Big gap between tracks when playing music from a NAS

[RayP]

Apologies if this isn't in the right sub-forum. Feel free to move it if necessary. Here's my situation...

I have a Synology 212J NAS box on which I have my music collection. This is sourced from both ripped CDs and vinyl albums recorded on DAT and then re-recorded onto a PC via Audacity and each track & album named manually. All tracks are FLAC quality and have accompanying metadata.

The NAS box is connected to a home network via Ethernet and resides in an upstairs bedroom.

Downstairs is a Yamaha RX-A3010 home cinema amp feeding B&W floor-standing loudspeakers. The Yamaha is connected to my network via Ethernet into a homeplug.

I access and control my collection via a Synology DS Audio app on an iPad Air.

Now here is the problem. Albums recorded live and when previously listened to on a CD move from track to track seamlessly with no break in the music. The only indication of any change is the track number changing on the player.

But when using the iPad to play the same album there is a gap of up to 7 seconds between each track. This kills my enjoyment of the music.

If I use a PC to access the Synology NAS software and load Audio Station then select several tracks to play there is a gap between tracks but it's only 1-2 seconds and that I can live with.

If I play the music on my iPad the gap is also a second or two. That's fine.

So why the big gap between tracks when controlled from an iPad and played on the Yamaha? Is it down to the iPad app? It is much slower than when tracks are played on a PC with wired connections.

Is there any solution to this? The sound quality is fine. And the iPad app is great at making selections. It's just these gaps between tracks that make it difficult to live with. Would a separate player (incorporating a hard drive) connected directly to my amp be better in this respect? Or is gapless music impossible in these setups?

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[abacus]

Make sure you have the latest audio station software and it is set for gapless playback of FLAC files, also your Yamaha will playback FLAC files (Gapless) without needing to activate the audio station FLAC playback software.

If you still have problems then you may have inadvertantly added gaps between the tracks when you ripped the files with Audacity.

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[RayP]

Yes I have the latest audio station software. v5.4.2857.

Where can I find the option for gapless playback? Under Settings - Options I can't see anything for gapless.

The files were mainly recorded manually with minimal gaps at the start and end. What I don't understand is why the gap between tracks is minimal when played on a PC or iPad but substantial when played via the Yamaha. How can that be if the settings in Audio Station remain the same?

Bit more info. It seems the latest models all support gapless playback. Perhaps my older 3010 doesn't. It's almost gapless on the iPad and PC but nowhere near on the RX-A3010.

LATER: I checked to see if the firmware was up to date for the Yamaha and there is an update which I'm applying now. It says "Improves connectivity of network music streaming services".

Fingers crossed this helps with gapless playback.

LATER STILL: Sadly little difference. Once the new track is displayed there is a 4-5 second gap before the music starts. Only on the Yamaha. :-(

 

[abacus]

Turn FLAC decoding off in audio station and use the Yamaha to play the FLAC files directly to see if this solves the problem, (You can use either the reciever or the App) if so then there is setting problem with audio station.

Download FairStars CD Ripper and rip a CD to FLAC and then see if you then get gaps, if not, then there is a problem with the way you have ripped your files.

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[RayP]

Bill, FLAC decoding is off already. The actual option is Enable audio transcoding for DNLA devices.

Given this significant delay is only when playing music through my AV Amp (RX-A3010) using the Synology app on my iPad it seems to me that the Yamaha is not compatible with gapless playback.

If there was a problem with the way I ripped my CDs wouldn't it be obvious however I played them?

 

[his dudeness]

synology nas only does gapless playback from the usb output,ie dac connected.

 

[abacus]

Download the Yamaha Reciever App and try playing the files using that as its possible an incompatability between the Synology App and the Yamaha.

If the above fails, activate FLAC Transcoding in audio station and try that.

Note: Early Audio Station software would not do gapless playback, however since about 2 years ago gapless playback was added and works over the network as well as USB. (I had a Synology 212 for a number of years which worked without any of the problems you are experiencing, so its probably just a setting somewhere that needs adjusting)

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[Xanderzdad]

synology nas only does gapless playback from the usb output,ie dac connected.

It does do gapless - I've this exact NAS and it works with DS Audio. Untick 'Audio transcoding' as already mentioned.

FYI the NAS works better with MinimServer [free] loaded onto the NAS (not for the faint hearted as requires loading Java as well - but good instructions are on the MinimServer website). Then control it with BubblePnP [£3].

