I’m running a PWD MKII with 2.20 firmware and bridge with 2.14b firmware.
I’ve never got perfect reliability with streaming audio to the bridge, it always stops at some point by itself. Whether I have a playlist from foobar using the foo_upnp_out plugin, or used the asset upnp virtual soundcard, or jamcast virtual soundcard, or even using a UPNP controller to manage a playlist being served to the PWD with minimserver, the sound will eventually stop and require user interaction to restart it. I can say reliably I’ve never gotten the PWD to play for 8 hours straight through any method without it stopping before. Foobar upnp out seems the most reliable but it stops too eventually, usually mid song somewhere.
Has anyone gotten their PWD through bridge to play continuously for over 8 hours or longer? Is what I’m seeing normal or is there maybe something wrong with my bridge causing it to stop?
Hi. Sudden stops are usually due to the network in my experience. I have had no stops attributable to the bridge but have had network issues in the past.
A couple of hours at most when doing the burn-in.
What files are you streaming? Wave files do stop. Flac or lower do not drop out.
I had a virtual sound card (asset upnpn) which streamed wav, and it would stop after a few hours. I had another one (jamcast) stream MP3, that would stop. I use foobar upnp out for playing flac files, but I think foobar converts to wav format for sending. But it should start and stop between each song so it’s not a continuous stream, yet it still eventually stops. Using ipad upnp controller software and minimserver, sending flac files, I guess I’ve seen this run the longest but it eventually stops, but that may be due to my controller software crashing and not the PWD itself. Hmm…interesting.
I can understand a bug where a long continuous stream eventually overruns something. But if foobar is changing files and sample rates between files, I would think that would clear anything that would cause that to happen. Yet, I’ve seen mid-song the stream stop. Then if I hit play again, it continues on and works for another long interval of time. Maybe only when the PWD changes to a new media stream such as a upnp controller playlist changing songs does it clear something that prevents it from stopping.
So let me re-phrase the question. Has anyone got foobar upnp out or any virtual sound card stream to be able to play continuously with the PWD without it just stopping at some point for no explicit reason? At least 8 hours or more.
I often play environmental playlists (ocean waves, thunderstorms and streams are my favorites) for background and have had them play for days without stopping. Then again, sometimes it will play for only a few hours… This is playing with the Bridge accessing a UPnP server. For this ambient use, I source tracks from a Western Digital My Book Live NAS using the built in Twonky server.
For regular music listening I normally use Foobar for my server these days. Files are currently stored on an internal 1 Tb drive as FLAC uncompressed and transcoded to wav by foobar before being sent to the Bridge. As I posted elsewhere, for several weeks now I have been using Foobar with foo_out_upnp push streaming to the Bridge. Again, I can go days without a glitch, drop or stop but some days only an hour or so. My PWD/Bridge is connected to my network via an Asus EA-N66 wifi bridge and I suspect that WiFi issues play some part in this variability.
I suspect that almost all drops and hangs I experience are network related, and most of that WiFi… I also believe that most hangs and drops that anyone experiences are network related. I also believe that the Bridge’s network services could be more robust than they are and could tolerate considerably more network glitches, connection issues and delays than it currently does.
The next time I experience a spate of drops I may be forced to set up the PowerLine ethernet connection that I purchased some months back. It just has not been a priority, even though I do experience occasional WiFi issues.
J.P.
I have a few times over 12 hours. Sometimes it stops after a song or two, typically I can get a few hours out of it.
The same old advice: no USB disks, no WiFi, avoid Windows if possible (e.g. install a UPnP server on a NAS). If you hear drop outs check the system/disk load.
The same old advice: no USB disks, no WiFi, avoid Windows if possible (e.g. install a UPnP server on a NAS). If you hear drop outs check the system/disk load.
And if you use the exact same network infrastructure with another render that plays for prolonged periodes without any hick-ups (like my Lumin)? I am afraid that this problem might reside on the PWD Bridge or EMM side.....
Along with a router that allows me to assign a static ip address to the Bridge, the use of Power Line Extenders has been the best stability fix for streaming to the PWD in my system. Drop outs are a thing of the past and I would be confident of playing my entire library (34.4 days) without a dropout. As David says, its most likely a Network issue.
haven’t had drop outs in a long time (like a year or so). thinking 6-7 hours is the longest constant stream i’ve done. use to get them once in a while then i replaced my ethernet bridge (Linksys WES610N 4-Port Dual-Band N)… which must have been going bad. not a single drop out after that.
One day I will try it wired to the router without the bridge to see if it can go without stopping. But for now, that is too inconvenient. At least it sounds like there is hope it’s not the PWDs problem only since some of you have it running non stop.
The same old advice: no USB disks, no WiFi, avoid Windows if possible (e.g. install a UPnP server on a NAS). If you hear drop outs check the system/disk load.
And if you use the exact same network infrastructure with another render that plays for prolonged periodes without any hick-ups (like my Lumin)? I am afraid that this problem might reside on the PWD Bridge or EMM side.....
On what device is MInimServer running? Is it a NAS or the same computer as where EMM is installed?
The same old advice: no USB disks, no WiFi, avoid Windows if possible (e.g. install a UPnP server on a NAS). If you hear drop outs check the system/disk load.
And if you use the exact same network infrastructure with another render that plays for prolonged periodes without any hick-ups (like my Lumin)? I am afraid that this problem might reside on the PWD Bridge or EMM side.....
On what device is MInimServer running? Is it a NAS or the same computer as where EMM is installed?
Both.
I am running minimserver both on my HTPC (EMM) and from my NAS.
I have duplicate libraries to choose from.
And you are still experiencing drop-outs with PWD and Minim? As far as I remember I had some hickups on 24/192 material with MInim when the NAS was overutilized. But usually it’s very stable.
And you are still experiencing drop-outs with PWD and Minim? As far as I remember I had some hickups on 24/192 material with MInim when the NAS was overutilized. But usually it's very stable.
Well, actually I was referring to a prolonged play without stopping and not micro-skips or drop-outs. My comment originates from the break-in period of the PWD MKII upgrade and not recent status. I have to try again with minimserver replacing EMM.
Ah, OK, fair enough. I removed EMM after I made a direct comparison with foobar and Minim. Since then everything is very stable. The signal path is greatly simplified as well (PC is out of the equation).