Clipping audio in on CD tracks


  • Hi Guys,

    Just wondering if anyone else having similar issues or could shed some light on a little problem I'm having with my UDP900 - 

    When playing audio CD's the unit is clipping the 1st fraction of a second when playing each track of any CD. Its hardly noticable but definatly there especially when playing track that the music starts 'straight in'

    I've already upgraded firmware to latest version

    Any help would be appreciated

    Thank

    Mark



  • @mark.linford Yes same thing here- on all SACD, CDDA and DVD audio discs. It seems like the unit has problems recognizing the song start index and quickly ramps up the volume after the start. Here's my issue as I uploaded it...

    Anybody having problems with the Magnetar udp 900 playing DVD audio disks? My brand new unit is displaying some strange behavior. For example it misses the first 1/8 second or so of some audio tracks - seems like it fails to recognize a song index until it is too late and then ramps up slowly. ( I've confirmed the behavior in Protools comparing it to an older (2017) Sony BluRay player - which demonstrates no problem at all ). Another disc...a surround setup disk is even weirder - the VO announcer is supposed to be saying 'In phase...out of phase...' and i hear '..n phase...'t phase'. ???


  • Hello!

    Is this occuring on track selection, next track, or simply when just letting the disc play using the authored gap?

    What is your output connection,  digital or analog? If analog, RCA or XLR? If digital, optical, HDMI, or Coax?

    Also, what region is your player and firmware version?

    Thanks


  • @Magnetar Concierge Thanks for the quick response. Here's the info...

    Is this occuring on track selection, next track, or simply when just letting the disc play using the authored gap? - On all 3 of the above actually. The time elapsed seems to get momentarily stuck and when it resumes it has missed a second. It does this on every DVD Audio I've tried so far (9 of them), although not on all the tracks but most of them and always on the first track. The unit also  does it if I select the HiRes Stereo files.

    My output connection is the RCA analog - I bought the unit so I could use my 3 power amps in a 5.1 configuration.

    Just updated to the latest firmware with no improvement. Firmware version 881CR - AUS 01.

    Build date Dec 29 2024 (9).

    I have never experienced this problem with any other DVD audio player including my last one, a SONY UBX 800 which , granted, didn't sound as good as the magnetar but had no trouble negotiating the discs. I have done my own research into this problem and have recorded the output of both players into ProTools discovetring that the Magnetar seems to be about 290 milliseconds late in un-muting at the song index. I'm happy to share it with you if you wish.


  • @Magnetar Concierge Hello

    For me, this is happening when I play CDDA's (not tried on SACD's or audio DVD's). it happens when I let the CD play from start and also when I skip to next track or previous track.

    I'm predominently using RCA connection but also get the same problem when connecting via HDMI. Playback is via a Denon X4800H AVR.

    As per dowd's issue, Magnator seems to miss the first fraction of a second of each track

    Firmware version is 885-FRA01

    Build date Dec 28 2024(9)

    Thanks

    Mark


  • Mine does the same thing,  bought 10/24 with updated firmware.

    It's annoying enough that someone from USA Magnetar should open a box and try one out.

    I'm sure they'll find other things to check up on as well.

    Just my .02 plus $3K.   


  • @Old School Hi Allan,

     

    With a global product in territories across the globe going on over 2 years now, we would generally see widespread and frequent reporting of an issue which affects everyone. Fortunately, that hasn't been the case with this one in particular.

    In fact, for the purposes of clarity, we have tried one out. A few to be certain, of both models, and thus far we haven't been able to replicate the issue. The good thing is, we don't need to pull one out of the box as the staff uses the product in their own personal environments on the regular. This doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it means we haven't found the path / circumstances to replicating it so we can establish a root cause and remedy. This would establish the basis by which we would ask the conditions existing when this occurs with the users this occurs with, so we can try and replicate it as well as share the issue with engineering with as much information as possible.

    We always recommend opening a support ticket when you see issues as we are unable to locate one from you reporting this experience.

    We will look into this with this newly learned additional data from the reporting parties who were kind enough to share it. 

    All the best

    Magnetar Customer Concierge


  • @dowd thanks ! This information helpful in allowing us to try and recreate the issue and share with engineering.


  • @mark.linford perfect, thanks for the info, we are looking into it!

