I’m one of the beta testers who continued to have skipping issues with JRMC 20 (Mac or PC). This weekend I switched to minimserver (Mac) and mconnect player HD (the company responsible for mconnect also was the developer working with Dennis on the Bridge). I greatly prefer JRemote to mconnect, which has a tendency to crash and is a pain when you are creating playlists from multiple albums. Over the weekend I put together several playlists with mixed resolutions and had zero songs skipped. That’s no guarantee it won’t happen in the future (it didn’t always happen with JRMC). I had similar experiences in the past with minimserver and Bubble UPnP (i.e., no skips). The issue obviously need to be addressed given the popularity of JRMC but people might want to experiment with other options as an interim solution.
Me too, no issues with Minimserver on my NAS, and mconnect is not crashing although a playlist I had went inactive (on Bl)… SQ is big improvement I think.
stevem2 said The issue obviously need to be addressed given the popularity of JRMC but people might want to experiment with other options as an interim solution.One of the frustrations (for me, anyway) with using UPnP/DLNA setups is that you don't always know the source of the problem. I've about given up on mconnect because it crashes and has problems keeping playlists going. But I can't get the most recent version because my first-gen iPad is limited to iOS5. So I can't evaluate the current incarnation of mconnect, which Paul recommends. With BubbleUPnP control point on a cheap Android tablet, everything works perfectly. Experimentation is definitely called for.
amsco15 said Thanks for the quick reply! I'm relatively computer competent and can follow directions pretty well if there are tests to try.My system consists of JRiver (21.0.2 – latest version) on an older Dell Laptop running Win 10 with a 1.5Tb hard drive connect to the laptop via USB. I use JRemote as a controller. My Bridge and laptop are hardwired (Cat 5) connected (I have a switch next to the router) to my home network consisting of Apple AirPort Extreme router with a couple hardwired connected Apple AirPort expresses (DHCP disabled on the expresses). The network in my home is very solid. I have been running Bridge I for at least 4 years. At first I had issues with Bridge I, but upgraded my network devices and eliminated 99.5% of all Bridge I problems most people report.
Can you give me some information on the file you are having issues with, maybe even a link so I can download them. What file type, sample rate? I have jRiver 21 installed so I can do some testing.
Dennis
Best I can tell it doesn’t matter. For example, if I place five songs in a playlist in the following order: one redbook, two DSF (or 24/96 songs), two redbook. The Bridge II will skip (after playing a couple seconds of the song) the first DSF and the second redbook. The other three songs will play normally.
I used the following for most of my DSF experiments:
Dale
Ok I’ll do some testing
Dennis
Can you try playing them from your laptop drive? I am playing fram a NAS, redbook CD and dsf files and I don’t have any issue.
Dennis
You mean copy the files directly on the laptop drive and play through the DS via Bridge II (as opposed to the files located on the USB connected hard drive)? I’ll try tonight as soon as I get home.
Thanks, Dale
Yes, lets see if that makes a difference. I don’t think it will, but knowing will givve me a place to look. IU am also getting suggestions from jRiver on things to try.
Dennis
Can you also dump your jRiver settings to a file and send them to me? to dennis@psaudio.com
Customer: File > Library > Backup Library
Dennis
Dennis,
I e-mailed you the JRiver file as requested. I also ran the tests as requested with the files copied to my laptop’s hard drive. I set up the following two tests:
Redbook-dsf-dsf-redbook-redbook. The results were:
Played 1st redbook fine-played 10 seconds of the 1st dsf then skipped to next song-played all songs after that normally.
I then set up a second test (all files saved on my laptop’s hard drive):
Redbook-24/96-24/96-redbook-redbook. The results were:
Played 1st redbook fine-played 10 seconds of the 1st dsf then skipped to next song-played 2nd dsf fine-played 10 seconds of the second redbook then skipped-played 3rd redbook fine
I have no idea why the two tests were different but basically the above scenario is what happened to one extent or another all weekend. I can consistently get similar results. I did repeat the first test with the dsf files and experienced the same result.
Thanks so much for your attention to this issue, Dale
Edit: I think I found the issue and it is with a JRiver setting.
Tools>Options>Media Network>Add or configure DLNA Servers…>Audio>Advanced Make sure Stereo downmix is NOT selected.
