Stuttering audio on some channels

[MJEFisher]

Good morning - I hope I've supplied enough information to get help from the experts

SYSTEM:

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
2 x SKNET MonsterX3 BDA DVB-T tuners which are getting the signal via rooftop aerial
[terrestrial broadcast from the Sutton Coldfield mast, West Midlands, UK]
NVPR 3.7.7 with 11 channels the same on both tuners [copied across automatically by NVPR]
EPG set up correctly

PROBLEM:

[1] The 6 'radio' channels have stuttering audio when I live stream them
[Channels: BBC radio 2, 3, 4, 4Extra, 6 & World Service]

[2] But if I record a radio channel that stutters it doesn't stutter in playback

[3] The 5 'TV' channels are perfect streaming live video & perfect streaming live audio with no stutter at all
[Channels: BBC 1, 2, 4, BBC News & Film4]

BACKGROUND:

I used Windows Media Center to live stream & record for a few years with no problems
[Same PC, same cards, same channels & same broadcast mast & aerial]
I decided to try NPVR + Kodi because WMC is slow, poorly designed & no plugins really
So I disabled WMC in Windows & set up NPVR + Kodi

WHAT I'VE TRIED:

Firewall & AV exceptions
Moving the buffer directory location
All the different decoders available to me in NPVR on my system
Closed Kodi & the stuttering still happens on 'radio' when using just NPVR
Downloaded, installed the SAF file & rebooted - no improvement

LOGS:

[1] "BBC1TV" = No problem live streaming BBC1 TV
[2] "Radio4extra" = Stuttering audio
[3] "AfterSAFinstall" = no improvement

Thank you!
MJEF

[Graham]

Good morning - I hope I've supplied enough information to get help from the experts

You will have to make do with me until the experts get here. NextPVR uses a .ini file that contains a list of the frequencies that are to be scanned to find channels. I suspect that the .ini file for your transmitter that is supplied with NextPVR may be out of date. What happens if you scan again using "All Regions All Frequencies" in the dropdown list?

[MJEFisher]

...suspect that the .ini file for your transmitter that is supplied with NextPVR may be out of date. What happens if you scan again using "All Regions All Frequencies"...

Hi Graham. Good suggestion. Tried it just now with no improvement resulting.

I'm attaching images of my settings:

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[MJEFisher]

One last image: [ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

[ACTCMS]

I've attached an up to date version of your .ini file.

Unzip it into C:\Users\Public\NPVR\Tuning\DVB-T overwriting the old version and re-scan.

Alex

[Graham]

Tried it just now with no improvement resulting.

The frequencies that you are tuned to match ... https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Sutton_Coldfield ... so no problem there.

I have just tried to listen to Radio 4 Extra "live" and it seems that I have the same symptoms that you do ... there is a momentary pause in the sound every few seconds and a tiny moment of sound is lost.

NextPVR writes a disk file while playing live broadcasts to enable pause and rewind of live broadcasts. What happens if you pause the live broadcast ... wait for about 10 or 20 or 30 seconds and then press play?

[MJEFisher]

...just tried to listen to Radio 4 Extra "live" and it seems that I have the same symptoms that you do ... there is a momentary pause in the sound every few seconds and a tiny moment of sound is lost. NextPVR writes a disk file while playing live broadcasts to enable pause and rewind of live broadcasts. What happens if you pause the live broadcast ... wait for about 10 or 20 or 30 seconds and then press play?

Well that fixes it! Thank you. I played R2 [stutter], paused it & played [good audio now]
Then I switched to R4Extra & got stutter until I paused & played

I notice also that NPVR is a touch unstable [or it's my settings in Windows or NPVR] - sometimes the program freezes & I have to close & relaunch. This happens when scanning for the EPG for the first time completes.

QUESTIONS
Is there a fix that doesn't require this pause/play procedure each time I stream digital radio?

Why isn't there also a stutter problem with the 'TV' stations? Why only 'radio'?

When I right-click the NPVR screen the mouse context menu contains an item "Audio Stream" with two fly-out options "disabled" & "eng" [for engage?] response time on these is slow - 3 or 4 seconds. Is that normal?

I turn off my PC every day. When bootup finishes I note that the NVPR Device Status icon in the Windows system tray is turned off - I have to start the recording service & yet in Windows services it's listed as "Automatic". Is this normal given that the service is "started" when I close my PC?

[MJEFisher]

I've attached an up to date version of your .ini file. Unzip it and re-scan. Alex

Thanks Alex - same numbers as the old one, but some extra lines - so I've just done the overwrite - will report back on the result - although I'm not hopeful. Interested to see what new stations appear under those extra frequencies [if that the term for those extra lines in the digital world]

[sub]

I notice also that NPVR is a touch unstable [or it's my settings in Windows or NPVR] - sometimes the program freezes & I have to close & relaunch. This happens when scanning for the EPG for the first time completes.

You'd probably need to post the logs so we can see what's happening with this.

When I right-click the NPVR screen the mouse context menu contains an item "Audio Stream" with two fly-out options "disabled" & "eng" [for engage?] response time on these is slow - 3 or 4 seconds. Is that normal?

'eng' is the 3 letter language tag the broadcaster has given for this stream. ie, English. It can take a few seconds, it depends on few things like decoders you're using, and how big the offset between audio and video packets is in the stream.

I turn off my PC every day. When bootup finishes I note that the NVPR Device Status icon in the Windows system tray is turned off - I have to start the recording service & yet in Windows services it's listed as "Automatic". Is this normal given that the service is "started" when I close my PC?

Are you saying the NPVR Recording Service is not starting automatically when you machine boots? Any error message in the Windows Event Viewer? Is a c:\users\public\npvr\logs\nrecord.log created at the time you booted, and does it have any errors listed?

[ACTCMS]

Thanks Alex - same numbers as the old one, but some extra lines - so I've just done the overwrite - will report back on the result - although I'm not hopeful. Interested to see what new stations appear under those extra frequencies [if that the term for those extra lines in the digital world]

There were a couple of lines (1 and 4) in the original file which have changed.

Each line specifies a mux (Multiplexor) - each mux carries one or more channels...

You now have 9 mux's, three of which carry HD channels which require a DVB-T2 tuner.

Maybe do a scan then compress and attach your NPVR log.

Alex