cleanupkid

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Looking for advice please.
I have been using iTunes for several years, have a huge library, and have playlists.

I use a Synology DiskStation NAS drive and have purchased a Cambridge Audio 851N & 851A. Some of my music files are 320kbps MP3 and some are lossless Alac files ripped from my CDs which now live in the loft. I have noticed crackling in certain files (usually on intro and outro of songs) and it seems to be only on iTunes using airplay.
I have used the DS (Synology) Audio thingy and I find this horrifically slow (5 minutes to respond to skip/pause, etc), and maintaining playlists is a horrendous process

Please can someone recommend a good uPnP or DLNA program that I can use instead of iTunes, but must be compatible with the Synology Diskstation and compatible with my Cambridge Audio 851N. I am not worried about iPod or using my phone to store the music. But ideally can import and maintain my existing playlists, though this is not life or death.

Disclaimer : What I know about UpNp players and DLNA I could write on a postage stamp.

Any help is HUGELY appreciated, as this random and seemingly unsolveable crackling in airplay is doing my head in
 
I am now confused... When we discussed this, previously. , I , we came to a conclusion that the crackling was likely to be an artefact created by using a different ripping program than the one included with iTunes. My assumption was that meta data was encoded along with the music file and that iTunes tried to play this as music....
Are you now saying that if you encode ..rip CDs using the ripping software included in iTunes, that you will still get the crackling noises , when you subsequently play the same music with iTunes? . In your previous response you indicated that an iTunes rip and an iTunes play did not have the crackle.
If the situation is as expressed in the first paragraph above, then the only software which will give crackle less sound, would most likely be the companion software to that of the ripping software and from the same vendor.
 
Hi Dannnielll. Yes you helped me identify the source of the issue. Many thanks.
I pinned it down to something between the airplay and my DAC. The files play flawlessly in other players to it. But iTunes, the same tracks crackled in the same places, no matter what format they were ripped in (Alac, MP3 etc)
I have installed minimservcer and have that up and running now, only trouble is that it does not find any Alac files. So a long weekend of re-ripping my cds is on the horizon.
 
I'm sorry to be harping on about this but have you actually ripped tracks using the iTunes programme only?. That is put a CD into the computer, select the itunes program and select the best iTunes format..ALC?? And let it rip the CD. Then ensuring that this is the one you are using, and not some previous version, play it through your system.
I ask this because you have not definitely said you have done so, and because it is difficult to believe that Apple ,would have made such a cockup in their software.
 
When you say crackle in the same places, have you looked at the CD's to see if they have any marks on them as clicking can indicate scratches and if your importing music files from a CD which is scratch but still readable, it will add them too.

If you are wanting to ensure your music is being archived correctly EAC and dBPowerAmp are good programs.

Also you mentions iTunes and that your music is stored in the loft, how are you transporting the data down to the electronics? wirelessly, ethernet cable, mains powerling network convertor?
 
Also you mentions iTunes and that your music is stored in the loft
I read that as the archived CDs are stored in the loft, not the digital library.

Lots of confusing stuff here & I'm not going to search out the previous thread. So:

If you have a CA streamer, why aren't you using the CA app?

You want alternative control software but for what platform? iOS, Android, Windows, something else?

I'm confused as to where iTunes now figures? The library should be indexed by Minimserver & the CA control app should be pointed to Minimserver & also used for playback.

Minimserver supports MP4 so should see Apple files. I'm not familiar with it but you generally have to tell a DLNA server where to look. How is your library organised & is Minimserver definitely pointing to the right place? But maybe concentrate on MP3 for now & come back to that as a separate issue.

There are a number of methods of batch converting MP4 to either MP3 or FLAC. So no re-ripping will be necessary except to anything ripped to lossy that you now want lossless.

It would probably be helpful if you posted exactly what your setup is, how it's connected & what software is running where & why.
 
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Hi all.
YEs definitely the issue is exclusive to iTunes, as other players all work flawlessly.
Getting to grips now with Minimserver, a steep learning curve.

It seems Airplay is teh issue. MAybe my souncard plays a part? But yes the files and the original cds are flawless, as soon as I play through iTunes there is the crackle.

Thanks for your help
 
and because it is difficult to believe that Apple ,would have made such a cockup in their software.

I have no trouble at all believing that Apple could make crappy products/software that dont work properly and that are incompatible with every other product and standard known to man. I've seen it too often.
 
Please can someone recommend a good uPnP or DLNA program that I can use instead of iTunes, but must be compatible with the Synology Diskstation and compatible with my Cambridge Audio 851N. I am not worried about iPod or using my phone to store the music.

If you have a PC you can install Foobar2000 with its uPNP/DLNA server plugin. This will work with all your audio files on the NAS without the slightest difficulty. It is also completely free and very fast. And if ever you really needed to recode a file from one format to another, it can do that too. In fact I dont think that there is much that it cant do with audio files.

I use Foobar on my PC with my D-link NAS and it works perfectly with all my audio file formats, right up to SACD ISOs and DVD-Audio files. It can also be fully remote controlled from any Android device on the same network. Try doing any of that with Apple.
 
The crackling would appear to be due to iTunes attempting to read metadata as music, and not due to defects in the CDs. The OP says they occur after and before the actual music. I have surmised that the ripping software chosen by this OP encoded it's metadata in a unique format. I could be wrong, but This is why i requested that he rip and play a few CDs entirely using the Apple software. I am not sure he has as yet done so.
If the crackling is embedded in the data file, there is no simple solution or batch file correction. And the entire library would need to be rescanned, or different playing software used, which was designed to handle the metadata
 
If the crackling is embedded in the data file, there is no simple solution or batch file correction. And the entire library would need to be rescanned, or different playing software used, which was designed to handle the metadata

He has mentioned already that all other players play the files without any trouble. So presumably the fault must be with iTunes and no recoding or re-ripping should be needed.
 
