Overlay of sound - gaps when playing from USB

[qwerter18]

Please add a feature, to use a 1-2 second overlay/mixing of songs. The time gap between the songs playing is unnaturally long.
Kind of a "look ahead" feature.

 

[hgo58]

Please add a feature, to use a 1-2 second overlay/mixing of songs. The time gap between the songs playing is unnaturally long.
Kind of a "look ahead" feature.

This depends on what service you are using. If the service cannot do it, then neither can the WiiM device.

 

[qwerter18]

Ah. Ok. When using Streams, that makes sense, but

I am using USB.
At the end of a song it takes approx 2 seconds until the next one from Playlist or folder is starting.
I hoped for a possibility to make the transition more seamless...
At least, play the next song right away, without the gap.

 

[harkpabst]

I don't think there's any additional delay caused by the WiiM Ultra, WiiM Amp Pro and WiiM Amp. They just play the music as it is stored. Audio plays are gapless in my experience.

BTW, @qwerter18 you posted this as a feature request for the WiiM Pro & WiiM Pro Plus, both of which don't feature a USB input. I will move it to a more appropriate sub-forum.

 

[qwerter18]

Super. I realized the wrong Pro/Plus after I posted...
(I came from Google search and ended up in this sub edit)
Thank you.

Unfortunately playback via USB seems to need a couple of seconds to load/start the new track, even if it knows what's coming up next.

 

[slartibartfast]

Super. I realized the wrong Pro/Plus after I posted...
(I came from Google search and ended up in this sub edit)
Thank you.

Unfortunately playback via USB seems to need a couple of seconds to load/start the new track, even if it knows what's coming up next.

Have you confirmed this by playing an album that needs to be played gapless like Dark Side Of The Moon?

 

[harkpabst]

Moved to "Troubleshoot WiiM Ultra issues".

Playback from USB storage is perfectly gapless, if everything works correctly. I just confirmed this with the Album Oxygene by Jean Michel Jarre.

What kind of storage device do you use with your Ultra (type, capacity, model, file system) and did you have the WiiM Home app build an "advanced" index of its contents?

 

[qwerter18]

Have you confirmed this by playing an album that needs to be played gapless like Dark Side Of The Moon?

It plays seamless...
No gaps between songs.
But choosing another song, or different position in the song takes about 5-8 sec. to load.

 

[qwerter18]

Moved to "Troubleshoot WiiM Ultra issues".

Playback from USB storage is perfectly gapless, if everything works correctly. I just confirmed this with the Album Oxygene by Jean Michel Jarre.

What kind of storage device do you use with your Ultra (type, capacity, model, file system) and did you have the WiiM Home app build an "advanced" index of its contents?

I use an older 2TB Toshiba HDD 2,5" External USB.

Do you think another storage might be quicker?
Sata SSD with adapter...
M2 SSD with adapter...
Designated external SSD like Cruicial X9?

 

[harkpabst]

It plays seamless...
No gaps between songs.
But choosing another song, or different position in the song takes about 5-8 sec. to load.

OK, now that's another issue, then, gapless playback works as expected.

I use an older 2TB Toshiba HDD 2,5" External USB.

Do you think another storage might be quicker?
Sata SSD with adapter...
M2 SSD with adapter...
Designated external SSD like Cruicial X9?

For one, good old fragmentation of the HDD could play a certain role, of course. This would most likely be random.

General read speed and access time are definitely not in favour of a 2.5" HDD. In addition to that, the maximum power consumption of this disk could be borderline critical, if it doesn't have a dedicated PSU. The WiiM Ultra can supply up to 1.75 A of current max. When this limit is touched, the supply voltage will drop at least a little.

Did you have issues indexing the HDD after connecting it to the Ultra?

Any SSD based storage would address both issues, speed and power consumption.

 

[qwerter18]

I will look for an SSD then!

I just measured all power consumptions with and without USB disk connected.
With the USB connected the consumption is 1.3 -1.5 W higher, than without.
But I got mostly pretty stable measurements with only little fluctuations depending on streaming provider and source.
For example Amazon Music: 6,7-6,8W
Spotify Connect: 6,9-7.1W
and so on... (with a delta of only 0,1W within each source)

Playing back from USB on the other hand -> the consumption varies a lot 7,5 - 8,1 W. with a delta of 0,6W
=> maybe this points also to a power problem. I dont know...

No issues with indexing at all, though.

Never the less, I will look out for an SSD.

 

[harkpabst]

Playing back from USB on the other hand -> the consumption varies a lot 7,5 - 8,1 W. with a delta of 0,6W
=> maybe this points also to a power problem. I dont know...

It's peak power (or more precisely peak current) that counts, not average power, so it fully depends on the inertia of your power meter how meaningful these measurements are.

No issues with indexing at all, though.

This is a bit surprising then. I would expect the indexing process to use quite a bit of power, because it involves intermittent reading and writing, but honestly that's just a gut feeling.

Never the less, I will look out for an SSD.

This is probably a good idea anyway. I have only ever tested USB memory keys up to 1 TB and had no issues.

Alternatively, you could first try to use a (high speed) powered USB hub, if you have access to one. This would rule out the power dependency (but not the potential transfer rate/access time issue, of course).

 

[qwerter18]

Yes. I don't think it is accurate at all...
Maybe to know the ballpark I'm in.
I used to measure my Coffeemachine, to see how much I spend on Coffee at home...
(248 Euro in 43 months...)

I was happily surprised by the possibility to connect a 10+ year old hdd without any issues.
Except for the (felt) time lag... (which obviously is in my head only)
So, now the music sounds even better, knowing everything runs like it should...