islandraider

I have Pure Music, also, which I do like but has had some problems. I may try the other players you recommend. Also, I do keep a back up hard drive & will continue to do so. About the external hard drives are you guys using solid state or spinning? If spinning, are there quieter ones?

I gave my complete collection to a friend recently. He has the whole thing, in its entirety. I copied the files to his hard drive back in December. When this recent problem started, I checked with him to see if he had modified it at all & he told me he has not had the time to even hook it up!!! Assuming that this problem started after December, I might get very, very lucky (as a result of generosity!). Regarding your firewire question... I was under the impression that if you go out of the server (Mac Mini) via USB, you should go into the server using a different interface, like firewire. So, what I have been doing is: External hard drive>out via firewire into Mac Mini>out via USB into Bifrost DAC. Weird question... Is there any way that Spotify might have contributed/caused this problem? I recently joined & have really enjoyed the diversity of music available. That said, it does seem to want to access the music on your machine, in addition to streaming music from other external sources. Could it have moved around/impacted the files? I would be interested if anyone else has had a problem that might be related to Spotify. Last thing: external hard drive recommendations? SSD is pricey... is it worth it? Thanks again!

I don't notice clicking sounds normally, but I did hear some while it was doing the First Aid test in Disc Utility. Will try lasker's idea. Computer is really struggling to even read the individual files on the external hard drive using finder. I am trying to get to one of the files to copy it to the iMac hard drive. Double clicked on 'Compilations' & waited over 6 minutes & it would not open the folder with those files. And... I did hear some clicking. Not fast clicking. Not regular... 3 seconds between, then 5 seconds, then 1 second, then 20 seconds. Using finder, I can access folders normally on the iMac hard drive. I tried a second song that had skipping. I was able to access the artist after waiting about 5 minutes. Was able to access the song. Clicked on copy, then went to the iTunes directory on the iMac & hit paste. Waited about 8 minutes & got the following message: The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “1-11 My Cup.m4a” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36) I don't think I am going to be able to try lasker's idea...

2nd test, same result: Volume OWC 1 appears to be ok. Any ideas? New hard drive? If yes, any suggestions on a 2TB firewire drive?

It appears to have finished (despite saying 5 hours a bit ago). Last two lines read: Volume OWC 1 appears to be OK. System check exit code is 0. The other lines in the details seem to be just indicating what was being checked (volumes, catalogs, etc.). I will run it again.

Thanks for the tips. First Aid/Verify going on now... says about 5 hours to go.

I have a little over 1TB used on a 2TB external hard drive. I will do some research on a disk doctor program. Everything else on both computers seems to be fine. Mini (primary music server) is running Yosemite 10.10.5, as is the iMac. Both skip.

Ok. An update... I have the iMac internal speakers on & I have heard numerous skips/dropouts. In fact it is doing it right now. When I hear the skips, I go to that song, right click on it, & go to 'Get Info', then click on 'File' to look at what the file format is. As I do this, the skips continue & there is sometimes a minute or more between my clicking & the computer doing the task, all the while the little rainbow wheel spins & spins. All of the files have been ALAC, but if memory serves I may have all ALAC files (maybe a few mp3s left over). Also, when I use finder to try and look at the individual songs (on the external hard drive) inside the artist>album folders, it is taking minutes after I click on the album for the computer to show the song files. This is with iTunes not playing a song. Assuming that I am going to need a new external hard drive. Will need 2TB minimum (have a little over 1TB in music files). Any ideas on a good one to get? I will not be getting the OWC 2TB Mercury Elite AL Pro again. It seems to spin even when the computer is turned off & is somewhat noisy. Also, is there any way to check the files to make sure they are all ok? Thanks again for all the help!

Thanks. Will do. This may take a while (got company arriving tomorrow), but I promise to let you know what I find!

Thanks for the ideas. I have started to make a list of tracks that skip & will note the file format of those songs. Player is iTunes (version is 12.6.1.27) Listening now through iMac internal speakers... ugh.

Thanks. Will give that a go!

Hi there. Just recently experiencing a severe problem where the playback skips in a pretty extreme manner. It will start of play a song, then the playback stops for a second or two, then resumes for a couple of seconds, then stops again for a second or two, etc. Unlistenable. It is not every song. I can listen w/o this issue for an hour or more, then... bam! Not sure if it is the DAC, or it could be the hard drive? To attempt diagnosis, I have tried a number of things: switched out the Bifrost & inserted the old Nuforce uDAC. Played fine for a while, but then got the weird skips/dropouts. Switched out the USB cord for a different one (b/w the Mini & the Bifrost), still got skips/dropouts. Moved the external hard drive & Bifrost to a different computer (2009 iMac), still got skips/dropouts. I guess at this point, signs point to the external hard drive being the culprit? Are the files likely corrupted? Any way to diagnose? Any thoughts or ideas on how best to fix & move forward are most welcome!!! System setup: Mac Mini Mid 2011 Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 Memory 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 Graphics AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB Software Mac OS X Yosemite iTunes: 12.6.1.27, 64-bit DAC: Schiit Bifrost connected via USB Music is mix of high resolution FLAC downloads converted to ALAC, some mp3s, and many CDs ripped & converted to ALAC. Music sample rate varies: most is 16/44.1, some higher resolution 24/48 24/192 Music is stored on OWC 2TB external hard drive (Mercury Elite AL Pro) connected via Fire Wire to Mac Mini Thank you in advance!

Any thoughts on the new upgraded USB Gen2 vs SPDIF into the BiFrost? Schiit seemed to prefer the SPDIF to the original USB. I would prefer to use USB with my system (firewire from external hard drive into Mac Mini > usb out to DAC). Thanks!

I just got back from spending some time away from the internet... if you expand this program, I would love to try Amarra. I have a friend that has it & has been very happy. Thanks! IR

First, thanks you guys for the ideas... much appreciated! So Melvin, no 'dropout problems' like Chris was referring to? I would really hate to buy a new DAC & find myself limited to 44.1. It appears from the initial comments that the 'SILFLEX Glass Toslink to Miniplug TOSLINK from Lifatech' is the way to go. Chris... is this one of the "heavier audiophile type cables that offer mini toslink" that you have had trouble with using a Mac Mini headphone jack? Thanks again! IR