Yorkie

Wouldn't playback volume information be added as meta-data? If so, volume normalisation wouldn't affect the music bit-stream but might affect how it comes across in comparisons because the amplifier volume setting is not consistent.

I'm an ex-TIDAL user, switched to Spotify and learned to love its music selection despite the loss of audio quality. Then I spotted that Deezer had gone lossless, and used Cebolla's method to stream it to my network using LMS. The audio quality surpasses TIDAL by a long way, but I was streaming TIDAL through that dreadful Kazoo interface and something nasty may have been happening at bit level. Partly because I don't have good access to the Deezer interface, partly because I'm used to Spotify, partly because Spotify have got it well sorted, I'm still using Spotify to discover music and put together playlists. I then synch accounts to enjoy Deezer. There's a slight problem that Spotify's learning algorithms are not fed well as they don't know what is being played most, so I need to keep using Spotify for real, trying not to wince at the compression noise. It's not perfect, but it works.

I've found the log file. What should I be looking for?

The slider continues to slide to the end of the track. The problem happens maybe twice a day, so it's hard to catch it in action. It usually misses the last twenty seconds or so of a track.

Thank you for this, John. I've updated Java, although it is set to update every week, so I'm not sure this will help. Whether it is set up properly, I don't know, it's just a standard set-up. I don't know if the slider was sliding or not, we had guests throughout the time it was playing up and I didn't check. I will do next time. Can't find any sign of the logs, I'm guessing the Windows geeks have decided the users needn't see them. On reflection, the computer has been running a bit like a sick pig since the update, so as it is proxying the stream, it could be the computer at fault. I had wondered about putting Bubble Server on an Android device instead, but if it proxies the stream, this is perhaps not a good idea, as it pushes it all through wi-fi.

I upgraded Windows 10 last week, a major upgrade which neatly ring-fenced Bubble Server and Linn Kazoo, making them unavailable until I had uninstalled and reinstalled them. Part of the DNLA anti-FLAC campaign, I suppose. But since then, I've noticed that tracks frequently go silent for the last minute or so of play, then the following track begins OK. This happens maybe a couple of times in each hour of play. This seems unlikely to be a Bubble Server problem, but it did begin with the Win 10 upgrade and Win 10 only affects Bubble Server, hence my suspicions. Can anyone advise on possible problem, potential solution or how to begin tracking the problem down? Louise TIDAL. Win10 - Bubble Server. Android phone control points / Linn Kazoo. UPnP OpenHome. Marantz SR6009 AVR.

I'm running Linn Kazoo version 4.8.1159. It constantly prompts me to install a newer version. I relented and installed the new version only to find it didn't work, and then spent an hour searching out the old version download again. Is there any way of stopping it prompting me to install the new version It's becoming irritating! Louise

Sadly, none of the solutions proposed are flyers, too expensive or too complicated, or most likely, both It seems that the only practical way is to continue processing the signal as at present, through the AVR, and then try to divide the output, so that at least at this point it is cohesive and with no time lags. From this point normally I would look to the Zone2 outputs to take either a power output to the second set of speakers (albeit problematic because it's a long way and there's no way to conceal the cables) or take a signal from there via something like https://www.cnet.com/products/rocketfish-universal-wireless-rear-speaker-kit/review/ and hope to find a way to delay the signal to the fronts. But I'm using Zone 2 already to bi-amp the fronts, as the AVR is not powerful enough to run them on 2 channels. Maybe I could use a wireless speaker transmitter taking signal from the pre-amps outs. I have no idea how this would work. Any ideas, anyone? Louise

It took me months to discover the cause of network instability which was making my AVR unusable. Members of this group tried to help, and those of another forum too. Finally, Marantz told me to move my router away from my TV box, even though it was the AVR which appeared to have the problem. With several metres between the router and both the TV box and the AVR, all was sweetness and light. From a network which fell over every day and took the AVR's network settings down with it to a perfectly behaved system. I'm sharing this because I haven't seen anything written on this, so if you're having a stability problem, here's a possible cause. Louise

Does this mean I've arrived? After all the struggles, can I now pin a badge to my chest saying AudioPhile?

No dealers anywhere near here. The nearest, when I asked originally about speakers to go with my AVR, pulled out a trade catalogue, rifled through it, pointed to a pair of Focal Chorus speakers and told me they were the ones I wanted. "Can I listen?" I asked. "Oh, no, we don't stock any speakers here, you have to buy them" "But if I don't like them, will you take them back?" "Of course, of course, no problem..." "Good" "...but there'll be a 15% restocking charge, of course". I found the Chorus in Richer Sounds and hated them on sight, so ugly, and the sound was pretty much the same as the appearance. So I went to Yorkshire, yes, to listen to speakers (Eric Wiley, Castleford, superb) and chose the MA Golds. £200 to ship to France, but they were around about two thirds the price I'd have paid in France. This all makes setting up a system very difficult, and forums such as this have helped enormously by concentrating the focus and avoiding a lot of pitfalls before I've actually fallen into them. Nevertheless, it took me 18 months to sort out the first decent system, and another four when I changed my ISP last October and screwed it all up again.

John, you point to an elephant in the room which I have been avoiding! Synchronization may or may not be an issue, I just don't know how a time delay between music played in the lounge and music played in the kitchen will affect listening. If it's a minor processing delay, it will probably not be a big issue, but if one system does gapless and the other doesn't, it's not going to work. I can't use CCA or Cobblestone for the main system because they don't offer the audio quality, based on their being very inexpensive renderer / DACs. Louise

This looks like a solution to the problem, thank you very much Louise

I've studied this excellent article before, it helped me get the main system set up. I'm just not sure exactly where this new stuff, the Cobblestone and the wi-fi speakers fit into the hierarchy. Is the Cobblestone the renderer and DAC, feeding an audio signal to the speakers? Is the wireless link between speakers and Cobblestone or the network and the Cobblestone?

Excuse me being a bit dense, I'm on a leaning curve yet again! I understand (just!) the system I've put together so far: Tidal, Bubble server, control point, network data stream, AVR (consisting of renderer, DAC and amp stages). In a wireless speaker system, which bit is which? What is the architecture? Louise