Stuttering while streaming

[Robin L]

I've been listening to the free tier of You Tube for a long time, have been hearing stuttering for all this time. Just today I signed up with Tidal because I listen to a lot of classical music and don't want interruptions. Also Tidal has a reputation for having the best sound of the streamers. But the stuttering continues. I wonder what can be done. Is it the distance between my Wi-Fi and the computer? The age of the Wi-Fi? I've got 8 gigs of ram on my laptop, is that a factor? I'd love to get this sorted and understand the problem. Thanks in advance.

 

[Multicore]

How are your speakers/headphones connected to the computer?

Can you use a different way of connecting them to see if that's involved? For example, I have a MOTU M4 audio interface connected to my computer with USB and my display can produce audio too, it has a DAC connected to the computer over Display Port connection. If the stuttering is the same then likely the problem is upstream of the streaming apps.

So then try an Internet (ISP) speed (bandwidth) test. I don't know what's a good one these days.

 

[GD Fan]

When Tidal cuts out in my system resetting the wifi router cures the problem.

But it happens more frequently than it should, causing me to wonder if I have a buggy router.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Test the laptop on DPC latency https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/AudioTools/TroubleShooting.htm

 

[Robin L]

How are your speakers/headphones connected to the computer?

Can you use a different way of connecting them to see if that's involved? For example, I have a MOTU M4 audio interface connected to my computer with USB and my display can produce audio too, it has a DAC connected to the computer over Display Port connection. If the stuttering is the same then likely the problem is upstream of the streaming apps.

So then try an Internet (ISP) speed (bandwidth) test. I don't know what's a good one these days.

USB into a Topping E30 into a Topping L30 into a Yamaha AVR into the speakers. I'm not intending to connect the computer another way, don't think that's the issue.

 

[Robin L]

Test the laptop on DPC latency https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/AudioTools/TroubleShooting.htm

My laptop is an Acer Aspire 5, running Windows 11. What specific test should I run and what should I do once I run that test?

 

[pablolie]

Run a network speed performance test. It will tell you if your network is the problem. Other than that, it could be a setup issue. I am not a Tidal user, so not sure if they have a network test build into the app.

 

[bluefuzz]

Is it the distance between my Wi-Fi and the computer?

Possibly, but I think we need to know a lot more about your setup to pass judgement.

Firstly, why are you using 'a computer' and why are you using wifi? This may seem like a silly question, but I always try to have a wired connection for the actual streamed bits. A wireless connection is fine for initiating a stream, e.g. laptop, tablet or phone for browsing the Tidal or Spotify apps, but I want a wired device connected to the amp/speakers for actually playing the music. In my case that is a NAD C658 but it could be any 'streamer' type device (WIIM, Vero, Blusound Node etc.). A laptop or desktop computer is the wrong tool for the job as a streaming source IMO. That said, music streams take very little bandwidth so you should not normally be experiencing dropouts even if streaming direcly over wifi unless the wifi is really old or wronly configured. Do you live near many neighbours resulting in a lot of wifi congestion? Or a lot of other devices on your network competing for bandwidth (tvs, online games, 'smart home' devices?

 

[Robin L]

Possibly, but I think we need to know a lot more about your setup to pass judgement.

Firstly, why are you using 'a computer' and why are you using wifi? This may seem like a silly question, but I always try to have a wired connection for the actual streamed bits. A wireless connection is fine for initiating a stream, e.g. laptop, tablet or phone for browsing the Tidal or Spotify apps, but I want a wired device connected to the amp/speakers for actually playing the music. In my case that is a NAD C658 but it could be any 'streamer' type device (WIIM, Vero, Blusound Node etc.). A laptop or desktop computer is the wrong tool for the job as a streaming source IMO. That said, music streams take very little bandwidth so you should not normally be experiencing dropouts even if streaming direcly over wifi unless the wifi is really old or wronly configured. Do you live near many neighbours resulting in a lot of wifi congestion? Or a lot of other devices on your network competing for bandwidth (tvs, online games, 'smart home' devices?

Because that is what I've got. I've got limited resources. If the fix involves getting a lot more gear than I won't bother. I've got nearly 1600 CDs and am very happy with the results with them. I do live near a lot of neighbors meaning there might be a lot of Wi-Fi congestion.

 

[Multicore]

USB into a Topping E30 into a Topping L30 into a Yamaha AVR into the speakers. I'm not intending to connect the computer another way, don't think that's the issue.

Ok. So if you play a file that's on the computer there's no stuttering?

My laptop is an Acer Aspire 5, running Windows 11.

That's beefy enough that I doubt the computer is to blame. Phones can do this without stuttering.

Run a network speed performance test. It will tell you if your network is the problem.

