Mailing List Archive

Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield
Hi Peter,


I have been running your various android packages on my Shield for a few
months with great success.


However, in the last week or so, there has been an audio distortion
issue creep up.  I *believe* it started after the Shield 7.1 upgrade,
but I am not positive.    Both before and after the upgrade, I was
running 20180814-arm64-v30-Pre-714-gc2621a984b7 so no changes there.


What I am seeing:  When audio starts playing, it is completely distorted
- almost a rapid crackling sound.  It happens about 75% of the time at
the start of videos or after fast forward or commercial skip.    If I
just skip backwards a few seconds, it clears up.


I tried upgrading to 20180915-arm64-v30-Pre-775-gf30e50bfd0a today in
hopes that it would solve the issue, but it didn't make any difference.


Any thoughts?


Michael



_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 09/17/2018 07:35 PM, Michael wrote:
> Hi Peter,
>
>
> I have been running your various android packages on my Shield for a
> few months with great success.
>
>
> However, in the last week or so, there has been an audio distortion
> issue creep up.  I *believe* it started after the Shield 7.1 upgrade,
> but I am not positive.    Both before and after the upgrade, I was
> running 20180814-arm64-v30-Pre-714-gc2621a984b7 so no changes there.
>
>
> What I am seeing:  When audio starts playing, it is completely
> distorted - almost a rapid crackling sound.  It happens about 75% of
> the time at the start of videos or after fast forward or commercial
> skip.    If I just skip backwards a few seconds, it clears up.
>
>
> I tried upgrading to 20180915-arm64-v30-Pre-775-gf30e50bfd0a today in
> hopes that it would solve the issue, but it didn't make any difference.
>
>
> Any thoughts?
>
>
> Michael
>
>
>
Check the MythTV Frontend settings for audio "digital capabilities". Do
you have any of those selected? Also check if you have the correct
number of speakers selected, because MythTV will convert the audio to
match your number of speakers if necessary. Check the upconvert setting.
I have found that setting does not work well so it is better to disable
it. Do you have a surround sound system attached? Also check the Shield
settings under display and audio, advanced. Do you have surround sound
selected (always never or auto).

Peter
_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
I tried the latest build on my surround system and Dolby Digital works
fine. I am running version 7.0.2 of the shield experience.


On 09/18/2018 11:45 PM, Michael wrote:
> My basic configuration is the shield is plugged into a yamaha receiver
> and the receiver then drives the TV.  Speaker config is 5.1
>
>
> Under the shield settings for video/audio advanced:
>
> Surround auto
I found before that I had to set Surround to "Always" for it to work.
However Surround "Auto" now works for me, but I prefer to leave it as
"Always".
>
> stereo upmix off
>
> fixed volume yes
>
>
> In MythTV:
>
> Dolby Digital yes
>
> DTS yes
>
> EAC3, TrueHD, and DTS HD are not selectable and I can't even move to
> them - not sure why as my receiver supports all three
>
>
> Speaker config is 5.1
>
> Upconvert stereo to 5.1 is yes, but I tried both ways
Preferably disable this.
>
> Use internal controls no
>
>
> Even going into the test audio section can generate the crackle noise.
>
> Oddly, When just testing a single speaker like the left front, the
> loud crackle seems to come from the center speaker.   It doesn't
> matter which speaker is tested, the large crackle comes from the
> center ( I believe ).    If I test all, I get the loud crackle and
> then it proceeds around the other speakers without issue.
>
>
> Oddly, this configuration was all working fine until a week ago or so
> and the only change I can think of was the Shield update.
>
Which update was this? I just received notification today of 7.1 update
but I did not apply it yet. I am still on 7.0.2.

I did find that setting fixed volume off on teh shield prduces the
crackle if I adjust volume, so I always leave it as fixed volume.

My setup is shield to TV, and TV digital out to receiver. My receiver
does not support hdmi, but tjhe audio gets passed through to the optical
output. The receiver confirms via display that it is decoding Dolby Digital.

