Tidal and some MQA tracks stop near the end and never finish or continue to the next track in the playlist

Studio
#1

Hi,

i have an issue with Audirvana Studio and specific MQA tracks on Tidal that stop playing near the end of the song.
The playlist also stops as the track never finishes.

Have tried with my DAC and direct audio output on my mac mini to see it is related to the DAC, but no change.

One track in question is the following which always stops 4 seconds before the end of the track.

Artist: Tone Stith
Album: FWM
Song: When You Love Someone

kind regards,
Nick

Debug output:

Audirvana Studio 2.2.3 (20203)

macOS 10.15.7 with 16GB physical RAM

Connected account of : Nicholas Ackroyd

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: by album
SW volume control: OFF

LIBRARY SETTINGS:
Sync list: 4 folders
AUTO: /Users/nick/Music/FLAC
AUTO: /Users/nick/Music/HD
AUTO: /Users/nick/Music/iTunes
AUTO: /Users/nick/Music/KREAM
iTunes/Music library synchronization: last synchronized on Sat Mar 19 08:57:59 2022

Library database path: /Users/nick/Library/Application Support/Audirvana/AudirvanaDatabase.sqlite

Remote Control server:
Listening on fe80::104e:cba:4b82:f23%en0 on port 55269

ACTIVE STREAMING SERVICES
TIDAL: Connected as HIFI

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

Active method: Local

Max. memory for audio buffers: 8216MB

Local Audio Engine: CoreAudio
Exclusive access: ON
Integer mode: ON
Use max I/O buffer size: ON
Actual I/O buffer frame size: 4096

Preferred device:
SMSL USB AUDIO
Model UID:SMSL USB AUDIO:152A:85DD
UID:AppleUSBAudioEngine:SMSL:SMSL USB AUDIO:14400000:1

Currently playing in standard 32bit float mode
Device: 2ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32bits little endian Signed Float, 8 bytes per frame 44.1kHz

Active Sample Rate: 44.1kHz
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: ON

Selected device:SMSL USB AUDIO
Manufacturer: SMSL
Model name: SMSL USB AUDIO
Model UID: SMSL USB AUDIO:152A:85DD
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:SMSL:SMSL USB AUDIO:14400000:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x152a
USB Product ID: 0x85dd
ID 0x3c

10 available sample rates up to 768000Hz
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
352800
384000
705600
768000
Audio buffer frame size : 14 to 4096 frames
Current I/O buffer frame size : 4096

Volume Control
Physical: No
Virtual: No

MQA capability
Auto-detect MQA devices: No
Not a MQA device, user set to MQA Decoder
DSD capability: DSD via PCM 1.1

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 0x3d 2 channels starting at 1
30 virtual formats:
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Float 88.2kHz
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 Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz

40 physical formats
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 32 little endian Signed Integer 44.1kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 768kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 705.6kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 384kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 352.8kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 192kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 176.4kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 96kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 88.2kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 48kHz
2 ch Non-mixable linear PCM Interleaved 24 little endian Signed Integer aligned low in 32bit 44.1kHz

Local devices found : 2
Device #0: ID 0x35 Built-in Output
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Model UID: AppleHDA:88
UID: AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,2:0
Model name: Apple Inc. Built-in Output
Device #1: ID 0x3c SMSL USB AUDIO
Manufacturer: SMSL
Model UID: SMSL USB AUDIO:152A:85DD
UID: AppleUSBAudioEngine:SMSL:SMSL USB AUDIO:14400000:1
USB Vendor ID: 0x152a
USB Product ID: 0x85dd
Model name: SMSL USB AUDIO

UPnP

UPnP devices found : 0

Chromecast

Chromecast devices found : 0

#2

Hi @nackroyd,

Do you have this issue if you use this output?

#3

Hi Antoine,

yes i tried that too to rule out my DAC but it didn’t change the behaviour.

i updated this morning to 2.2.4 and the issues seems to be fixed.
Will do some more testing and follow up.

kind regards,
Nick

1 Like
#4

Hi Antoine,

did some more testing and the issue with the track i mentioned in my orignal post is gone.

But i have found another track that still has the issue. This is also an MQA track:

Artist: Jazmine Sullivan
Album: Tragic
Track: Tragic

In general the update to 2.2.4 made the issue better and lesser tracks have the issue.

kind regards,
Nick

#5

Which product from SMSL are you using?

