VLC 3.5.3 stuttering, pausing, stopping, & switching!

[pmespace]

Has anybody heard of a fix? It's been a long time already since this bug is on...

[Aza]

Other fixes have to be also added to publish a 3.5.4 version (and the holidays didn't help). For now, you can use the 3.5.4 beta 1 version to get this particular issue fixed.

[packzap]

It seem like half the flac files I play with VLC have audio cut-outs. Quite discombobulating!

Where do we retrieve the beta version? I want to update on all my platforms (Windows, Mac, Android . . .) Can you kindly put the link in your text. Thanks!

[Spike1]

Nightlies are here (or a sibling directory depending on your device's architecture):
https://artifacts.videolan.org/vlc-andr ... tly-armv7/

Newest Nightlies are named 3.5.4., the wait is over?

[Skantes]

Yes, 3.5.4 was release on 2023-02-20, with a 30% rollout for now.

[Spike1]

Found it at https://artifacts.videolan.org/vlc-android/release/

30% rollout? What does that mean?

Foiled again, seems this is the one with the bad signature data that won't install on top of the good one. Where's the right one?

[Skantes]

Only 30% of users get it. This means that we can check that there aren't any major issues that we might have missed during the beta without impacting a 100% of users. After a few days, if there aren't any big issues, we can increase the percentage of users that get it.

[Spike1]

Foiled again, seems this is the one with the bad signature data that won't install on top of the good one. Where's the right one?

Repeating, where's the production 3.5.4?

[Queenbeezee]

I am having this exact same issue but I am listening to audio books and sh*t is getting REALLY confusing.i came to the forums in search of an answer. I have a Note 20 though.

[Peibyn]

Update.

I was excited to see VLC 3.5.4 available recently on Google Play, and have been testing it ever since.

I am glad that on my smartphone (Samsung S21+) VLC 3.5.4 does not come to a halt in the middle of a FLAC track (as VLC 3.5.3 did), and this is progress. Thank you!

However, like VLC 3.5.3, VLC 3.5.4 misses, or cuts out, small "parcels" of sound, fragments of sound which are milliseconds in length. These tiny absences occur frequently and sporadically, ruining the enjoyment of the music, mainly because the regularity of the music's beat is interrupted, but also because very often a sung word or a musical note is cut from the stream of sound. These absent "parcels" of sound do not stop the flow of sound: the sound is continuous, but fragments of the FLAC track are missing.

VLC 3.5.4 performs as "well" as the "Samsung Music" app ( version 16.2.29.8 ): neither of them come to an abrupt halt during the playing of a FLAC track, but both of them miss or cut out fragments of sound. It's as if both apps are unable to take and hold a complete FLAC file and then ensure that that entire FLAC file is played seamlessly from beginning to end. The problem causes me to think that these 2 apps do not "take" a complete FLAC file, do not deposit it temporarily in some disc-space, but that they instead "suck in" parcels of a FLAC file in segments, and in doing so miss the occasional fragment. But I have no idea how sound apps operate and am only guessing

It will be great when this problem is fixed. Meanwhile I am having to listen to my huge collection of FLAC files not on my smartphone (avoiding VLC 3.5.4 and "Samsung Music" 16.2.29.8 ) but on my Sony Walkman, which plays each FLAC file perfectly from beginning to end. Maybe there is a clue to the problem in this?

[packzap]

I thought the flac audio cut-out out issue with VLC was fixed with version 3.5.4 as referenced above by Aza. Is the fix only addressed on certain platforms?

[Peibyn]

@packzap, has "the FLAC audio cut-out issue with VLC" been fixed by version 3.5.4 on ANY platform, or on ANY phone where it has previously occurred? I've reported no improvement on my device other than FLACs no longer coming to a complete halt mid-track.

[Peibyn]

Update. The "stuttering" effect has almost entirely gone from my set-up. Only very rarely now are tiny parcels of sound skipped during playback. And I think the reasons for the improvement are as follows:

I noticed that when I attach my phone to my desktop speakers by way of an RCA cable the performance is flawless, so the fault was due to a bluetooth connection problem.

So I re-set my Sony WH-1000XMS bluetooth headphones to factory default, and on my smartphone I deleted the pairing between the headphones and my phone.

And now when I want to use my headphones I use ONLY the following method.
1. Switch on the headphones.
2. Open the Sony "Connect" app on the phone, and tell IT to connect the phone with the headphones, which it does instantly.
I think that the performance is then vastly improved because the Sony has "married" the headphones and the phone in the optimal manner.

There are still the occasional skips but I believe these are due to the environment. I keep my phone in my right waist-pocket. Every so often I twist my body and bend at the same time, while working outdoors, and a skip occurs in the headphone sound. I believe this is because the bluetooth signal cannot reach the headphone bluetooth-receiver for second or two. I have purchased a small chest-bag (harnessed over the shoulders), big enough to contain my phone. Once the phone is in there it will be closer to the headphones at all times, and there should be no further skips in the reception.

So the problem does not appear to have been to do with VLC and FLAC files but with incorrect marrying of the bluetooth headphones and the smartphone.

There is however a separate and new VLC problem for me, namely when I tell VLC to play the files in folder (containing sub-folders) VLC presents a message saying "Loading Media" . . . and this message stays on the screen for ages and no music begins. This doesn't however occur with the "Samsung Music" app or the "Poweramp" app.

[Riderintherain]

I'm still experiencing occasional stuttering issues with v3.5.4 when playing flac files, although the situation has much improved compared to v3.5.3. I'm not sure what exactly is the cause of this problem, since it does not arise at all when I use the Samsung Music app. Vlc really needs to get to the bottom of it.

[Peibyn]

I'm still experiencing occasional stuttering issues with v3.5.4 when playing flac files, . . .

Does it happen if you connect your phone to desktop speakers by way of a cable?

And does it happen if you connect your phone to headphones by way of a cable?

If it does still happen in both cabled situations, does it happen when using both VLC and Samsung Music?

For me, VLC has become unusable due to the "loading media" message, and Samsung Music still stutters, while Poweramp is continuing to work beautifully as long as my body does not obstruct the bluetooth signal from trouser-pocket to headphones. My chest-bag has yet to arrive from China!

[lfdehaan]

VLC stutters every time a new line of subtitle comes.
When I play without subtitles the video does not stutter.

[Riderintherain]

I'm still experiencing occasional stuttering issues with v3.5.4 when playing flac files, . . .

Does it happen if you connect your phone to desktop speakers by way of a cable?

And does it happen if you connect your phone to headphones by way of a cable?

If it does still happen in both cabled situations, does it happen when using both VLC and Samsung Music?

For me, VLC has become unusable due to the "loading media" message, and Samsung Music still stutters, while Poweramp is continuing to work beautifully as long as my body does not obstruct the bluetooth signal from trouser-pocket to headphones. My chest-bag has yet to arrive from China!

Yes, the occasional stuttering happens regardless of whether I'm using speakers or headphones. Samsung music never stutters.

[Peibyn]

Update:

The chest-bag has solved the problem! With my smartphone in the bag on my chest the wifi signal never has any difficulty reaching my bluetooth headphones when I am outdoors. There are now zero "stutters".

My only concern now is having my smartphone broadcasting wifi signals just centimetres from my heart! So the next experiment will be to see if the excellent reception continues once I have placed a wall of several layers of (impenetrable) Faraday fabric between the phone and the back of the bag, i.e. between the bag and my chest.