 

[his dudeness]

synology nas only does gapless playback from the usb output,ie dac connected.

It does do gapless - I've this exact NAS and it works with DS Audio. Untick 'Audio transcoding' as already mentioned.

FYI the NAS works better with MinimServer [free] loaded onto the NAS (not for the faint hearted as requires loading Java as well - but good instructions are on the MinimServer website). Then control it with BubblePnP [£3].

wow didnt no they did gapless now,will check it out later.

 

[his dudeness]

well hell if i could get gapless to work,checked synology forum and got this.http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=105578

 

[RayP]

Bill, I have tried the Yamaha app and the gap between tracks is 1-2 secs. Is that gapless?

I've seen that discussion on Synology forum about gapless. Pity they don't tell you exactly what settings to change. I'm pretty sure transcoding is off because that option is not ticked.

I might uninstall and reinstall Audio Player and see if that makes a difference. Albums like Pink Floyd's The Wall are spoilt with the silences between continuous spells of music. :-(

 

[RayP]

I uninstalled and reinstalled Audio Player and it made no difference.

I decided to tackle this from a different perspective. I searched the Yamaha website for gapless and found this comparison chart. Note item 6.

http://faq.yamaha.com/us/en/article/index/id/8398/?search_query=gapless%20RX-A3040&current_page_id=1

Note the models. Mine is the RX-A3010 which is around 4 years old. The latest RX-A3040 and RX-A3050 models do have gapless playback and seems to be the only ones that have.

So not only does the server need to be compatible with gapless but so does the receiver.

When I use the DS Audio app on my iPad (with playback on the iPad) the gap between tracks is < 1 second. That proves it's not the Synology that's the problem but the Yamaha RX-A3010 AV amp.

 

[abacus]

When I had my Synology I also had The Wall on it (With the CD ripped using FairStars CD ripper and the Vynal recorded using Magix Audio Cleaning Program which allows you to put in track markers and names) and it played seemlessly on my Pioneer Receiver, (Which supports gapless playback) Android Tablet, (With the standard player) PC, (With both WMP & VLC) and on Chromecast using the Local Cast App, so unless it is an Apple problem (They prefer you to use their own ALAC) I would double check your ripped files. (Try FairStars CD Ripper as I mentioned)

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[RayP]

Bill,

My recording of The Wall is not from a CD but originally from vinyl to DAT. Remember that?

It's been on DAT for over 20 years until last spring when I bought a sound card and recorded the album onto my PC using Alacrity. I then manually removed clicks and pops and marked the start of each track using Alacrity.

I did the same for over 90 hours of original vinyl music. Only about 30% of my music is from ripped CDs.

Does that put a different complexion on things? Is there a different way to identify tracks with Alacrity other than the standard way I did it?

 

[abacus]

Did you split the tracks yourself and then name them, or did you just add track markers and let the software do it for you.

I suspect you did it manually, which is why you have a gap and the only way to get rid of it is to load the file, zoom into the gap and delete it.

If you just added track markers (The software would automatically prevent any gaps) and you still have a problem, then unless there is a glitch in the software I cant really see how it could go wrong.

Just try ripping a CD (Using a proper program) to see if you still have a problem, as you will then know whether it is an app problem or a recording problem.

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[his dudeness]

update on this,i get gapless playback when pulled from the marantz so seams to ba a issue pushing from the nas.

 

[RayP]

Sorry for the delay in replying Bill. This forum needs a subscription service so you know when a reply has been posted.

It's almost a year since I recorded the DAT music onto Audacity. But from memory I manually marked the start of each track and then typed the track title. That's for DAT recordings from vinyl. For CDs I used dbpowerAmp and relied on it doing everything for me.

I did all this learning as I went along. Gapless playback was unknown to me. I should be able to find a CD with continuous music to test.

But as I said earlier and which you haven't responded to. My Yamaha cannot support gapless playback even though the NAS box can. Is all this rather pointless until I have an amp that can?

 

[abacus]

Theoretically if the app can do lossless then it should override the Yamaha limitations, however in your case it sounds like it won’t.

Best (And cheapest) solution is to get a Chromecast and use one of the many DLNA apps which do lossless and can easily access the Synology. (You will not lose any quality in sound as it will still be the Yamaha DAC doing the conversion to analogue. (Chromecast just bypasses the Yamaha Network limitations)

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[RayP]

I know nothing about Chromecast so will need to do my homework.

Thanks for all your help Bill.