Stuttering issues on playback -

[tadol]

Hi all - I've run into a problem with my Channels DVR set-up - When playing recordings or even live TV, I have started getting a kind of stuttering on the audio - video plays perfectly, but occasionally the audio drops in/out like someone is switching it off and on maybe 8 to 10 times, then everything continues just fine. I had gotten used to some of this because I have a similar stuttering issue playing audio thru my HomePod minis from the AppleTV4K, but that is true stuttering, as though the audio and video are trying to re-sync, but this new problem is actually dropped audio, like its playing fine except someone is turning the volume off and on repeatedly -

This started when I moved my Channels DVR to a Synology NAS - reading the interwebs, I assumed it was a network issue, probably a problem with network traffic between the M1 mini running Channels, the NAS, and the Apple TV - all hardwired. SO I put everything back onto the USB drive connected directly to the mini, but am still occasionally getting this stuttering, both live and recorded (I do not know how to check if the recordings have stuttering embedded, or if it is in the playback). As stated, everything is hardwired, and speedtest on the Apple TV, or on the Ubiquiti router, is showing 900+mbps up and down -

Thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated, as it is incredibly irritating -

On a separate note - in doing troubleshooting for all this, I replaced one of my HDhomerun Extends with a HDHomerun HDFX-4k(?) - basically getting a couple more tuners, and seeing if this gets better OTA signal? No conclusion on that yet - BUT - after unplugging one of the Extends and using the same antenna cable and ethernet cable to plug in the 4K, the Channels DVR server still shows me as having 2 Extends as well as the HDFX-4K - I cannot find a way to update the device list to remove it. And - I can change the priority, so should the 4K take priority over the extend, or vice-versa, or no difference?

Thanks!

[Morris_Altman]

As the recordings are USB attached to your mini, explore the USB drive and you will find the recordings. Play that has stuttering directly from the mini. This will let you know if the stuttering is in the recording or happening over your network.

If stuttering is traced to your network, move devices all to the same switch or router. If you have more than one switch or router, try each separately. Replace the one that is causing the problems.

[tadol]

OK - I’ve got it all back onto the USB drive attd to the mini, re-started the router, so its all as good as it ever was -

I watched a recording from last night (while still storing on NAS) and when I found an instance of the volume on/off/on/off/on/off sequence, I rewound and replayed, and it was no longer there - it played through smoothly. Then, I started watching the Newhour, while freshly being recorded to the USB drive, and found a similar audio on/off issue, that also did not repeat when I rewound and replayed the section. So, it is definitely not a problem with the data being recorded, but just a playback issue -

I’ve got Sonic fiber, Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro router fully updated, hardwired to an AppleTV 4K, which also reports over 900mbps up&down. And it’s only the audio - the video plays through just fine, so I’m thinking its not another device on the network interfering - might it be possible its a commercial skip issue? I can’t imagine anything else to check -

[tmm1]

Change Settings > Playback > Advanced > Audio Driver

[Morris_Altman]

Hi TMM1,

You provided a similar fix for me related to video playback and I've seen it for many others. I'm thinking a setup wizard that tested these sort of things could reduce the number of support issues.

Thank you for all your help and the great DVR,

Morris

[tadol]

After some searching, I did finally find an audio driver option on the AppleTV app - so I’ve set that to “experimental” - I’ll keep fingers crossed while I watch more TV and hope that solves it! I may even try it to see if it solves my homepod mini stuttering problem!

[tadol]

OK - reporting back after running it for over a week - the "experimental" audio setting seems to be a winner! It would be very cool if there were a way to control all devices connecting to the DVR through the settings interface, rather than having to go to each device, but as long as it keeps working this well - I'm happy!

[passband]

I found this thread after searching for audio clicking on Channels DVR playback, but in my case the issue occurs regularly on recent and fully updated iPhones. The experimental audio driver selection solved it for me on 2 iPhones. Note that the explanation of the experimental driver says that it provides better AirPlay 2 support.

[tadol]

I've learned to live with the stuttering issue - it's infrequent, and only on Channels recordings, and mostly on AppleTVs that are connected wifi, so I am assuming it will someday get resolved if others report an issue. It does seem to be an Airplay issue, as we are using HomePod minis for audio, and those are the only audio devices that have this issue. They also have a maddening problem that when you shut down a recorded Channels show with the AppleTV remote, and turn off the Apple TV, you will sometimes (too often) find the audio channel suddenly starts playing at the point you turned off, and if you restart the AppleTV, the video is synced to the ongoing audio. To avoid that, we stop the show, wait, back all the way out of Channels to the AppleTV main screen, and then power off.

Yelling at Siri to turn off seems to work usually, too -