WiFi connections can be highly variable depending on activity in the band from other networks and devices. In my home there are dozens of extraneous WiFi networks competing with mine and causing collisions. In only one room is our WiFi connection reliably fast. In others it is usually fast but not always. Can you hook the laptop up with an ethernet cable for testing purposes?

 

[Robin L]

Ok. So if you play a file that's on the computer there's no stuttering?

Yes, have a lot of files thanks to a .5 terabyte thumbdrive. There are also a few files on the computers' built-in ssd.

WiFi connections can be highly variable depending on activity in the band from other networks and devices. In my home there are dozens of WiFi netwroks. In only one room is the WiFi connection reliably fast. In others it is usually fast but not always. Can you hook the laptop up with an ethernet cable for testing purposes?

Unfortunately, no. There's no practical way of running an ethernet cable in our house. In my neighborhood there are a lot of Wi-Fi networks.

 

[pablolie]

Ok. So if you play a file that's on the computer there's no stuttering?

That's beefy enough that I doubt the computer is to blame. Phones can do this without stuttering.

WiFi connections can be highly variable depending on activity in the band from other networks and devices. In my home there are dozens of WiFi netwroks. In only one room is the WiFi connection reliably fast. In others it is usually fast but not always. Can you hook the laptop up with an ethernet cable for testing purposes?

If he is using wireless, then testing an Ethernet connection may not reveal the potential source of the issue. Test what you use.

And the newer WiFi types get increasingly better about avoiding conflict, either when picking a band or contention therein.

 

[Robin L]

If he is using wireless, then testing an Ethernet connection may not reveal the potential source of the issue. Test what you use.

And the newer WiFi types get increasingly better about avoiding conflict, either when picking a band or contention therein.

When I brought my computer in for a repair, the technician told me that my Wi-Fi was three generations out of date and could be replaced for free.

 

[bluefuzz]

Because that is what I've got.

Fair enough!

I've got nearly 1600 CDs and am very happy with the results

So you're playing the cd's on your laptop which is connected directly (via topping dac) to AVR? Where does the wifi come in?

I do live near a lot of neighbors meaning there might be a lot of Wi-Fi congestion.

There are wifi scanning apps for phone or desktop that can analyse your wifi environment. It may be simply a case of changing wifi channel to the least congested. But since you already seem to have a physical wired connection to your amp/avr, why not just use a wired connection to your router and see if that helps?

 

[pablolie]

My laptop is an Acer Aspire 5, running Windows 11. What specific test should I run and what should I do once I run that test?

I'd also have Windows Task Manager running (ctrl+alt+del > select task manager > performance) and check what's going on while you stream Tidal. To check overall network performance, something like https://www.speedtest.net/ is your friend. Good luck!

 

[Robin L]

So you're playing the cd's on your laptop which is connected directly (via topping dac) to AVR? Where does the wifi come in?

No, the Topping E30 has three digital inputs. One is USB (that is being used with the computer) one is optical (that's hooked up to my Blu-Ray player that I use for playing CDs), the third is coax, not in use right now.

There are wifi scanning apps for phone or desktop that can analyse your wifi environment. It may be simply a case of changing wifi channel to the least congested. But since you already seem to have a physical wired connection to your amp/avr, why not just use a wired connection to your router and see if that helps?

Too far a distance, not convenient to connect in that manner.

 

[bluefuzz]

There's no practical way of running an ethernet cable in our house.

Surely you can run a patch cable just to test? How far away is your router from computer? Perhaps one those ethernet over powerline adapters would work?

 

[Timcognito]

If your wifi router has a Tx power setting turn it up. Log in with the url on the back of the router, go to settings and look.

If you have coax tv cable around the house you can also try this: https://www.coaxifi.com/

 

[bluefuzz]

Too far a distance

Wifi ideally wants 'line of sight' to router.

 

[Multicore]

If he is using wireless, then testing an Ethernet connection may not reveal the potential source of the issue. Test what you use.

There's no practical way of running an ethernet cable in our house. In my neighborhood there are a lot of Wi-Fi networks.

It's a portable computer.

Start playing tidal or youtube through the laptop's own speakers and listen to for the stuttering. Once it's clearly present, pick up the computer and walk to the WiFi base station (probably in the router). If the stuttering goes away, you learned something. If not, you learned a different thing.

If the stuttering happens also when the laptop is very close to the base station then you can try the enternet cable and further narrow the problem (or gain confidence in what you learned so far).

And the newer WiFi types get increasingly better about avoiding conflict, either when picking a band or contention therein.

To an extent but there are also unassailable limits that might be in play for OP. If the noise is bad enough then you have to reconfigure the network. e.g. using a carefully placed extender and cutting power to both base stations can help.