     

     


  • Here's a link to the ProTools window showing the problem...@Magnetar Concierge 

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYEDAByMNOFvT4ExsGNsRw/community?lb=UgkxKf-ZHD_0_RUyqhHFlAMYXCdWSpGr5pHM

    These are all from a DVD Audio (Donald Fagen's 'Nightfly') - a 'go to' audiofile demonstration disc since 1982...but the same issue occurs with most of my DVD Audios, CDs and occasionally with SACDs. If these UDP900s have been out for 2 years and the three of us (all in different countries) are the only known instances, and you are unable to replicate the problem, then I'd suggest our units are faulty and we should return these particular examples and have you guys replace them. The only reason I bought mine was so I could play my extensive library of HiRes audio disks in surround using my analog amplifiers. If this problem is more widespread then I'm amazed more people haven't mentioned it. Hope the attached diagrams help you guys isolate and fix the issue. pd


  • @Magnetar Concierge Hello Magnetar, appreciate your reply and confirmation yourselves are looking into this problem.

    I don't know if this is relevent to the current proplem, but I have found another 'quirk' of the UDP900.

    When powering up both my UDP900 and the Denon AVR from a standby situation, if I try and play an audio CD (via RCA connection) and the Denon is powered up in CD mode input (i.e. via RCA inputs), then the UDP900 seems to either 'stall', not play, or 'stutters' in playback. 

    I have found that even if trying to play a audio CD on the UDP900 via sterio RCA ouputs, I have to powerup the Denon in BluRay mode (i.e. via HDMI input from the UDP900), let the two units do their HDMI handshake ( I presume) then switch the Denon over to CD mode input (i.e. inputs via RCA ).

    As I've said, this could be just a 'quirk' of the unit and I've found a work round for it but was just wondering if the two issues are connected?

    Thanks

    Mark


  • @mark.linford Hi Mark

    The audio from the UDP is sent to both HDMI and Analog simultaneously. When both are connected , the HDMI handshake must be fully established, regardless of what input is selected on the connected AVR/Pre-Amp. After this handshake is complete, audio should not suffer any interruptions from either output

    Always remember, an AVR goes into standby, as does the UDP when "powered off". It's not truly powered off. The voltage persists between the HDMI connected devices. They both know the connection exists so long as there's voltage, however,  there will be established a new handshake when brought out of standby.


  • Hi Staff Member,

    The reason I said open a box  and try one out, which you said you didn't, it seems it's the newer units that have this issue.    I would open a ticket only after knowing what that would do for me?   I have an hour drive to the dealer,  accross country for shipping and a region free option I may or may not lose with a warranty issue repair or replacement.    I might just keep the unit for DVD playback and not try to warranty/return it, there's lots for me to consider.   I'm not sure why you took open a box and try one out as a cheap shot it was just a suggestion to try a new late 2024 unit to check for the problem.   If you confirm the issue is warranty return related I will respond accordingly to your proposed solution.   

    My clip occurs with RCA analog output,  with or without a TV in HDMI,  TV would be off during CD or SACD playback anyway (problem is on both CD formats),  and on initial autoplay,  natural track progression,  as well as in next track selection.   Flac files from a USB drive is much less noticeable but slight clipping still occurs TV would be ON for me to see the USB menus.


  • @Old School Hi Allan

    Not sure where we said we hadnt in regards to the player as we use the players daily, have customers , dealers , distributors, engineers and staff worldwide who also use the player of all manufacturing periods.

    We replied to your statement which said: "It's annoying enough that someone from USA Magnetar should open a box and try one out." which was clear and left little room for misinterpretation. We responded in very straight forward details that we have, do, and that wouldn't change.

    That being said, we encourage support tickets being submitted when issues are found as in many cases it is a simple firmware update which doesn't require driving, shipping, or anything other than updating the firmware.

    There are literally 1000's of connection combinations and hardware combinations where some may experience what others do not. Thus, we ask for details to understand the issue and attempt to replicate if we aren't seeing it in our respective environments.  We buy discs when folks say they have title specific issues, we buy amps, avr's, TV's, on the regular and are persistently testing for compatibility as the HDMI ecosystem is moving target and a common customer perception results in a situation where you are only as good as what you are connected to. As an example, the fact your TV is off (in standby) does not mean that other HDMI devices in the chain aren't an issue. We see CEC buses full of erroneous messaging, repeated polling, and various other egregious behaviors that can and do affect every other device in the HDMI chain, in or out of standby.