He has indeed, but there are sufficient discrepancies, . There have been private messages . There could be a fundemental incompatibility between the ability of iTunes and the software originally used..that would not be a fault of Apple, which anticipates the user living within its ecosystem.
 
Hi all.
YEs definitely the issue is exclusive to iTunes, as other players all work flawlessly.
Getting to grips now with Minimserver, a steep learning curve.

It seems Airplay is teh issue. MAybe my souncard plays a part? But yes the files and the original cds are flawless, as soon as I play through iTunes there is the crackle.

Thanks for your help

I can readily believe the original CDs are flawless. Please clarify what other player(s) you are using that give the flawless playback, and describe the path in each case.
As I said previously, the soundcard is only relevent if you are playing the cd or file through the laptop.
 
I have a similar setup with Pc, iTunes, Nas, and Streamer. I have ripped my cd’s using iTunes to MP3. Created 50-100 playlists in iTunes. I am not using Airplay, because this would imply streaming music from the PC instead of the NAS.

I copied my MP3 files from the PC to the NAS. Next, I exported my Playlists from iTunes to a folder on my PC; these will show up as M3U files. I copied the M3U files to the NAS too.

The M3U files on the NAS will show up as Playlists on the Streamer, and on the app that comes with the Streamer. There is one requirement for this: the NAS needs to run a DLNA server like Minim (I use Twonky).

I ran into one problem: the M3U playlists generated by iTunes point to MP3 files on the PC, not on the NAS. You might have to change the path to the file in the M3U files. I did this with the search and replace function of a text editor, since M3U is basically a text file that you can edit with Notepad and the like.
 
Antwerphotel. Great thanks, where do you save the M3u files in the NAS?

So you do not really use iTunes at all?
Shame as their ratings and playlist system is great.
 
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He has mentioned already that all other players play the files without any trouble. So presumably the fault must be with iTunes and no recoding or re-ripping should be needed.

Synology DS Audio / VLC Player, Windows MEdia player. to name a few

The issue is 100% bwtween the iTunes airplay and the 851N, whether it is compatibility with high sample rate files is a possibility
 
Synology DS Audio / VLC Player, Windows MEdia player. to name a few

The issue is 100% bwtween the iTunes airplay and the 851N, whether it is compatibility with high sample rate files is a possibility
You are continually jumping to conclusions in the absence of analysis. Now both myself on a few occasions and now crocodile have asked certain things of you and you have not concluded any of these....
 
Apologies, I am not as technical minded as you. I am basing my conclusin on the fact that the same files work perfectly with other players to the same device, but when I use iTunes on the same device I get crackles. Hence why my assumtion points to itunes compatibility with the 851n as the issue.
I have been open to other suggestions but haven't really had any.
 
Forgot to unsubscribe!

I have been open to other suggestions but haven't really had any.
:facepalm:

You've posted a series of random, incoherent snippets of information. You have been asked questions that try to establish your exact setup so that others can offer meaningful assistance. You've largely elected not to respond & certainly completely ignored my previous post. No one can help you if you refuse to answer questions asked of you... :rolleyes:
 
With respect I feel that I have clearly outlined what my setup is.
Mix of MP3 and ALAC files 320kbps-lossless stored on...
Diskstation Synology NAS 413j
Ethernet cable
Itunes
CA 851A
CA 851N

Apologies if I am missing something, but I can not see how I can add anything to that.
Anything specific??
 
Apologies, I am not as technical minded as you. I am basing my conclusin on the fact that the same files work perfectly with other players to the same device, but when I use iTunes on the same device I get crackles. Hence why my assumtion points to itunes compatibility with the 851n as the issue.
I have been open to other suggestions but haven't really had any.
This is going to be my FINAL comment, on this topic. You opened a discussion relating to crackling on many of your ripped CDs when played through an expensive streaming setup. You were apparently using an obscure ripping programme called Replay Music ,using one of its digital formats,... Format not confirmed or identified by you. You choose to play it back using ITunes, which may or may not use the same format.. there are a number of the formats which are not compatible,between those two pieces of software. You made a series of wild assumptions regarding quality of cabling, role of sound card and now speed of transmission through your network.
I suggested a line of inquiry for identifying where the crackling was coming from, and requested that you transfer a few of those files back to the pc and play them through the sound card, you said that the crackling remained. As a test that would have exonerated the entire streaming setup. Your response to that is to buy a new networking cable. Your current response is to blame data rates??
I asked you to confirm that the problem was a file ripping incompatibility by taking one of those CDs and ripping it through the iTunes system... As far as I understand you have not bothered to do that.. That was my suggestion which by my count you have not done after 4 suggestions... . So in the words of Dragons Den . I'm out
In addition, your place of residence has magically transferred from Hove, which if memory serves is somewhete in England to the usa
 
You mean apart from the one's I've asked already & you've ignored? o_O

Here are the 2 questions you've asked..
If you have a CA streamer, why aren't you using the CA app?

You want alternative control software but for what platform? iOS, Android, Windows, something else?

I have already said that I use the CA app and it works fine. I have also explained that I use iTunes because i haave several playlists etc...

I use windows.
 

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