Skipping audio with a VAC or direct output - but only from SDR Console

[elmarko]

I've been trying to do lots of testing before coming with this to the forum, just in case I am being stupid, but I don't think I am.

I prefer SDR Console to other apps - it consistently allows me to listen to signals louder and clearer than other software (or I just don't understand gain in those other apps). But there's one thing that is stopping me enjoying it fully: The audio skips a lot through a VAC. It makes data modes such as APT awful to use.

Other SDR apps don't do this for me using the same VAC setup. I am running on an 18 month old laptop, Win 10, AMD Ryzen 5, and the CPU is barely being touched, so it isn't that. Other apps such as web browsers and the like can send sound to the VAC without any skips at all while Console just stutters and skips. It happens on 500khz and 10MHz (and again, CPU fine on either). Audio recordings and baseband recordings made inside SDR Console (ie, before the output to VAC) have NO skips, while anything outputted to the VAC is skippy.

This is an intermittent thing and can solve itself sometimes and come back in the course of a session, while sometimes a click of stop and start radio again will solve it. Weirdly I do get this on normal speaker output too sometimes (but rarely) if I skip the VAC, close Voicemeeter etc. I have tried enabling the GPU option for OpenCL (the only one I can do with the AMD machine).

Can someone point me in the right direction here? It feels like it isn't a VAC issue if other apps can output fine to it, and the sample rate/bits are set right for devices all the way through. The fact that other SDR apps don't do it make me worry it is something with Console.

[jdow]

"Skips a lot," does not help a lot. "Skips about once a second," or something like that would help to isolate the problem. And even though this is an audio phenomenon, show us a full size picture showing your settings. Do not crop out any part of the SDRConsole window. And do not shrink it to make it smaller to send. That way we get SOME idea of what you are running.

(Speaking only for myself, if it's a Lenovo machine you might as well give up now. But that's my prejudice from the Lenovo machine I have which is supposed to be a power house and is a pathetic wimp because it overheads and throttles down beyond my control.)

Simon may ask for more data. But the picture is a basic requirement.

{^_^}

[Simon G4ELI]

Please post a screenshot while the software is running, my first thought is the CPU load.

[LWood]

I can say I've had similar glitches with Voicemeeter. I like the program a lot, but I've uninstalled it for its random flakiness.

[elmarko]

I shall do that photo - but looking now the loads as mentioned they aren’t really high, 10% maybe.

Skipping a lot means “the skipping is constant, sometimes a few times a second”

I’m out doing ISS SSTV now so we’ll see how it goes but I’m recording audio as a backup within Console.

[Simon G4ELI]

I shall do that photo - but looking now the loads as mentioned they aren’t really high, 10% maybe.

Skipping a lot means “the skipping is constant, sometimes a few times a second”

I’m out doing ISS SSTV now so we’ll see how it goes but I’m recording audio as a backup within Console.

I don't want audio, I only want to see a screenshot as the first step.

[elmarko]

I realise that. I was just mentioning it as "colour" to demonstrate how I'm having to work. Sorry.

- not sure specifically what is being requested, but happy to provide whatever. Hopefully that's useful to start with.

[Simon G4ELI]

Please just add the images as an attachment to your post. Imgur will not show me the image.

Start the radio, *then* take the screenshot, that's all I want.

[elmarko]

OK, not sure why that inline won't work, but I've gone for an attachment this time. This was working fine for 2 hours and then just failed and started skipping, the buffer increasing in length. Immediately switching to a different app and sending other audio through the cable has confirmed that side of things is working fine.

This has happened with an RTL-SDR Dongle and now my RSP1A as well, so I've been able to test on a few configurations.

Attachment 1: Upon starting the radio, buffer looks fine.
Attachment 2: When it fails the buffer climbs

[Simon G4ELI]

Ah,

I am sure the problem is with VB Audio. Is something, somewhere sleeping after 2 hours? What about the software on the other end of the VAC, is this the problem?