#6

SMSL SU-10.

But like i said the issue also happens with the Built-In output from the macmini.
This also only happens to MQA tracks.

#7

Hi Antoine,

just to add the tracks in question have a few seconds of silence at the end before they finish - maybe that can have something to do with it.

The native Tidal application on my mac has no issues with the tracks.

kind regards,
Nick

#8

Can you try to open Audirvāna Studio using Terminal? You can find it under the Utilities folder in Application.
We recommend you to copy and paste each line one at a time and press return each time you paste a line:

cd ..
cd ..
 
Applications/Audirvana\ Studio.app/Contents/MacOS/Audirvana\ Studio

This will open Audirvāna Studio, you then have to try reproduce your issue and post what you see in Terminal

#9

Hi Antoine,

i see no error in the terminal window.
The track that has issue and can be reproduced:

Artist: Tone Stith
Album: FWM
Song: When You Love Someone

kind regards,
Nick

#10

Hi Antoine,

is there a option to start Audirvana from the CLI in debug mode?

kind regards,
Nick

#11

Hi Antoine,

i did some more testing and things are getting even stranger.
In a larger playlist that Tidal suggests i could identify multiple tracks that stop near the end of the track and could replicate the issues with the same tracks.

If i put these 5 tracks in a playlist of my own then i don’t have the issue.

Sometimes i get this message on the CLI but it doesn’t always correlate with the track not finishing:

2023-03-03 19:08:23.212 Audirvana Studio[1047:66299] Fatal error reading audio file https://sp-pr-fa.audio.tidal.com/mediatracks/CAEaKRInZmVjYzE2MDJjNWE0ZWVlY2RiMzUwOTkwZjI0NzlmZWVfNjAubXA0/0.flac?token=1677870498~ZWZmNWZiN2VjY2RjZjljM2M1OWI4YjMyMTg4YWYyOThlMDhmYTczMQ== aborting loading at frame 661500

kind regards,
Nick

#12

Hi Antoine,

this is the larger playlist in question:
https://tidal.com/mix/002676a2054cd8a2ac5bd72aeb2acc

And these are the tracks in the above playlist that stop playing:
https://tidal.com/playlist/b7213d80-82b2-4222-8b8d-105d7a2b26a8

But if you just play the second playlist with those 5 tracks then everything is fine.

kind regards,
Nick

#13

Hi @nackroyd,

I will report this to Tidal as soon as possible to see what is going on.

#14

Hi Antoine,

i tested the problem with the latest 2.2.5 version of Audirvana Studio and had the same issues.

Did some more testing and it seems if an MQA file is followed by a non MQA file in a playlist then the MQA files never finishes and stops a few seconds and never continues to the non MQA file.

kind regards,
Nick

#15

Can you please share the playlist you created? It would be better to reproduce your issue using the same tracks :wink:

#16

Hi Antoine,

here is a playlist:
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/efbf325a-258b-4687-be66-680caddc7b11

But it is really easy to reproduce:

  • add any number of tracks to a playlist
  • if a non mqa track is after an mqa track then the mqa track never finishes and the playlist doesn’t continue.

And so far this works with any mqa track, regardless.

kind regards,
Nick

#17

Hi @nackroyd,

I’m sorry but with my MacBook speakers selected or the IFi Neo iDSD we have here at the office, I have not been able to reproduce your issue. You are able to reproduce this behavior even if you use the Built-In output of your Mac?

#18

Hi @Antoine,

i wasn’t able to reproduce the issue with the built-in output anymore.
Looks like it is related to the DAC.

I have two MQA decoder DACs from SMSL, the SU-9 and the SU-10.
Both are having the same issues.

Is there any special debug build i can use to gather additional information as will be very difficult to replicate without the exact DACS?

kind regards,
Nick

#19

Have you tried to contact them about this? They can surely reproduce the behavior on their side and have more information from those devices. You can add support@audirvana.com in cc of the mail so if they need more information from us, we would be happy to help them.

#20

Hi Antoine,

i reinstalled my Macmini today as a last resort and reinstalled Audirvana.
Now everything works and i don’t have the issue anymore.

kind regards,
Nick

1 Like