Xion Audio Player

[fixed: 151] Version 1.15b Pitch / Frequency

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Postby Selezen » April 9th, 2013, 12:30 am

Hi guys,

Since downloading the new version (V1.5 build 150) all of my MP3 files are now playing at a higher pitch. The voices are higher and the length of the file is different compared to version 1.0b build 127.

I have checked and verified this using a podcast in comparison with Windows Media Player.
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Postby Cliff Cawley » April 9th, 2013, 9:46 am

Hi Selezen, can you please open the Equalizer and drag the pitch slider till the main display says 1.00x

Is it now still playing at a higher pitch?

If so I'll need to send you a test application to gather some details from your system.

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Postby Cliff Cawley » April 9th, 2013, 9:55 am

Just saw your other post that scrubbing the pitch slider did nothing.

Can you use the Contact form and send me one of your mp3s so I can test it here?
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Postby Selezen » April 9th, 2013, 7:56 pm

Email sent, thanks.

Small irrelevant note - your forum installation isn't sending email notifications that posts have been approved.

Moan moan moan, sorry.

:)
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Postby Selezen » April 9th, 2013, 10:49 pm

Quick update, apologies for double posting.

I mentioned the problem to the podcasters, and they mentioned that they use variable bitrates when recording the podcast, so...

Original Files:
Episode 1: 144 kbps: highest pitch and speed
Episode 2: 144 kbps: same as Episode 1
Episode 3: 087 kbps: Normal speed
Episode 4: 160 kbps: slightly slower than Episodes 1 and 2
Episode 5: 160 kpbs: same as Episode 4
Episode 6: 128 kbbs: slightly faster than Episode 3

All of the sample files I sent you are 128 kbps, oddly. The export from Audacity repaired episodes 4 and 5 but left the others unchanged.

Hope that helps too.
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Postby SLoB » April 10th, 2013, 3:27 am

Hi Selezen
I help moderate the forum and always uncheck the sending email notifications for approved/unapproved posts/topics to users/wouldbespammers :)
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Postby Selezen » April 10th, 2013, 5:34 am

Ah, I see. Shame. On forums I don't go on frequently or that I've only just registered on, especially for tech support, I tend to rely on the notifications to tell me when things have happened.

My apologies.
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Postby Selezen » April 17th, 2013, 11:00 pm

Has there been any progress with looking into this?
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Postby Lance » April 18th, 2013, 2:56 am

Selezen Wrote:Quick update, apologies for double posting.

I mentioned the problem to the podcasters, and they mentioned that they use variable bitrates when recording the podcast, so...

Original Files:
Episode 1: 144 kbps: highest pitch and speed
Episode 2: 144 kbps: same as Episode 1
Episode 3: 087 kbps: Normal speed
Episode 4: 160 kbps: slightly slower than Episodes 1 and 2
Episode 5: 160 kpbs: same as Episode 4
Episode 6: 128 kbbs: slightly faster than Episode 3

All of the sample files I sent you are 128 kbps, oddly. The export from Audacity repaired episodes 4 and 5 but left the others unchanged.

Hope that helps too.

Hey man. This is both helpful and confusing. The kbps pattern matches the speeds you describe perfectly. The confusion though is that the pitch slider works with sample rate not kbps, for example 44100 Hz. Kbps is simply the compression measurement and has no relation to playback frequency.

I've been trying to replicate this here with saving various combinations of VBR/Sample Rate/Bit Depth mp3 files. No combination yet has affected Xion for me.

I talked this through with Cliff before and a possible cause could be your soundcard not supporting the sample rate range that the slider cycles through. Could you check what the maximum/minimum sample rate for your card is? Xion ranges from 0 - 44100 - 88200 respectively. At this point it's the only thing I could think of that would cause it to freak out a little.

