Is popping noise normal when jumping to a different point in a track?

[Symphoniac]

I noticed that (sometimes) when I jump to a different point in a track, my speakers make a popping noise. Seems to happen when I'm streaming a digital source, such as playing Tidal or FLAC files via Roon. For example, let's say I'm using Roon to play a song and the 'pointer' in the song progress bar is at the 1:20 mark. If I drag the pointer and drop it to a different point, let's say 0:35, then the song will pause for a split second, make a popping noise, and resume playback. This doesn't happen every single time I scan through a track (probably roughly 50% of the time), and it is a bit alarming when the volume happens to be set to a higher level, which naturally causes the popping sound to also be loud. I worry that this may potentially damage my speakers, so I have refrained from doing this, or make sure to lower the volume before scanning within a track.

My question is: is this normal behavior or does it indicate something wrong with the playback mechanism (my digital streamer/pre-amp)?

 

[Timcognito]

For a reference, it does not happen in my three systems with BluOS, Roon, Qobuz, and 1000+ ripped CDs on NAS. Can't imagine what that could be sorry.

 

[Multicore]

I depends what you mean by normal.

From the description it seems normal for your system. It also sounds really annoying and I would not be satisfied with that.

 

[b7676]

Foobar does this sometimes on both android and windows to me, flac files.

 

[Symphoniac]

I depends what you mean by normal.

From the description it seems normal for your system. It sounds really annoying and I would not be satisfied with that.

By normal, I guess I meant whether this is "expected" behavior. Can you please clarify what you mean when you say it's normal for my system? For some additional context, my system consists of NAD C658 streamer/preamp connected to TEAC AP701 power amp.

 

[Timcognito]

I try some recorded saved internet radio or music on thumb drive to se if it happens there too.

Broadcast Archives - KFJC 89.7FM

KFJC 89.7FM is a radio station in Los Altos Hills, California. Live volunteer DJs provide edgy listening experiences in a freeform experimental format.

kfjc.org

 

[Multicore]

By normal, I guess I meant whether this is "expected" behavior. Can you please clarify what you mean when you say it's normal for my system? For some additional context, my system consists of NAD C658 streamer/preamp connected to TEAC AP701 power amp.

I mean that you said it happens about half the time you seek. That sounds to me like a characteristic of your system. If I were you I'd seek a fix. Software is my first guess. When you jump cut PCM streams you'll get a pop of random magnitude if the software doesn't put a short ramp on cut ends of the streams.

 

[Timcognito]

Are you using BluOS or Tidal App to stream? Try both

 

[Symphoniac]

I mean that you said it happens about half the time you seek. That sounds to me like a characteristic of your system. If I were you I'd seek a fix. Software is my first guess. When you jump cut PCM streams you'll get a pop of random magnitude if the software doesn't put a short ramp on cut ends of the streams.

Ahh understood, thanks for clarifying, and your explanation/hypothesis makes sense. I will try re-installing Roon on my server computer. My NAD already has the latest firmware, so not much I can do there.

 

[kemmler3D]

Agree, sounds like a software issue. Like @Multicore said, this is completely expected when you move to a new place in a digital audio stream. Any discontinuity in the waveform sounds like a pop. It doesn't indicate a problem per se.

The question is why is your software not adding quick fades like most software does in 2024.

 

[Symphoniac]

Are you using BluOS or Tidal App to stream? Try both

Just tried playing/testing the same song in BluOS and also direct from Tidal app using AirPlay and issue persists in both apps. I typically use Roon so didn't confirm until now that other apps are affected as well. I guess this suggests the problem is not limited to Roon, so doubtful that a Roon reinstall will fix it.

 

[Timcognito]

Search results – The Bluesound Support Crew

support1.bluesound.com

Add more queries to the search box

 

[Multicore]

Just tried playing/testing the same song in BluOS and also direct from Tidal app using AirPlay and issue persists in both apps. I typically use Roon so didn't confirm until now that other apps are affected as well. I guess this suggests the problem is not limited to Roon, so doubtful that a Roon reinstall will fix it.

I don't know how Roon streaming works but in many streaming systems (and it's the obvious architecture) the control software and the media server aren't involved in taking digital media URLs and playback commands and delivering bit streams to the DAC -- that's done on a renderer, which I'd guess is part of the BluOS software in your NAD device. So maybe ask NAD if the behavior is a bug or if it is expected, at least as a place to start.

 

[Symphoniac]

Sounds like I need to ask NAD, will do and follow up here, thanks y'all!

 

[Symphoniac]

OK, so I worked with NAD support on this and they thought it might be a hardware issue and recommended swapping out for a replacement unit, which I was able to do because I was still within the return period. Tested with replacement unit and the popping persists.

Thinking there is in fact nothing wrong with the NAD, I was curious whether this might be an issue with some of my other digital playback devices. So I tested literally every other digital playback device I own, including 2019 Intel Macbook Pro (which I use with a Schitt Modi 3 DAC), 2024 M3 Macbook Air, a couple of older Intel macs, and I was able to replicate the popping in every single playback device using the same track in either Amazon Music or Tidal. I mainly used Salnotes Zero 2 IEM as the output device but also a KEF Q150 for my desktop setup (the MBP with the Schitt Modi), and a pair of small Audioengine powered (active?) speakers I pulled out from storage, and the popping persisted no mater what the output device.

So now I'm guessing this is just something that happens when you try to scan within a digital track and that I am hyper sensitive to something most folks tend to ignore. For example, if you load the track linked below and just jump around from place to place within the track, I am betting you'll hear small popping sounds at least 50% of the time (because otherwise that would mean somehow all of my devices and speakers share the same defect which is not likely). And for whatever reason the popping happens more frequently or is more noticeable for some tracks as opposed to others, so your results may vary for other tracks, but I was able to replicate the popping pretty reliably across all my devices with the track below. If anyone has Tidal or Amazon Music, would love it if they can try and reply back here. Thanks!

[Amazon Music] https://music.amazon.com/albums/B002R9H8T8?trackAsin=B002R9MUZK&ref=dm_sh_2851-7176-7c4c-79a4-a5bb0

[Tidal] https://tidal.com/browse/track/70432916?u

 

[Timcognito]

According to the manual there are a lot of playback settings in NAD 658 try turning them all off or as many as possible and one by one back on. May be a conflict with something else in line with it. Also disable BluOS source settings mine is auto and works great. Disable replay-gain also.

 

[Apesbrain]

If possible, can you download these streaming tracks and test them locally? The "popping" may be inherent in streaming.

 

[Symphoniac]

According to the manual there are a lot of playback settings in NAD 658 try turning them all off or as many as possible and one by one back on. May be a conflict with something else in line with it. Also disable BluOS source settings mine is auto and works great. Disable replay-gain also.

Thanks for this suggestion. I've tested with the most 'vanilla' settings with most everything off including any Dirac filters, tone controls, etc. and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

 

[Symphoniac]

If possible, can you download these streaming tracks and test them locally? The "popping" may be inherent in streaming.

This is a good hypothesis, but unfortunately it does not seem to matter if the file is local or streaming. One of the reasons I chose the track linked above as an example is because I happen to own the CD, which I previously ripped to FLAC, and the popping persists when I played the file on the computer where it is stored using Roon or VLC.

 

[Chrispy]

Not with the gear/players I've used.