Peter
_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 9/19/18 11:45 AM, Peter Bennett wrote:
> I tried the latest build on my surround system and Dolby Digital works
> fine. I am running version 7.0.2 of the shield experience.
>
>
> On 09/18/2018 11:45 PM, Michael wrote:
>> My basic configuration is the shield is plugged into a yamaha
>> receiver and the receiver then drives the TV.  Speaker config is 5.1
>>
>>
>> Under the shield settings for video/audio advanced:
>>
>> Surround auto
> I found before that I had to set Surround to "Always" for it to work.
> However Surround "Auto" now works for me, but I prefer to leave it as
> "Always".
>>
>> stereo upmix off
>>
>> fixed volume yes
>>
>>
>> In MythTV:
>>
>> Dolby Digital yes
>>
>> DTS yes
>>
>> EAC3, TrueHD, and DTS HD are not selectable and I can't even move to
>> them - not sure why as my receiver supports all three
>>
>>
>> Speaker config is 5.1
>>
>> Upconvert stereo to 5.1 is yes, but I tried both ways
> Preferably disable this.
>>
>> Use internal controls no
>>
>>
>> Even going into the test audio section can generate the crackle noise.
>>
>> Oddly, When just testing a single speaker like the left front, the
>> loud crackle seems to come from the center speaker.   It doesn't
>> matter which speaker is tested, the large crackle comes from the
>> center ( I believe ).    If I test all, I get the loud crackle and
>> then it proceeds around the other speakers without issue.
>>
>>
>> Oddly, this configuration was all working fine until a week ago or so
>> and the only change I can think of was the Shield update.
>>
> Which update was this? I just received notification today of 7.1
> update but I did not apply it yet. I am still on 7.0.2.
>
> I did find that setting fixed volume off on teh shield prduces the
> crackle if I adjust volume, so I always leave it as fixed volume.
>
> My setup is shield to TV, and TV digital out to receiver. My receiver
> does not support hdmi, but tjhe audio gets passed through to the
> optical output. The receiver confirms via display that it is decoding
> Dolby Digital.
>

Hi Peter,


I spent some time playing with this tonight.   I tried all of the
settings you mentioned about and I still am having the crackly sound
from the center regardless of what speaker is actually playing the the
start of a video or after seeking forward.


I am at a loss.    How can I get the logs from the frontend to see if
there is something obvious?


The update I was referring to was the 7.1 update.   I applied it around
7-10 days ago which is about the time this started. Unfortunately, I
can't say for certain thats when it started, but its the only thing I
can think of that changed.


Michael



_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 09/23/2018 10:41 PM, Michael wrote:
> Hi Peter,
>
>
> I spent some time playing with this tonight.   I tried all of the
> settings you mentioned about and I still am having the crackly sound
> from the center regardless of what speaker is actually playing the the
> start of a video or after seeking forward.
>
So it is ok most of the time, only gets static when starting or seeking?
How long does the static last?

I have noticed with digital audio, the sound does not start up
immediately after a seek forward, there is sometimes a second of delay.
Perhaps my sound system is able to ignore the beginning part of the
audio that yours is having trouble with.
Does this happen with pass through from a computer other than the shield?
>
> I am at a loss.    How can I get the logs from the frontend to see if
> there is something obvious?
>
>
> The update I was referring to was the 7.1 update.   I applied it
> around 7-10 days ago which is about the time this started.
> Unfortunately, I can't say for certain thats when it started, but its
> the only thing I can think of that changed.
>
>
> Michael

_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 9/24/18 9:55 AM, Peter Bennett wrote:
>
>
> On 09/23/2018 10:41 PM, Michael wrote:
>> Hi Peter,
>>
>>
>> I spent some time playing with this tonight.   I tried all of the
>> settings you mentioned about and I still am having the crackly sound
>> from the center regardless of what speaker is actually playing the
>> the start of a video or after seeking forward.
>>
> So it is ok most of the time, only gets static when starting or
> seeking? How long does the static last?
>
> I have noticed with digital audio, the sound does not start up
> immediately after a seek forward, there is sometimes a second of
> delay. Perhaps my sound system is able to ignore the beginning part of
> the audio that yours is having trouble with.
> Does this happen with pass through from a computer other than the shield?


Hi Peter,


Its more of an electronic screeching noise than static.   I could record
a short clip of it if you want to see it/hear it.


It happens about 75% of the time when starting a video or if I fast
forward (including commercial skip).    I have waited for 5-10 seconds
to see if it will go away but it doesn't.   A quick rewind makes it go
away 100% of the time.  It is annoying enough, we have started watching
commercials to avoid the sound.


Prior to the shield, I had a computer running MiniMyth2 and never saw
this issue.   I also didn't see this with the android packages on the
shield until just about ~10 days ago.   As I mentioned, the issue
appeared without any update to the mythtv package on the machine.   It
was the older August package.    In the interim, there was the Shield
7.1 update.  Then I updated to your Sept. package in hopes of a fix, but
it continues to exist.


> The update I was referring to was the 7.1 update.   I applied it
> around 7-10 days ago which is about the time this started.
> Unfortunately, I can't say for certain thats when it started, but its
> the only thing I can think of that changed.


How can I get the logs with adb?   I thought you had sent me a note
previously, but I am not finding it now.


Also, any thoughts on why the other pass through audio modes like EAC3,
TrueHD, etc are not even selectable?   Are those not supported on the
Shield?  When I try to scroll down to them, the menu just wraps between
Dobly and DTS and won't go down that far.


