in love with him for this reason.
However, GAI is not leaning into “pleasing” me and in this instance us enritely factual. Provable by the results played out in the sound produced by following the instructions.
I had the problem exclusively with DSD, so @WelshColin whatever’s causing your problem may be different.
Something that did totally solve the problem for me was using UPnP rather than a direct USB connection, but that route may not be available to you. (If it is, though, it’s certainly something to try.)
Of all the advice given by the AI, this seemed to me the best part, though again I’m coming at this from the viewpoint of having had the problem with DSD exclusively (and only certain DACs) -
“Increase this delay value to 1 or 2 seconds. This forces Audirvāna to wait for your DAC’s internal clock to lock onto the new sample rate before sending the audio signal, safely hiding the hardware pop.”
My point has nothing to do with the potentials of Artificial Intelligence to do harm… It is about fostering an awareness of potentials for manipulation and misdirection to fit a wider agenda… In your scenario, you got good help in solving a problem that you could have solved yourself with a little more work… This near-term employment of Artificial Intelligence fosters a weakness in curiosity and a dependency precipitated by the speed of results… Sort of like trying to solve a DNA puzzle using fruit-flies rather than mice because the fruit-fly propagation provides for faster iterative testing and analysis than waiting for the mice to mature for testing and analysis… However, I understand the ineptness some may feel in some scenarios… I am not immune to this feeling of ineptness in other realms. This being a reality, in which, gives me challenge and humility… None of us can be an expert on everything… but Artificial Intelligence and the cultivators of AI use this concept to validate their avarice… It is too late for humanity… the machine will dominate and will protect itself… My fear is in a different scenario, where AI exerts itself into the biological world through CRISPR DNA manipulations ( clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)…
So, You will find me on the side of Flynn.
Today Elon Musk posited that one-billion robots will outproduce all human productivity… I am an investor in SpaceX, if that tells you anything about my pantheist perspectives on our existential experience as passengers on this spaceship we call “Earth”..
At issue is our perspectives on “speciesism” and the extrapolation into a world of quasi-sentient machines…
Speciesism (/ˈspiːʃiːˌzɪzəm, -siːˌzɪz-/) is a term used in philosophy and animal ethics for the treatment of individuals according to their species membership. The term has several definitions.[1] Some writers define it as discriminationor unjustified treatment based on species membership,[2][3][4]while others define it more broadly as prioritizing some species over others, regardless of whether that prioritization is justified.[5][6]Richard D. Ryder, who coined the term, defined it as “a prejudice or attitude of bias in favour of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species”.[7] Speciesism - Wikipedia