I assume the feature is to down mix 5.1 to stereo for home theater applications. I have no idea why I had it selected; however, this seems to be the culprit. I intend to play a more complicated play list: my wife is going to yoga in 10 minutes and I can crank the stereo. To be continued…
2nd Edit: I think I’m on to something but the problem isn’t completely gone. Tried a torture playlist:
redbook-24/96-DSF-redbook-DSF-24/192-DSF-redbook. Skipped the 1st DSF, the next redbook played but album art didn’t load until the following song. Everything else played fine. Tried the same playlist again and the entire playlist worked perfectly! There maybe a small gremlin left but it’s way-way better!
3rd Edit: tried another difficult playlist (all different songs):
24/96-redbook-24/96-DSF-redbook. Skipped the DSF. Again, the next redbook played but it’s album art never loaded.
Final experimental playlist of the evening: redbook-24/192-DSF-redbook. Did not skip anything.
My my conclusion for tonight: 24/96 before DSF seems to be the remaining pattern for skipping. I can get this 24/96-DSF problem to repeat. Looks like all combinations of PCM hi-res and redbook are working fine now!!!
Hey, somebody make this guy a beta tester!
Forget all my garbage analysis above. Different night and skipping continues no matter what JRiver settings I choose. An interesting note, when I de-select the above post mentioned “Stereo Downmix” Ted’s Bitperfect test fails. Getting frustrated now!! I don’t want to move to another server software. Partly out of stubbornness but mostly because I really have things set up nicely. Everything is ordered on JRiver the way I like it: categories, playlists (including my daughter’s wedding playlists), import order… Lots of time and care went into orgazing my large album collection.
Current Playlist that skips:
24/192-redbook-24/96-redbook-DSF-redbook. Skips second and third redbook on the first play then the first 24/96 on the second play…
Exact same problem with JRiver 20 and 21. I currently have both on my computer.
Ahhhhhh!!
Hi Amsco15
Something you might try.
1/Make a back-up of JRMC so you do NOT lose your settings.
2/ put a copy of your playlist in a folder on your desktop
3/ Uninstall/trash/reinstall JRMC and set it to NOT load disconnected storage. In other words like a brand new set up.
4/ load ONLY the desktop folder in JRMC
5/ shut down PC, DS etc with power core disconnected for a few minutes
6/ reboot everything and first check that the DS screen does NOT show a Bridge update available. If so do the update.
If not then give the playlist a go and see if there is any difference in the function.
My fingers are crossed.
**** you can always re-import your JRMC backed up settings afterwards.
Goto File->Library->Backup Library. This will back up all of your settings. You can later restore them in Files->Library-Restore library.
Dennis
Thanks Gordon. I’ll give it a try this weekend. Along with a couple other efforts. I’ll put a small sub-set of my playlist on my laptop. I did try a similar experiment by running a playlist on the laptops hard drive, without wiping JRiver and installing clean.
cool.
the re-install might just be the cure but your concept should show that too.
May the force be with you.
pmotz said Just so you understand, the Bridge II just went on sale and will start shipping this week. No regular folks have a "production" version yet. There are a number of folks with a "Beta" Bridge II, which I believe hardware wise is the same as the "production" units (I haven't seen anything stating otherwise, but someone correct me if this is wrong). I would suggest reading the forum topics with Beta tester comments. It won't be easy to find, but it's out there. As for the regular folks I would suspect it will be at least a week maybe two before comments trickle in. I'm interested myself, but budget concerns have me waiting at least a month to do the upgrade.I just installed my Bridge II last night. Installation was easy and glitchless, unlike my original Bridge install. Bravo.
The sound is a definite upgrade, with finer detail obvious, and weightier midbass and bass. I just sat back and listened. Out of box it was fine, and improved further over 2 hours.
The gapless play, with maybe 1 second between songs of different resolution and different files was excellent. Not a single hiccup - totally stable. This is a major improvement in enjoyment of the flow of music on an album. Easy to use with my J River / JRemote controller on my Ipad
Sit back and enjoy. Do not hesitate to upgrade with PS Audio’s excellent Bridge I trade in deal. Great work Paul.
@Dennis what Ethernet transciever does the B2 posses? Is it gigabit or 100mbit please?
Thank you.
100mbit
Dennis