Thread: New to computer audio with a vexing problem.

I've just discovered a bit of a curly problem with my mac mini/Audivarna music set up. It's a bit complicated so please bear with me. I've tried to explain it the best I can.

Firstly I'll need to explain my system. I'm using the mac mini with itunes and Audivarna Plus. For a screen I have the mac mini plugged in via hdmi to my Panasonic plasma hdmi to hdmi. I have all of my music on a separate HDD.

Today I used Audivarna to load music into Itunes and used the proxy setting on the slider of 'proxy only no music'. I had previously loaded the music with the proxy setting as 'no compression'. but found that it was loading all of the music onto the mac hdd and filling the mac hdd.

I'm not entirely sure how all of this works but I think that by loading the music as 'proxy only no music' it's just cataloging the files and Audivarna is still taking the original full non compressed files from the separate HDD.

I use my Panasonic plasma as the computer screen (I know plasmas arn't the best for computer screens but it's there and big enough for me to read from a distance).

I discovered a bit of a glitch in the system this morning. I had the plasma on displaying the mac mini screen display. I started some music up and all was good. I could see that the files were playing in their original form, ie: flac 24/96 or what ever they were. I then changed the input on the TV so I could have a look at some telly with the sound off and subtitles on. The music was still playing nicely. I then changed the input on the plasma back to the mac mini hdmi input and as it was switching over the music began to start playing the first second or less of each song on the playlist until it got to the bottom of the list. When I started the playlist from the top again it would just flick through each track playing the very first bit, less than a second and most times just a click or part note.

The only way I could get it to go back to normal playing was to exit both audivarna and itunes and then start them back up again.

Initially I thought that the tv remote was affecting the apple remote but covering the remote sensor on the mac mini took that out of the equation.

I found that I can have the music playing and switch back to the tv but if I go back to the mac mini hdmi input again it will start flicking through songs.

If I have the tv on with the mac mini hdmi input, turn it off and then turn it on again I get the songs flicking through again.

Of course, without being able to see what the mac mini is doing on the screen it makes it tough to choose music or flick through songs.

I have an Ipod Touch which I have set up as a remote which works well enough. This is fine but ultimately I'd like to get this problem sorted so I can change channels and inputs on plasma without having other issues.

I think what may be happening is that when the mac senses the hdmi input it reverts to playing the proxies rather than the files from the hdd. From memory I think I have the proxies saved on the mac hdd rather than the separate hdd.

I did import some music with Audivarna with the proxy setting at 'co compression' and tested the hdmi tv switching. It does cause the music to have a bit of a click or so but does keep playing the track. I assume this means that it's changing from playing the hdd file to the proxy file which wasn't compressed in any way.

I have tried the Itunes settings with both copy itunes files to media foldar when adding to library both on and off. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

I had the mac system preferences open today and accidentally turned the tv off. When I turned it back on I spotted the audio options for the mac audio output cycling between the hiface, the hdmi and the internal speakers. I'm not sure if this is an indication of the cause or the effect.

Any help would be appreciated.

Originally Posted by wgscott

Does this happen with Audirvana in "Hog Mode"? If you haven't, try that. Also, my mac mini did strange things when hooked up via HDMI to a receiver (Marantz) and then the TV. When I used one HDMI cable directly to the TV, it behaved fine. If the TV is sending a signal back to the mac mini, telling it to change the default sound output, that could be what is screwing it up.

Does the click only happen once when you switch the HDMI?

If Audirvana is doing iTunes integration, and I do something in iTunes, I can often induce a momentary glitch, from which it recovers.

I'm not sure if it's in 'hog mode'. I'm new to this so will have to search out 'hog mode'.

The HDMI is direct to the TV. I sent the query off to Audivarna and got their reply which I'll post below. It looks like a problem which I won't be able to fix. Basically it is the HDMI handshake causing the default output to change.

I sent the query off to Audivarna and they were good enough to get back to me. It seems that it's a handshake issue with the HDMI telling the Mac to change audio outputs. Looks like something that I won't be able to fix at my end.

I might have to try something else. Anybody tried Bitperfect or something different which can be used with Mac and Itunes?

Here's the reply from Audivarna:
Thank you for your interest in Audirvana Plus, and your thorough
investigation !
What happens is that when you switch back the TV hdmi input to the mac mini,
it resets the hdmi connection (handshake mechanism at plugin to discover TV
capabilities). This stops Audirvana Plus playback that may fall in error. If
you have a chance, you can make the test with having iTunes wind not full
screen, but shared with Audirvana Plus window so you can see that it is
stopped at this time.
So after this, it is iTunes who plays by itself the tracks, and as the proxy
with no sound contain no sound, iTunes can't play them by itself.
I'll try to find a workaround for this, but Direct Mode completion is my top
priority for now.
Best regards,

Originally Posted by wgscott

With all due respect, I believe Damien might be mistaken about this. I don't think the HDMI interaction is capable of automatically resetting the sound output. In any case, you might want to try the following:

1. Choose "Built-in Audio" as your default sound output.
2. In Audirvana Preferences, choose your DAC as the sound output for Audirvana, and check "exclusive or Hog" mode.

I'll give that a go. I wouldn't have thought that about the HDMI either but HDMI does do some strange things. I must get around to trying a different monitor and see if it has the same effect.

Originally Posted by Bob Stern

If the Mini doesn't like having its monitor disconnected, you can try connecting a dummy monitor to the Mini's second video output. It can be an old useless monitor that you hide on the floor, or it can be a Gefen DVI Detective, which will set you back $60:

Amazon.com: Gefen DVI Detective N: Electronics

Gefen, LLC - DVI Detective Plus

I use the Gefen box to run my Mini completely headless. (I cannot remember the difference between the N and Plus versions.)

(I also use the program SwitchRes X to set the virtual monitor to resolutions other than those offered by the Mac's display prefs.)

I'll have a look at this. The mac is in the lounge so there won't be any hiding of monitors or I'll be in big trouble.