Bug 80976 - Dreadful "choppy/squelchy" MP3 playback
Summary: Dreadful "choppy/squelchy" MP3 playback
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 80497
Alias: None
Product: arts
Classification: Unmaintained
Component: general (show other bugs)
Version: unspecified
Platform: Compiled Sources Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Stefan Westerfeld
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2004-05-05 18:40 UTC by nicholas fellows
Modified: 2004-07-14 19:11 UTC (History)
0 users

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Description nicholas fellows 2004-05-05 18:40:17 UTC
Version:            (using KDE KDE 3.2.2)
Installed from:    Compiled From Sources
Compiler:          gcc version 3.3.3 20040412 (Gentoo Linux 3,3,30r3,ssp-3.3-7,pie-8.5.3) CFLAGS="-mcpu=athlon-mp -Os -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer"
OS:          Linux

I looked through the bugs list althought there was someone describing a problem with garbly/ kareoke type sound problems I couldnt find anything significantly similar so im reporting this as a seperate problem.

Sound playback of mp3s in juk, noatun and other arts based players is distorted. The best way i can describe this is, kind of like when realplayer switches bitrates and the sound has that characteristic squelchy artifact. I've tried tweaking settings etc. But I have been unable to cure the problem. This does not occur when I use XMMS. Im having to use xmms at the moment because mp3 playback is so bad. Most of my mp3's are encoded as good quality vbr using lame, and this problem has never occurred before.

I've recently upgraded kde (to 3.2.2) via gentoo, the previous version was fine.

This is really dissappointing because I have all my 3000 odd mp3s nicely catalogued with juk, and now I cant use it.
Comment 1 nicholas fellows 2004-05-05 18:51:07 UTC
I thought I should add, that my soundcard is an ens1371,
also i have my computer connected up to a good hi-fi with fairly 
decent speakers. The squelchy artifcacts seem to sit in the 
low-end of the mix and the hi-frequencies sound okay, the squelches are sort 
of in the background of the tunes. It might not be apparent on el-cheapo 
speakers. But its definitely there and doesnt occur with the same files in 
XMMS.

Comment 2 nicholas fellows 2004-05-05 22:14:20 UTC
I think I have discovered where the problem is,
I have tried playing a non vbr'd mp3 and it plays fine. 

I think that this indicates a problem with VBR playback (although i think that 
this also stretches to flac also)


On Wednesday 05 May 2004 16:51, nicholas fellows wrote:
> ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
> You reported the bug, or are watching the reporter.
>
> http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=80976
>
>
>
>
> ------- Additional Comments From nick polyprecords com  2004-05-05 18:51
> ------- I thought I should add, that my soundcard is an ens1371,
> also i have my computer connected up to a good hi-fi with fairly
> decent speakers. The squelchy artifcacts seem to sit in the
> low-end of the mix and the hi-frequencies sound okay, the squelches are
> sort of in the background of the tunes. It might not be apparent on
> el-cheapo speakers. But its definitely there and doesnt occur with the same
> files in XMMS.

Comment 3 nicholas fellows 2004-05-06 18:17:24 UTC
I've gone through some of my mp3's and found a file where the problem is easily evident.

http://www.blackapology.com/downloads/10_Ptolemy.mp3

please try listening to this and see if you can notice the squelcy warbling artifacts in the background.

nick ...
Comment 4 nicholas fellows 2004-05-14 22:30:18 UTC
Does anyone work on Arts anymore ?
Comment 5 David Sibai 2004-06-15 04:43:47 UTC
I have exactly the same problem, with ARTS/ALSA via82xx on debian kde 3.2.2. I agree with you when you say the squelching noise is in the low-end of the mix. At first I thought it came from my cheap speakers, then thought I was hallucinating, then switched to a non KDE/non arts player, and realised arts was the cause. 
Comment 6 nicholas fellows 2004-06-15 13:34:36 UTC
What Distro / Configuration are you using?


On Tuesday 15 June 2004 03:43, David Sibaï wrote:
> ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
> You reported the bug, or are watching the reporter.
> You are a voter for the bug, or are watching someone who is.
>
> http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=80976
>
>
>
>
> ------- Additional Comments From david.sibai free fr  2004-06-15 04:43
> ------- I have exactly the same problem, with ARTS/ALSA via82xx on debian
> kde 3.2.2. I agree with you when you say the squelching noise is in the
> low-end of the mix. At first I thought it came from my cheap speakers, then
> thought I was hallucinating, then switched to a non KDE/non arts player,
> and realised arts was the cause.