    In regards to your firmware, a simple support ticket asking questions is the best way to get an answer in fact. Conjecture can lead you astray and we're always happy to hear from customers. It can be as easy as providing you a link which addresses your concern , such as this: https://www.magnetarusa.com/community/xenforum/topic/147033/region-free-playback

    Nonetheless, we are gathering information from those who are experiencing it, looking internally into the issue, and we have an understanding as the manufacturer whether or not any date of manufacture would play a role , which wouldn't be related to an issue of this nature. 

    Don't mistake our pragmatic and candid nature as anything other than an effort to avoid the propagation or creation of any confusion. Clarity, direct verbiage, and specificity is our objective and we're quick to insure speculation and misinformation doesn't enter the support process. 

    Thanks for your details and feedback

     


  • @dowd Hi Dowd

    Thanks for the info. We would look in several places to ascertain root cause of any delay condition. Not seeing this in our own ecosystem and the lack of widespread reports of an issue would not a defect make. There's a long list of possibilities which can create a condition or an event, including only customers with X, X and X in the equation see this issue (as an example) - which it often is when these types of issues arise. Or only customers with X, X and Y, after firmware version XXX.

    You hit the nail on the head. Were this widespread, we'd being seeing persistent support issues. and Thus far, we have this handful - which is more than we're interested in having ;)

    If you have not registered your product, we strongly recommend this and you can do that here as if it results in a warranty issue, you'll need to have registered it in order to make a claim:

    https://www.magnetarusa.com/apps/product-registration?form=magnetar-registration

    We understand that some of you are not US based and normally you would be channeling through your dealer/distributor, however, as we are Magnetar you are simply just getting to the same place through a different, yet direct channel. However, you would need to go through your point of purchase to handle the replacement.

     


  • Re-read your sentence #5 to me,   you said you didn't open a new one,  I don't care about 1-2 year old units when the new ones are doing it,  I'm glad yours is working well.   I may take a trip down to my dealer and hook up headphones to try theirs out since they have one on display.   And check out their date of production and firmware and post up the results they are the only one I know who have one nearby.    

    Mine also does the same clipping  via the front panel headphone jack nothing else connected but Beyer Headphones,  I hope that helps with eliminating external devices connections.

    Can you post up the production date of the newest unit you have tested and it's firmware that doesn't exhibit this issue?   That would be helpful.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


  • Allan,

    We clearly stated we do not need to open a new one from the box, nowhere have we stated we didn't. That stands as accurate in its statement as written. So it's clear as it seems this was missed, we have players from every production run we use for testing purposes and are in use every day both internally and externally. We track every serial to the end user and we know every detail including manufacturing batch from the vendor of every component in every individual player respectively. The dart boarding approach to establishing root cause generally never works and we don't partake. The implementation of an assumption/theory that only new players have this issue is an unsupported guess as it has been represented to us in the comments. We're closing the circular part of this discussion here.

    We again would advise against speculating without having the entirety of the information we as the manufacturer have. A player purchased new from a retailer could have been manufactured in whole or in part at any time in the past.There are multiple boards in the player. Only we have the information as to what a player electronics are comprised of which constitutes the player as a whole.  Thus a date of production as you are referring to it is not information a customer would find helpful in any way, nor is it how we would ascertain root cause for reported issues as only we have the layered information necessary to paint the picture as a whole and only we have the tools necessary to effect establish root cause.

    We're unclear where your information is being obtained, but it's erroneous as there's no mention by us of 1-2 year old players anywhere in our reply nor is it applicable. Subsequently, theres also no detailed part by part/line by line of code mention of the literally hundreds of internally technological scenarios where root cause can be established. The few examples we provided are just that, a few external sourced examples-places we will look. We won't speculate as an answer.  We will attempt to obtain information, reproduce,  isolate, establish root cause, and resolve. That's what the customer and the product require. Whether it's a bug picked up in a firmware update that may or may not conditionally present itself, a failed/failing vendor component, an event only 3 out of 1000's of Magnetar owners experience, a poison combination causing a player state, we just got wind of it here as originated from Non-US customers (which is specified only as we had no US customers reporting this issue or opening a support ticket, so we include a territory firmware note) and as we stated, we are looking  the issue as it has been reported.

    We do recommend registering your product as we do not see a current registration for you.

     

    Thanks!

     


Please login to reply this topic!