Exported audio has random clicks on some players

[paul]

Hello!

The audio I export with Ardour and Audacity, no matter the format, has some random clicking noises when I play it, for example, with SMPlayer, or with Chrome and Firefox. This is particularly annoying because I would like to upload my music on the internet.
It seems that this does *not* happen if I play mp3 files of other origin (e.g. my Dire Straits cd).
What could be the problem?

What I tried so far:
- Normalizing to -0.1 dB before exporting
- Wav, mp3 and ogg of different qualities
...but this does not seem to make any difference!

If I play them with Audacious or VLC, instead, the clicks are not there.

[artek]

Can you post example?

[ssj71]

the audio going to your soundcard has holes in it.

What format are the exports? Are you running jack during playback?
I assume that the clicks are in different places each playback and the source material does not have any clicks?

[paul]

What format are the exports?

I've tried ogg, wav, mp3.

Are you running jack during playback?

Yes, I have no sound otherwise (KXStudio).

I assume that the clicks are in different places each playback

Actually, they seem to have the clicks always in the same places, or at least, regions.

and the source material does not have any clicks?

I would say no, since on VLC and Audacity they play flawlessly, and the waveform in Audacity is nice and continuous.

Can you post example?

Where can I upload it?

[ssj71]

are you clipping? Maybe these other players clip if peaks are over some value. You can normalize the track if thats the case.

[paul]

are you clipping? Maybe these other players clip if peaks are over some value. You can normalize the track if thats the case.

I tried to normalize to -0.1 db. But it still did it. Should I try lower?

[ssj71]

Should I try lower?

Couldn't hurt. I'm out of ideas.
I guess you might try to record the output of one of those programs and look at the waveform. It might give a clue on what conditions cause the clicks.

[sysrqer]

Couple of things: Is SMplayer definitely using jack directly or is it using alsa bridged to jack? The reason I ask is because you also mention chrome and firefox, and I know that the alsa bridges can sometimes cause clicks and glitches.

The other thing, definitely try taking the peak level down to -0.3db. I know soundcloud, as a particular example, has issues sometimes with files with peaks too high even if they are not at 0.0db.

[paul]

Couple of things: Is SMplayer definitely using jack directly or is it using alsa bridged to jack?

It uses Jack directly. Yeah I was thinking to of an ALSA issue.

The other thing, definitely try taking the peak level down to -0.3db.

No improvement

I guess you might try to record the output of one of those programs and look at the waveform. It might give a clue on what conditions cause the clicks.

The waveform looks pretty normal, I don't see "holes", but...the recorded track is clipping, despite that the file is normalized to -0.5. Is it possible that some software normalizes the track before playing it...or even simply boosts the volume?

[ssj71]

The waveform looks pretty normal, I don't see "holes", but...the recorded track is clipping, despite that the file is normalized to -0.5. Is it possible that some software normalizes the track before playing it...or even simply boosts the volume?

the holes get filled in with the next audio data or zeros so you are looking for non-smooth waveforms: sudden jumps. You can just listen to it and try to zoom in where it clicks and look. If you find it clicks when the peaks are high it would indicate its actually clipping not xruns.

Its definitely possible software normalizes the tracks on playback. It obnoxious when a song mixed loud plays right next to one mixed softly. So some players have an automatic gain compensation to try to make all songs sound equally loud.

[paul]

Its definitely possible software normalizes the tracks on playback. It obnoxious when a song mixed loud plays right next to one mixed softly. So some players have an automatic gain compensation to try to make all songs sound equally loud.

But that is pretty stupid if that very software cannot handle clipping audio...

(Also, most "loud mixed" songs are loud because of compression, i.e. in rms, not because they are normalized to a low value. )

[ssj71]

(Also, most "loud mixed" songs are loud because of compression, i.e. in rms, not because they are normalized to a low value. )

exactly, so the peaks are lower relative to the rms. If you haven't done limiting for loudness, they could be amplifying the whole thing so that the peaks clip. It might actually be clipping in DAC, so you wouldn't see any distortions in a bounced waveform. Do you notice a loudness difference between the players that clip and those that don't?

I'm theorizing here though. Just trying to help.

[raboof]

Can you post example?

Where can I upload it?

Perhaps http://wetransfer.com?