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DavidHB · 30-07-2017, 15:27

(30-07-2017 14:03)ac16161 Wrote: My ... mistake was to miss out the #EXTM3U entry on the first line.

Whatever mistake I might have made, it was not that one, as I added the new lines to an existing working playlist with the correct first line.

(30-07-2017 14:03)ac16161 Wrote: Adding the first line fixed the playlist descriptors and enabled native DASH-FLAC plus transcoding.

Are you playing the stream transcoded to WAV or WAV24? I didn't think that even Simon was able to do this as yet. As I understand the way things work, MinimStreamer hands the DASH (variable bit rate) part of the process, and then (using FFMPEG) either sends the native FLAC to the renderer, or (if it can) transcodes it to WAV or whatever.

The BBC FLAC streams have the stereo channels encoded as MID-SIDE rather than LEFT-RIGHT, and I don't think that the FFMPEG codecs (which are also used by foobar2000) can handle this form of FLAC encoding

(30-07-2017 14:03)ac16161 Wrote: My older Linn streamer is an original Majik DSM (i.e. no HDMI), my newer one is a Katalyst KDS. As they both work would seem very strange if any Linn players out there could not play the DASH stream.

I agree that it would be strange. Which is why I am trying to get to the bottom of the problem on my player. I certainly don't rule out a mistake on my part, but at the moment am not sure what that mistake could be.

David

ac16161 · 30-07-2017, 15:56

With my .m3u file sorted, the following values of stream.transcode provide the following results:

blank: FLAC stream with stop/start functionality in Kazoo.

[attachment=1388]

flac:wav I get a 16-bit WAV stream, stop button in Kazoo replaced with a pause button that does not work.

[attachment=1389]

flac:wav24 Kazoo attempts to start the stream but stalls, no playback.

flac:wav24-2gb 24-bit playback stream works, no stop-start functionality

[attachment=1390]

simoncn · 30-07-2017, 17:30

It is interesting that flac:wav works but flac:wav24 doesn't. The problem with the Linn firmware and a WAV stream length of 2GB or greater must be related to the bit depth as well as the stream length.

simoncn · (This post was last modified: 30-07-2017 17:41 by simoncn.)

(29-07-2017 23:15)DavidHB Wrote: As an aside, I tried playing the [R3DASH] stream from the same NAS to foobar2000, and had the following error message:

Unable to open item for playback (Unsupported format or corrupted file):
"http://192.168.1.200:9790/minimstreamer/*/R3DASH/$!stream.flac"

If I try to play the stream from the other NAS, and so transcoded, in foobar2000, the error message is:

Unable to open item for playback (Internal Server Error (500)):
"http://192.168.1.220:9790/minimstreamer/*/R3DASH/$!transcode-24-2gb.wav"

I have played both of these streams on the foobar2000 UPnP renderer using the foobar2000 UPnP control point. Both streams are playing correctly with no error messages and full pause/resume/stop functionality.

simoncn · 30-07-2017, 17:53

(29-07-2017 23:15)DavidHB Wrote: As an aside, I tried playing the [R3DASH] stream from the same NAS to foobar2000, and had the following error message:

Unable to open item for playback (Unsupported format or corrupted file):
"http://192.168.1.200:9790/minimstreamer/*/R3DASH/$!stream.flac"

If I try to play the stream from the other NAS, and so transcoded, in foobar2000, the error message is:

Unable to open item for playback (Internal Server Error (500)):
"http://192.168.1.220:9790/minimstreamer/*/R3DASH/$!transcode-24-2gb.wav"

I am getting these errors if I try to play the DASH streams on foobar2000 without the correct version of MinimStreamer installed. See step 4 of this post.

DavidHB · (This post was last modified: 30-07-2017 20:42 by DavidHB.)

(30-07-2017 17:53)simoncn Wrote: I am getting these errors if I try to play the DASH streams on foobar2000 without the correct version of MinimStreamer installed. See step 4 of this post.

Yes, that was the problem in my setup; using 2 installations of MinimServer, I managed to miss steps in the installation process. Getting the native FLAC and the transcoded streams to play on foobar2000 was the key to resolving the issues with the Linn player as well.

I went through 3 separate installations of MinimServer (2 NASs, Windows 10 PC), rechecking each step of the installation instructions, and fixing errors as necessary. It also seems from posts #42 amd #43 that the stream length fix for the transcoded HLS/AAC streams also has a bearing on the DASH/FLAC stream. Now [R3DASH] is playing on my Linn DSM both as the native FLAC and transcoded to WAV24 (48kHz, 24bit); one of my NAS boxes is transcoding the stream, and the other has transcoding disabled. That will likely change, as I definitely prefer the sound of the system with transcoding enabled.

Similarly, the streams are playing both natively and transcoded on OpenHome Player on my computer, as well as on foobar2000.

A warm thank you to Simon and all who have responded. I now have the best sounding radio broadcasts I have yet heard.

As regards the control issues described by ac16161, I was using BubbleDS for my testing, and all control functions (including pause and stop) were present and working as expected. Kazoo won't run on the Nexus 9 tablet I was using for the tests, so I shall have to test it separately.

David

ac16161 · 30-07-2017, 21:32

I listened to much of this evening's prom via transcoding to WAV and goodness did it sound amazing, and then at some point playback just stopped. Perhaps due to Linn's buggy handling of WAV streams or possibly a BBC tech issue, the former seems more likely. Will try tomorrow's concert in FLAC and see if it gets through the whole thing.

simoncn · 30-07-2017, 21:37

(30-07-2017 21:32)ac16161 Wrote: I listened to much of this evening's prom via transcoding to WAV and goodness did it sound amazing, and then at some point playback just stopped. Perhaps due to Linn's buggy handling of WAV streams or possibly a BBC tech issue, the former seems more likely. Will try tomorrow's concert in FLAC and see if it gets through the whole thing.

A 24-bit 2GB WAV stream can play for just over 2 hours. Is this how long it lasted for you?

ac16161 · 30-07-2017, 22:16

(30-07-2017 21:37)simoncn Wrote:
(30-07-2017 21:32)ac16161 Wrote: I listened to much of this evening's prom via transcoding to WAV and goodness did it sound amazing, and then at some point playback just stopped. Perhaps due to Linn's buggy handling of WAV streams or possibly a BBC tech issue, the former seems more likely. Will try tomorrow's concert in FLAC and see if it gets through the whole thing.

A 24-bit 2GB WAV stream can play for just over 2 hours. Is this how long it lasted for you?

I was listening via flac:wav so a 16-bit stream, and it lasted less than two hours I think. Also tried flac:wav-0kb and get no playback at all. Will revert to FLAC streaming to establish a baseline on duration.

DavidHB · (This post was last modified: 31-07-2017 00:05 by DavidHB.)

(30-07-2017 22:16)ac16161 Wrote:
(30-07-2017 21:37)simoncn Wrote: A 24-bit 2GB WAV stream can play for just over 2 hours. Is this how long it lasted for you?
I was listening via flac:wav so a 16-bit stream, and it lasted less than two hours I think. Also tried flac:wav-0kb and get no playback at all. Will revert to FLAC streaming to establish a baseline on duration.

The WAV24 transcoded stream I was playing this evening definitely lasted just over two hours (including the last movement of the Ninth Symphony, which sounded marvellous); I had just one very short dropout, but the system recovered within a few seconds. Presumably, if the maximum size were the 4GB that it should be, the maximum duration would be something over 4 hours?

David