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Both CD Players Stutter On Playback
I have 2 IDE CD players installed in a W2K desktop PC. The soundcard in the PC does not have a CD input so CD's are being played through Windows Media Player (v9) digitally. The playback is audible but stutters regularly on either CD player. The CD players work fine in a different PC so it is unlikely to be a hardware issue.
The details of the machine/os with the problem are:
M/B: ABIT IC7 MAX 3 (all drivers and the bios updated to latest versions)
Windows 2000: All service packs and windows critical updates applied up to date
Windows Media Player 9
CD Drives: One Sony DVD player and one A-Open CD player both attached to the secondary IDE channel
Soundcard: M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 (latest drivers)
Latest version of DirectX also installed.
Both CD drives have "Allow digital playback" ticked in their properties (the problem is there whether or not this is ticked).
Can anyone suggest a solution or some diagnostics that I can try please?
The details of the machine/os with the problem are:
M/B: ABIT IC7 MAX 3 (all drivers and the bios updated to latest versions)
Windows 2000: All service packs and windows critical updates applied up to date
Windows Media Player 9
CD Drives: One Sony DVD player and one A-Open CD player both attached to the secondary IDE channel
Soundcard: M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 (latest drivers)
Latest version of DirectX also installed.
Both CD drives have "Allow digital playback" ticked in their properties (the problem is there whether or not this is ticked).
Can anyone suggest a solution or some diagnostics that I can try please?
Callandor
Check in the BIOS whether DMA mode is enabled for the drives - they should be detected as UDMA mode.
Do you have the jumpers set correctly? One slave, one master. Also make sure they're plugged into the ribbon cable in the right order. I've seen problems in the past with jumpers not corresponding to where the device is plugged in at on the IDE cable.
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ASKER
Thank you for your suggestions.
In answer to the above 3 points:
1. The CD drives are successfully detected in UDMA mode.
2. Jumpers checked and cable connection in order.
3. "DMA if available" is set for both drives.
Any more things that I should try/check?
In answer to the above 3 points:
1. The CD drives are successfully detected in UDMA mode.
2. Jumpers checked and cable connection in order.
3. "DMA if available" is set for both drives.
Any more things that I should try/check?
Hmmm....
As the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 doesn't support line input from your CD / DVD drives, you're using s/w rendering to get any audio from them. This is going to get interrupted by whatever W2K is doing in the background. Maybe a mega-fast processor and bags of memory would help. ;-)
Why not get a sound card that does support line input? Or get your local audio specialist to make up a cable to go from the CD output connector to the 24/96. [Not sure that'd be terribly good since the spec for the 24/96 seems to suggest it needs pre-amplified input.]
JohnT
As the M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 doesn't support line input from your CD / DVD drives, you're using s/w rendering to get any audio from them. This is going to get interrupted by whatever W2K is doing in the background. Maybe a mega-fast processor and bags of memory would help. ;-)
Why not get a sound card that does support line input? Or get your local audio specialist to make up a cable to go from the CD output connector to the 24/96. [Not sure that'd be terribly good since the spec for the 24/96 seems to suggest it needs pre-amplified input.]
JohnT
ASKER
The PC is 3GHz pentium with an SATA fast hard drive and 2Gig of DDR RAM. Should be fast enough!
If possible, I would prefer to get the digital transfer working for best sound quality (the PC is used for mastering, sampling and other music applications requiring high fidelity).
Any other thoughts?
If possible, I would prefer to get the digital transfer working for best sound quality (the PC is used for mastering, sampling and other music applications requiring high fidelity).
Any other thoughts?
Well, that's pretty impressive. Even so, can you really get 'best sound quality' with s/w rendering??? ;-)
Given what you want to do with the kit, I think I'd look at an up-market sound card with an S/PDIF output that you could hook into the Audiophile's input.
JohnT
Given what you want to do with the kit, I think I'd look at an up-market sound card with an S/PDIF output that you could hook into the Audiophile's input.
JohnT
The M-Audio 24/96 should be able to deliver very good quality sound. I have the Delta410, and it is impressive. I am wondering if the sound is being resampled, which is a problem with Creative products. CDs are recorded at 44.1KHz, but some digital playback software use 48KHz, which is ok for DVDs, but not CDs.
ASKER
An interesting update. If I copy a ".cda" file to my hard disk and play it using Windows Media Player 9 from the hard disk, I get the same result.
I guess that this rules out a CD player and/or associated IDE/Driver issue.
Any more thoughts anyone?
I guess that this rules out a CD player and/or associated IDE/Driver issue.
Any more thoughts anyone?
How about trying an alternative media player - say Winamp? If the problem persists, then it'd point to a system problem. [Maybe even all that raw power still isn't enough...]
JohnT
JohnT
I agree that you should try another player, because I have gotten different results using Winamp and MusicMatch on mp3 files.
ASKER
In the end, the only solution I could find was to upgrade to XP. All seems fine now so I can only assume it was a W2K/Driver specific problem. Thank you to all contributors for your suggestions.
Nearly a year later, I have the same problem. Windows 2000, Athlon 64 processor, 2gb RAM. Built-in AC97 sound. Audio tracks played on either CD/DVD player through Windows Media Player 9 sound gurgled.
However the bundled Realtek player plays them perfectly.
I think the Windows Media Player is trying to do too much.
However the bundled Realtek player plays them perfectly.
I think the Windows Media Player is trying to do too much.