Michael

_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 9/24/18 9:55 AM, Peter Bennett wrote:
>
>
> On 09/23/2018 10:41 PM, Michael wrote:
>> Hi Peter,
>>
>>
>> I spent some time playing with this tonight.   I tried all of the
>> settings you mentioned about and I still am having the crackly sound
>> from the center regardless of what speaker is actually playing the
>> the start of a video or after seeking forward.
>>
> So it is ok most of the time, only gets static when starting or
> seeking? How long does the static last?
>
> I have noticed with digital audio, the sound does not start up
> immediately after a seek forward, there is sometimes a second of
> delay. Perhaps my sound system is able to ignore the beginning part of
> the audio that yours is having trouble with.
> Does this happen with pass through from a computer other than the shield?


Hi Peter,


I was wondering if you had any other thoughts on the issue I was having
with my shield.


I currently have stereo upmix turned off on the shield.    If I play
videos, randomly I get this screeching noise when starting a video or
some times after fast forwarding.    Rewinding or pausing for 3-4
seconds often fixes the issue (until a commercial skip, etc ).


Tonight I decided to do a little more testing.  I turned on stereo upmix
and I could essentially ONLY get the screeching sound so I obviously
turned that back off.   Should it also be off in the mythtv settings?


I did recently update to the
mythfrontend-20181102-arm64-v30-Pre-921-g35f94663d71 version w/ no
change in behaviour.


Any thoughts?


Michael




_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 11/13/18 9:06 PM, Michael wrote:
>
> Hi Peter,
>
>
> I was wondering if you had any other thoughts on the issue I was
> having with my shield.
>
>
> I currently have stereo upmix turned off on the shield.    If I play
> videos, randomly I get this screeching noise when starting a video or
> some times after fast forwarding.    Rewinding or pausing for 3-4
> seconds often fixes the issue (until a commercial skip, etc ).
>
>
> Tonight I decided to do a little more testing.  I turned on stereo
> upmix and I could essentially ONLY get the screeching sound so I
> obviously turned that back off.   Should it also be off in the mythtv
> settings?
>
>
> I did recently update to the
> mythfrontend-20181102-arm64-v30-Pre-921-g35f94663d71 version w/ no
> change in behaviour.
>

Just another data point.   I bought another Shield TV this week for the
loft TV.    Very different TV model and same receiver brand ( but
different model ).


I started with a new fresh profile and am having the same audio issues
with this one too.


I never had issues with either of these TVs or receivers with the old
minimyth2 frontends.


Michael


_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 11/18/18 4:35 PM, Michael wrote:
> On 11/13/18 9:06 PM, Michael wrote:
>>
>> Hi Peter,
>>
>>
>> I was wondering if you had any other thoughts on the issue I was
>> having with my shield.
>>
>>
>> I currently have stereo upmix turned off on the shield.    If I play
>> videos, randomly I get this screeching noise when starting a video or
>> some times after fast forwarding.    Rewinding or pausing for 3-4
>> seconds often fixes the issue (until a commercial skip, etc ).
>>
>>
>> Tonight I decided to do a little more testing.  I turned on stereo
>> upmix and I could essentially ONLY get the screeching sound so I
>> obviously turned that back off.   Should it also be off in the mythtv
>> settings?
>>
>>
>> I did recently update to the
>> mythfrontend-20181102-arm64-v30-Pre-921-g35f94663d71 version w/ no
>> change in behaviour.
>>
>
> Just another data point.   I bought another Shield TV this week for
> the loft TV.    Very different TV model and same receiver brand ( but
> different model ).
>
>
> I started with a new fresh profile and am having the same audio issues
> with this one too.
>
>
> I never had issues with either of these TVs or receivers with the old
> minimyth2 frontends.
>
>
> Michael
>
>
In Audio setup, under Digital Audio capabilities, do you have anything
selected? Disable all of the check boxes there (Dolby Digital, etc.).
Also turn off stereo upconvert and set speaker configuration to Stereo.

Peter
_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 11/18/18 2:46 PM, Peter Bennett wrote:
>
>
> On 11/18/18 4:35 PM, Michael wrote:
>> On 11/13/18 9:06 PM, Michael wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Peter,
>>>
>>>
>>> I was wondering if you had any other thoughts on the issue I was
>>> having with my shield.
>>>
>>>
>>> I currently have stereo upmix turned off on the shield.    If I play
>>> videos, randomly I get this screeching noise when starting a video
>>> or some times after fast forwarding. Rewinding or pausing for 3-4
>>> seconds often fixes the issue (until a commercial skip, etc ).
>>>
>>>
>>> Tonight I decided to do a little more testing.  I turned on stereo
>>> upmix and I could essentially ONLY get the screeching sound so I
>>> obviously turned that back off.   Should it also be off in the
>>> mythtv settings?
>>>
>>>
>>> I did recently update to the
>>> mythfrontend-20181102-arm64-v30-Pre-921-g35f94663d71 version w/ no
>>> change in behaviour.
>>>
>>
>> Just another data point.   I bought another Shield TV this week for
>> the loft TV.    Very different TV model and same receiver brand ( but
>> different model ).
>>
>>
>> I started with a new fresh profile and am having the same audio
>> issues with this one too.
>>
>>
>> I never had issues with either of these TVs or receivers with the old
>> minimyth2 frontends.
>>
>>
>> Michael
>>
>>
> In Audio setup, under Digital Audio capabilities, do you have anything
> selected? Disable all of the check boxes there (Dolby Digital, etc.).
> Also turn off stereo upconvert and set speaker configuration to Stereo.