May I ask if you could also send me a couple of the files to look at? I deal with audio production on a daily basis so I may be able to help spot a common factor. Cheers.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Cliff will be adding an option to disable the pitch slider in the settings anyway. Of course a proper fix will be looked at though :)

EDIT 2: I believe I've just figured it out, but I shall wait for your response first before I say too much =]
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Postby Selezen » April 18th, 2013, 3:15 am

Thanks for the response. The sample rates are as follows:

Min: 8000
Max: 48000

Does that shed any light on the situation?
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Postby Lance » April 18th, 2013, 9:09 am

Ahh. Yeah I believe it does. It was the first thing we figured would be the issue. I'm assuming you're using an old onboard sound device? Modern sound cards would easily reach 96000 and above.

Regardless, I have a couple things for you to try.

Firstly, in the Xion Configuration under Output, switch it from 32bit to 16bit. I have mine set to 16bit anyway since 44100/16bit is standard. This probably won't do anything but it's worth a try incase your card doesn't support 32bit (which is actually pretty likely if 48khz is it's max)

Secondly, check that your soundcard is set to 44100 (44.1khz) instead of 48khz.

I have a feeling your card may not be supporting up/downsampling on-the-fly which could explain the slider having no function when dragged. I'd definitely recommend you purchasing a new card with or without Xion issues though. Brings a tear to my eye hearing of such limitations :(

Not sure how else I can help I'm afraid :/ The only thing Cliff can really do is add an option to disable the pitch slider, which he'll be doing.

Please send a couple of those files though, it won't be an issue with the files themselves but it'll help shed some light. Episode 1 and 3 would be fine. Can reach me via lancethackeray @ gmail.com
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Postby Selezen » April 18th, 2013, 9:39 pm

Hi Lance, email sent. Thanks for the help.

I'm using Xion on a work computer, so I can't upgrade the sound card. I will, however, see if I can update the drivers and software. My SoundMax card at home has a configuration utility but the one on this workstation does not. I'm quite surprised by its seeming limitations, as the computer is only about 3 years old.
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Postby Selezen » April 19th, 2013, 12:57 am

Hello again, sorry for double posting.

Odd though this sounds to me, I may not be playing the music through the SoundMAX card after all.

I'm using Bluetooth headphones (BSH10) connected using a Bluetooth adapter plugged into the USB. When I switch the headset on it seems to switch the Bluetooth Suite on, which then flips the in-use audio driver from SoundMAX to Bluetooth A2DP Source Device. I ran DXDiag against it, and it stated that there was no hardware buffer, and that the music is buffered using the software buffer (i.e. the driver, I assume).

Some reading online reveals that mobile phones using bluetooth headsets can sometimes compress the audio stream to a smaller size to provide some security that the stream will fit into the phone's software buffer. Since bluetooth headsets are primarily designed for phones, it's not outwith the realm of possibility that the XP driver for this headset could be doing the same thing.

Since the previous version of XION doesn't have this problem, that would seem to point to something in the latest version (as noted probably to do with the introduction of the pitch slider) changing the way that the audio stream is sent to the driver.

I'll try testing the configuration tomorrow at work with a pair of old-fashioned wired headphones plugged into the SoundMAX card and see if I get the same issues.

I hope that may help with a diagnosis.
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Postby Lance » April 19th, 2013, 2:06 am

Ooo, a breakthrough it seems. Cliff will have to take over from here then. I do have a question though, have you played anything other than those podcasts? Is it the same with other formats like .wav and .m4a etc?

Selezen Wrote:I'll try testing the configuration tomorrow at work with a pair of old-fashioned wired headphones plugged into the SoundMAX card and see if I get the same issues.

Yes do that :)
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Postby Selezen » April 19th, 2013, 4:47 am

I'm the last one in the office at the moment, so I've given it a try on my speakers through the SoundMAX card and guess what! The files play at the correct speed AND the pitch slider works perfectly.

It would seem to be the Bluetooth headset that's the problem, combined with whatever's been changed in the latest version of Xion.

The problem happens with a variety of other MP3s. It also happens with WAVs and M4A files.
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