poor audio quality (distortion) with VLC 2.0.1 or 2.0.0

[sander8643]

* I installed VLC 2.0.1 for Windows today. When I play any MP3 file, the audio is badly distorted.
* The same thing happens with VLC 2.0.0.
* When I re-install VLC 1.1.11 and play the same MP3 files, with the same Windows volume settings, the audio is perfectly OK.
* Any suggestions? Thanks.

[lmagx]

this issue is happens the same way whith me.
Any suggestions? Thanks
OS: W7 64 bits
Codec: K lite codec pack
any audio is crashing.

[VLC_help]

You have volume level over 100% ?
Codec packs don't matter since VLC doesn't use those.

[jds1234]

same here, don't You guys realize this??

since 2.0.0 this mp3 distortion/stutter/hiccup/jitter problem has STILL NOT BEEN SORTED! SORT IT OUT VIDEOLAN PLEASE!

OH I FORGOT IT IS NOT IN YOUR PRIORITY LISTINGS! FIX IT PLEASE!

[Eriatile]

I know it's quite frustrating thinking VLC developer do not care but shouting won't get anywhere.
We can only hope it will get more attention and someone knowledgeable enough will tackle it.

I posted bug 6198 a while ago. It's been closed resolution beeing "work for me" but if more people report experiencing bad audio maybe it will be reopened ? Or maybe a new bug should be posted ?

For time beeing volume at 100% is ok so we can still use VLC !

[free_radical]

I had the same issue with Win7 x64 immediately after upgrading to 2.0.1. The distortion will disappear if you enable the equalizer. Go to Tools --> Effects and Filters --> Audio Effects --> Graphic Equalizer --> Check Enable. All should be well now.

[CaptainKen]

I tried as you suggested free_radical, but no luck.

[Lotesdelere]

Can you try the latest nightly build ? Where VLC 2.0.0 is in fact 2.0.2:
http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win32/?C=M;O=D

If it still doesn't help then you can also try to:

- Change the audio output module
http://wiki.videolan.org/WindowsFAQ-2.0 ... _anomalies

- Not to use a volume over 100%

- Disable time stretching in the audio preferences
Menu Tools -> Preferences -> Audio

- Enable the equalizer
Tools -> Effects and Filters -> Audio Effects -> Graphic Equalizer then tick the Enable box

- Increase the file cache to 1000 or 2000 ms
Menu Tools -> Preferences (Show Settings = ALL) -> Input/Codecs then scroll down to Advanced/File Caching on the right panel

- Force the number of FFmpeg threads to 4 or 2 or even 1
Menu Tools -> Preferences (Show Settings = ALL) -> Input/Codecs -> Video Codecs -> FFmpeg

- Use a faster resampler by setting the Sample Rate Converter type to Zero Holder Hold
Menu Tools -> Preferences (Show Settings = ALL) -> Audio -> SRC Resampler


After the changes save the preferences then exit and restart VLC.
And please be kind enough to report us what worked and what had no effect for you.

[CaptainKen]

Thank you for your reply Lotesdelere. I'm on version 2.0.1 I had tried the Enable Equalizer with no effect. I turned the volume down to 100% and it's ok now. Shall I assume that the volume having to be at is an issue that's being looked at?

[Schnuffel]

using volume higher than 100% in vlc is not recommended
and the windows mixer for main audio should not be set higher than 70% (no matter which soundcard u have)

some sources for e.g cambridge audio recommends to set vlc to 95% volume and not 100%

the reason for the audio problems seems to be the resampling of vlc
would be good to add a wasapi plugin to play the music untouched

[evasive]

Windows XP SP3, tried all versions between 2.0.0 until the nightly builds 2.1.0

Tried all settings, output modules, cache settings up to 6000 ms.

Still have jittery audio in mp4 movies. Don't know if these mp3 hiccups have the same cause (buffer underruns as it appears to me) but something is seriously scr*wed in the 2.x code for VLC.