Hi Peter,


I played with variations of those capabilities today.  If I enable Dolby
Digital, I get the weird distortion issue.  Doesn't seem to matter what
the other options are in terms of generating the noise.  Both receivers
support Dolby Digital, so I am not sure what the issue might be.


I also noticed that even though my receivers support EAC3, TrueHD, and
DTS HD, those are not selectable in the MythTV menu. The menu items are
there, but if I scroll up/down, it just cycles between Dolby Digital and
DTS.


Michael


_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On Wed, Nov 21, 2018 at 1:28 PM Michael <mythtv@blandford.net> wrote:

> On 11/18/18 2:46 PM, Peter Bennett wrote:
> >
> >
> > On 11/18/18 4:35 PM, Michael wrote:
> >> On 11/13/18 9:06 PM, Michael wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Hi Peter,
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I was wondering if you had any other thoughts on the issue I was
> >>> having with my shield.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I currently have stereo upmix turned off on the shield. If I play
> >>> videos, randomly I get this screeching noise when starting a video
> >>> or some times after fast forwarding. Rewinding or pausing for 3-4
> >>> seconds often fixes the issue (until a commercial skip, etc ).
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Tonight I decided to do a little more testing. I turned on stereo
> >>> upmix and I could essentially ONLY get the screeching sound so I
> >>> obviously turned that back off. Should it also be off in the
> >>> mythtv settings?
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> I did recently update to the
> >>> mythfrontend-20181102-arm64-v30-Pre-921-g35f94663d71 version w/ no
> >>> change in behaviour.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Just another data point. I bought another Shield TV this week for
> >> the loft TV. Very different TV model and same receiver brand ( but
> >> different model ).
> >>
> >>
> >> I started with a new fresh profile and am having the same audio
> >> issues with this one too.
> >>
> >>
> >> I never had issues with either of these TVs or receivers with the old
> >> minimyth2 frontends.
> >>
> >>
> >> Michael
> >>
> >>
> > In Audio setup, under Digital Audio capabilities, do you have anything
> > selected? Disable all of the check boxes there (Dolby Digital, etc.).
> > Also turn off stereo upconvert and set speaker configuration to Stereo.
>
>
> Hi Peter,
>
>
> I played with variations of those capabilities today. If I enable Dolby
> Digital, I get the weird distortion issue. Doesn't seem to matter what
> the other options are in terms of generating the noise. Both receivers
> support Dolby Digital, so I am not sure what the issue might be.
>
>
> I also noticed that even though my receivers support EAC3, TrueHD, and
> DTS HD, those are not selectable in the MythTV menu. The menu items are
> there, but if I scroll up/down, it just cycles between Dolby Digital and
> DTS.
>
>
> Michael


Michael,

Just as another data point, I also have never gotten anything other than
stereo to work via the nVidia Shield. At this point I have tried a few
different Shields hooked up to a few different receivers, and Dolby Digital
does not work with any of them. I assume we (MythTV) are not configuration
the audio subsystem correctly, but have not had the time to dig into it.

John
Re: Audio distortion issue on Nvidia Shield [ In reply to ]
On 11/21/18 3:31 PM, John P Poet wrote:
> Just as another data point, I also have never gotten anything other
> than stereo to work via the nVidia Shield.   At this point I have
> tried a few different Shields hooked up to a few different receivers,
> and Dolby Digital does not work with any of them.  I assume we
> (MythTV) are not configuration the audio subsystem correctly, but have
> not had the time to dig into it.
>
> John
>
It was working for me last time I had the shield hooked up to a sound
system. I plan to get back to it sometime to see if it has regressed.
Note that it is necessary to set Surround Sound on the shield audio
settings to get it to work. (see
https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Android#Digital_Audio)

Peter
_______________________________________________
mythtv-dev mailing list
mythtv-dev@mythtv.org
http://lists.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-dev
http://wiki.mythtv.org/Mailing_List_etiquette
MythTV Forums: https://forum.mythtv.org