VLC 2.0.0 Audio Stutter

[sonofnothing]

Just updated my VLC to 2.0.0 on my MBP Intel 64bit. Everything seems to be working fine, until i begin multitasking on my computer. While watching videos in VLC, i will browse the internet for example. When the pages are loading or my computer seems to be downloading data or processing more info, the audio cuts in and out and stutters. Never had this issue before, wondering if anyone else has these problems and knows a fix.

[sonofnothing]

another thing to mention would be that the video stays perfectly smooth. even with the audio cutting in and out, the video doesnt miss a frame

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

OS X version?

[sonofnothing]

10.7.2 (Lion)
2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Du
4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

[qu1j0t3]

another thing to mention would be that the video stays perfectly smooth. even with the audio cutting in and out, the video doesnt miss a frame

On PowerPC this is also a serious problem. If I absolutely minimise other CPU consumers on my dual 1.8GHz G5 (10.5.8; GeForce FX 5200 AGP, 64 MB*), I can get some 720p to play without stuttering audio, but most of my 720p files stutter badly. I cannot find a way to make them play well, even with the machine close to idle. Since the video is often fully smooth during the periods of stutter, I wonder if this is just a low hanging bug somewhere.

However, in general, 2.0 is a great improvement over older vlc on PPC. I couldn't get 720p to play at all, previously. Somebody has done some outstanding work here. Thankyou!

*—video card may be a little puny. I will be able to test on a dual 2.5 that is my usual home machine and perhaps with a fancier card.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Remove libsamplerate_plugin.dylib and libspeex_resampler_plugin.dylib and tell us if that works better?

[abrogard]

I have the same problem. It just started to occur tonight, never before. And I was running VLC 1.

Upgraded to VLC 2 tonight thinking that might fix it but no, the problem is still there.

VLC specific, it seems. WinMediaPlayer plays files okay. MediaplayerClassic plays files okay. mp3 and flv. But not VLC.

I can't find the plugins you mention in my plugin list.

I have an AMD Athlon64 on an ASUS A8NSLI

[qu1j0t3]

Remove libsamplerate_plugin.dylib and libspeex_resampler_plugin.dylib and tell us if that works better?

That practically eliminates audio dropouts. Now I get continuous audio, with occasional video frame skips. Quite watchable, though.

Again, fantastic work getting such great performance for 720p on PowerPC.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Remove libsamplerate_plugin.dylib and libspeex_resampler_plugin.dylib and tell us if that works better?

That practically eliminates audio dropouts. Now I get continuous audio, with occasional video frame skips. Quite watchable, though.

Again, fantastic work getting such great performance for 720p on PowerPC.

Without those modules, how is perf compared to 1.1. ?

[sonofnothing]

Remove libsamplerate_plugin.dylib and libspeex_resampler_plugin.dylib and tell us if that works better?

thanks. works perfectly now. no choppy or stuttering audio and no change in video

[qu1j0t3]

Remove libsamplerate_plugin.dylib and libspeex_resampler_plugin.dylib and tell us if that works better?

That practically eliminates audio dropouts. Now I get continuous audio, with occasional video frame skips. Quite watchable, though.
...

Without those modules, how is perf compared to 1.1. ?

I get worse audio dropouts in 1.1.12. Also, the video quality appears higher in 2.0—in particular, I notice that the filtering is better for DCT; edge blockiness in high saturated red objects is very evident in 1.1 but hard to see in 2.0.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I am interested in CPU usage. But yes, video quality is better in 2.0

[qu1j0t3]

I am interested in CPU usage. But yes, video quality is better in 2.0

I made some measurements as carefully as I could, with

Code: Select all

while sleep 2 ; do ps ux -p <pid>; done

Hardware: Dual 1.8GHz G5. GeForce FX 5200 AGP 64 MB

Stream: H264 1280x688 24fps

VLC 2.0: paused, 12% CPU; scenes of little motion, or credits rolling, ~ 65% CPU; scenes of high motion 120-140% CPU.

VLC 1.1.12: paused, 7-9%; scenes of little motion, or credits rolling, 55-60% CPU; scenes of high motion up to 105% CPU, but at this point the video severely drops out, making fast action unwatchable. I don't think there is any substantial video dropout until ~ 100% CPU.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

that is without the 2 modules?

[qu1j0t3]

that is without the 2 modules?

Correct, the version 2.0 tests are with those 2 modules removed.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

So, there is an extra 5% that is weird to see.
If you split the video output from the main interface, does it behave better?

[qu1j0t3]

So, there is an extra 5% that is weird to see.
If you split the video output from the main interface, does it behave better?

I think to properly answer this question I'd have to make more scientific tests. Perhaps by sampling say 5 minutes of playback of the same media and charting together with VLC 1.1.12 results. I'll see if I can find time to do this. Also I should do it on a machine that's closer to fully idle.

What I found interesting is that VLC 1.1.12 gives up once the CPU gets a little over 100%. Is this because VLC 2.0 uses multithreading where 1.1.12 does not? For example, decoding audio and video in parallel threads?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

What I found interesting is that VLC 1.1.12 gives up once the CPU gets a little over 100%. Is this because VLC 2.0 uses multithreading where 1.1.12 does not? For example, decoding audio and video in parallel threads?

Yes, because video can be split in parallel threads.

[riiiic]

How can I remove libsamplerate_plugin.dylib ?
I don't know how to do it, but I have the same problem....

[riiiic]

ehi ?!?! some one could tell me how to remove these plug in ? do I have to type a command on the terminal ?

[Shaunie1975]

ehi ?!?! some one could tell me how to remove these plug in ? do I have to type a command on the terminal ?

Open finder and goto applications on the left. On the right scroll down to VLC and 2 finger click (windoze right click equivalent)
Select Show Package Contents
Then goto Contents>MacOS>plugins and they are in there. I would look at backing up them plugins before deleting them just incase.

I didn't have libsamplerate_plugin.dylib on my OS X (Mountain Lion) VLC Version 2.0.3


Just to add I was looking for a solution to stop audio track being jittery at the start of a track and came across.
Deleting that plugin seems to have solved my issue

[fkuehne]

Guys, please re-download VLC 2.0.3 if you have done so initially more than 5 days ago. We fixed a bunch of stuttering in the current build, which silently replaced the existing one.

[gravious]

This seemed to help for me.

I deleted

Code: Select all

libspeex_resampler_plugin.dylib

from

Code: Select all

/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/plugins

and apart from when the CPU got pegged the stuttering is gone ...

What gives? (the version is 2.0.3 by the way)

[8track]

gravious - thank you. Deleting that single fixed the stuttering for me (VLC 2.0.3 OSX 10.6.

Felix - can I ask why the fix was included in a "silent" update? The stuttering seems to be a major problem for many people, so the fix warrants a proper update accessible via the menu option VLC -> Check for updates...

Thanks to the people above for finding and posting the fix.