Comment 7 colin 2004-06-15 13:59:35 UTC
I also have exactly the same problem, running KDE 3.2.3 in Debian unstable, with an Athlon-based PC.

All OGG files sound perfect, but approximately half of my MP3 files exhibit this problem when played in either Juk or Noatun (both arts based).  The problem does not happen when those files are played in XMMS through OSS.

The distortion is not a minor thing - it is quite severe and makes the files unlistenable.
Comment 8 David Sibai 2004-06-15 14:17:53 UTC
I'm using debian testing/unstable, with kde 3.2.2, kernel 2.6.5, alsa drivers 
via82xx for my via8235.

Comment 9 nicholas fellows 2004-06-15 15:19:37 UTC
Did you notice the squelchy playback shortly after upgrading KDE?


On Tuesday 15 June 2004 12:59, bugs-kde@doco.net wrote:
> ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
> You reported the bug, or are watching the reporter.
> You are a voter for the bug, or are watching someone who is.
>
> http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=80976
>
>
>
>
> ------- Additional Comments From bugs-kde doco net  2004-06-15 13:59
> ------- I also have exactly the same problem, running KDE 3.2.3 in Debian
> unstable, with an Athlon-based PC.
>
> All OGG files sound perfect, but approximately half of my MP3 files exhibit
> this problem when played in either Juk or Noatun (both arts based).  The
> problem does not happen when those files are played in XMMS through OSS.
>
> The distortion is not a minor thing - it is quite severe and makes the
> files unlistenable.

Comment 10 David Sibaï 2004-06-15 15:30:24 UTC
Yes, I think it happened when I upgraded to 3.2.2.
Comment 11 nicholas fellows 2004-06-15 16:02:50 UTC
The reason that I ask is that I was recently compiled and ran a sandboxed 
artsd on my gentoo box (the same one that exhibits the problem) , and for 
some reason, the exact same version seemed to work fine when it was confined 
somewhere else. It too happened when I upgraded to 3.2.2 I can only think 
that during the upgrade some of the old config files were left hanging around 
and so-forth they  were still there. Might I suggest backing up your current 
config, and then removing everything arts and alsa related (by that I mean 
the arts packages and the alsa packages) and making sure there are no config 
files left anywhere. Then try re-installing them again. I recently borked my 
gentoo install and in the process of fixing it i removed kde, arts and alsa 
and deleted the .kde directory. I installed the newer kde 3.2.3 package and 
its back to normal now. So if that doesnt work , and you are desperate try 
removing kde entirely and upgrading to 3.2.3 . My audio is fine now, although 
I've still no idea what was causing the bug or whatever but the bug doesnt 
rear its ugly head for me with 3.2.3

nick ...

On Tuesday 15 June 2004 14:30, David Sibaï wrote:
> ------- You are receiving this mail because: -------
> You reported the bug, or are watching the reporter.
> You are a voter for the bug, or are watching someone who is.
>
> http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=80976
>
>
>
>
> ------- Additional Comments From david.sibai ensae fr  2004-06-15 15:30
> ------- Yes, I think it happened when I upgraded to 3.2.2.

Comment 12 David Sibaï 2004-06-15 16:16:33 UTC
Then I'll try it tonight (can't do it right now), and I'll tell you. Thanks for the advice!
Comment 13 Joe Ferris 2004-06-16 22:31:20 UTC
I think I have this same bug. KDE 3.2.2, Kernel 2.6.6, ALSA drivers from the kernel, Gentoo from stage 1. I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling both arts and kdemultimedia, to no avail. Right now I'm reinstalling them without optimization of any kind.

These MP3s play fine in xmms or anything else, by the way, even if xmms is using the arts output plugin. If I use mpg123 with artsdsp, they work fine, too. So, I'm pretty sure it's a problem with arts decoding MP3s.
Comment 14 Frank van Viegen 2004-07-04 19:02:40 UTC
Same problem here. KDE 3.2.3 from Debian unstable. I am running on a dual 
processor box; do any of the other problem reporters happen to do this as 
well?

Comment 15 Frank van Viegen 2004-07-08 16:13:51 UTC
Dupe of bug #80497.

Comment 16 Allan Sandfeld 2004-07-14 19:11:03 UTC
I believe Frank is right. It's a duplicate.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 80497 ***