Cracks while screen is off

[Michael]

Hi Neutron-Team,

since yesterday I am using the eval-version of the player and the gain of sound compared to the standard player is amazing. Well done!! I use the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (i9250).

But there is a little thing that reduces my joy: every some seconds the sound is distorted by a little crack. But this happens only when the screen is off either by time-out or by off-button. It happens with mp2, mp3 and FLAC (this is what I use).

Please check this and hopefully you can correct it.

Thank you.

Michael

[dmitrykos]

Hi Michael!

The crack you hear is probably due to your device having some background tasks which eat CPU time. Neutron is CPU intensive task and you really need to close some CPU hungry applications/processes. Do you have such? May be you are running custom ROM?

In normal conditions the background playback is fine.

Best regards,
Dmitry.

[Michael]

Hi Dimitry,
thanks for you answer.
I already checked the CPU usage. It is around 20% while Neutron-MP is playing (Galaxy Nexus has plenty of CPU-Power). Measured with app TimeLines Free. With this app I can monitor the CPU during screen is off. There is no shortage at this area. I have no custom ROM. All is original. No other background tasks (apps) running. And the latest Neutron-MP Version (1.45.1) is installed.
Michael

[dmitrykos]

Then may be there is something with thread scheduling in 4.+ Android. It was already modified in transition from 2.2 to 2.3. May be something was done in 4.0 or it is temporary bug. Could you try NEON version from Neutron's web site, will it be better?

[Michael]

Hi Dimitry,
thanks for you answer.
I installed the NEON-Version but there is no difference, unfortunately. What is the NEON-Version? Can I re-install my purchased version again? Is it of help for you when I send you a recording of the audible distortions?
Michael

[dmitrykos]

Hi Michael!

NEON is interchangeable with the one in the Android Market. Yes, you can uninstall this one and re-install from the market. But NEON's version is faster and you will get Android Market notifications as usual.

> send you a recording of the audible distortions?

It is not necessary. I understood what you meant and it happens due to ICS scheduler not working properly and not giving enough time slice to application, thus you get audio pops and clicks. Even though it may show you 20% of consumption. No other reason I could think of. Strangely I had reports of stable playback on Nexus with ICS. Currently I am waiting at least some more or less close to original ICS for Galaxy S II to test on it. Currently I can propose refunding your purchase (could you please e-mail me your Gmail account to neutronmp@gmail.com) and wait until this problem becomes sorted out.

One more last solution would be if you could tell me number in Settings -> Audio Hardware: HW Latency in (). What if you move HW Latency slider to around 150 ms. Will it work?

Dmitry.

[Michael]

Dear Dmitry,

thanks for the hint with the HW Latency.
The first time I changed this to about 300 and my problem was solved. But now it does not have any effect anymore. Every time the phone goes to I don't know what sleep mode, music is cracked into many small bits. Only after pushing the power button the signal returns to its normal quality.

I noticed some more hassle (all for Galaxy Nexus, Android V 4.0.2, not rooted):
- when I set the option "automatic playback when wired headset is inserted" and a phone call is active the music starts to play. But - for my understanding - when I have taken a phone call and insert the headset the music should not start playing (even worst, the phone partner will hear it as well...)
- when screen goes off (and screen lock) Neutron not always continues to play the next title. Only after unlocking it continues playing
- the scroll sensitivity in the lists for artists, albums and others is not optimal. With the latest Neutron version it got better but every time I take off the finger from the list, it starts to scroll somewhere again and my position is lost. Very annoying!

But still the sound is superb and I love to listen music with Neutron player!

Michael

[dmitrykos]

Hi Michael

"automatic playback when wired headset is inserted" and a phone call is active the music starts to play

I fully agree. Will fix it!

when screen goes off (and screen lock) Neutron not always continues to play the next title. Only after unlocking it continues playing

There are some problems exactly with ICS on Nexus. I do not know why, because ICS on my Galaxy S2 is working just fine. May be you shall try uninstall and re-install, sometimes it helps to users who reported strange bugs.

finger from the list, it starts to scroll somewhere again and my position is lost

Thank you for mentioning. Will improve it.

ICS

Could you please try 1.49 version? It has audio driver reverted (which was before 1.48) and may be will be more stable under ICS.

Dmitry.