1.1.11 works flawlessly as does almost any other video player. losing faith quickly in VLC 2.x

[Paul]

I solved this problem this way: VLC Menu>Interface>Preferences>Audio>Output>Win32 Waveout>Save

[phreadom]

Waveout doesn't solve the problem as it makes performance terrible and then you end up with high load and skipping etc instead of distortion.

This seems to clearly be a problem with VLC. It worked fine in 1.x and I'm tired of having to keep uninstalling each release of 2.x and going back to 1.x to get working audio.

If you're not supposed to go over 100% volume because it distorts then DON'T ALLOW IT. Don't have a volume control that goes to 200% if it's just going to sound like garbage, and then blame it on the user for using the control as you made it, ESPECIALLY when it DID work just fine in the previous releases. This is just absurd to me.

I don't see any other way to look at this. It did work and now it doesn't. VLC changed something that broke a working system and are blaming it on the users when this is a failure on the developers part either in the code itself, or in the way they present the volume controls to the user.

Enabling the equalizer and setting it all to mid mark so that 200% actually acts like 100% hides the problem for the most part, but this is neither the default setup, or a proper solution.

If you can't increase volume over 100% without having it sound like garbage (which again, seems odd, because it DID work in the past), then DON'T ALLOW IT AT ALL. Force the user to use the "physical volume knob" as the tickets in the bug tracker state.

[perseid]

Thanks, I tried all those suggested fixes and still no solution. Hope the next version of VLC will fix it.

[mediamonkey011]

Lotesdelere's solution helped me, and I have version 2.0.2 Twoflower. Thank you! However, Phreadom does have a point. It shouldn't be that way with VLC. The volume was always at 200% before without any issues. VLC 1.1.11 still works fine for me with the volume at 200 percent. The only thing I have to change to get my surround 5.1 working is changing the audio output to Win32 waveout extension, and everything works fine. I made all the changes that Lotesdelere suggested, and it worked. Someone else said to change the audio output to Default and change the video output to Direct 3D. However, I made all the changes plus I still have it set on Direct 3D video output. Works great. I hope VLC is able to fix this bug with their next release. Don't understand why it's an issue when there wasn't issues before, so like Phreadom said, it sounds like a developer issue.

These are my system specs:

AMD Phenom 965 X4 BE
Asus Crosshair III
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked
Corsair 850W PSU
8GB of Mushkin Blackline 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit in a dual boot with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

[mediamonkey011]

Ok, in reply to Lotesdelere's request to do further troubleshooting, these are the changes I made after making every single change that was suggested in the post with the exception of the output audio module setting:

I rechecked the box entitled Enable Time-Stretching Audio. Nothing happened.
I unchecked the box to enable the graphic equalizer. Nothing happened, and I was also able to take my volume to 200 percent as well.
I took file caching down to 1000. Nothing happened. Took it down to 500. Nothing happened. Without knowing what the default was
(I found out later was 300), I took it again down to 0. The problem returned. So I took it back up to 1000, and the problem went away.
I took the FFmpeg threads down from 4 to 2. Nothing happened. Took them again down to 1. Again, nothing happened. Again to 0, nothing happened.
I took the SRC resampler rate to the default Sinc function (fast). Nothing happened.
Also, I re-enabled the graphic equalizer, and was still able to keep my volume at 200%

So obviously none of the settings had any effect at taking care of my issues except changing the audio output module to Win32 waveout extension,
and checking the box Use S/PDIF out when available. Also, changing the file cache to 1000ms. These settings are the only two that helped get rid of the problems. Everything else had no effect. The output module took care of the rattling speakers, and the file caching took care of the audio
sync issue.

Once again, I'm using Windows 7 Professional 64-bit for my OS, and these changes are for VLC 2.0.2 Twoflower.

These are my system specs:

AMD Phenom 965 X4 BE
Asus Crosshair III
Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked
Corsair 850W PSU
8GB of Mushkin Blackline 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit in a dual boot with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Distorsion has always occurred above 100%. It definitely did occur with VLC 1.1.11 on Windows. And it is absolutely logical. See also viewtopic.php?f=14&t=102180 for more details.

If you don't want distorsion, stay at 100% and push the volume up on the speakers. This topic is closed.