HDCD Decoding Problem

[PeterSt]

Thank you Eric.

Well, still no problems here. But I have a hunch ...

I see your memory is 8GB. You combine this with an SFS of 430. If you ask me this is too much (since 0.9z-7) or at least I can't let that run reliably (sooner or later there will be memory problems and that can go any direction). Now :
Decoded HDCD is 24 bits. And, I just know (without knowing the reason !!) that "Hires" (which it now sort of is) is more demanding than 16/44.1. You may not notice this, but I do. So, what if this just drives over some limit ? and notice that this easily can be about a second time playing a - or the same track.

I am testing with a 2:30 minute track I could find because that's doable if I must let it run to the end. Yours may be longer and that may already make a difference.
Anyway, what if you try it with an SFS of 320 or so ? just to find out whether it makes a difference (don't look for smaller tracks; that's not necessary in combination with this lower SFS).

Btw, I am loading the tracks from a Gallery, might that make a difference somewhere (I don't see how, but still).

One more thing :
The software anticipates 16/44.1 HDCD and I don't even know what happens when you feed it with e.g. 24/44.1 in the first place. And, you'd say "but how can this be related to this second time of playing ?" ... wel, it can. Like all the "caches"/"proxies" matter in this case (which are used when a track is used a second time). But I set it all the same like you have it.
Anyway, there could be more HDCD out there than I know of, but I do know it's a strange thing. So, I can tell you that 24/176.4 can also be HDCD, but again, don't ask me what happens when you generally feed this to XXHighEnd with HDCD decoding On;

What happens regarding your error message (Mani's too) is that once HDCD decoding has taken place, it's checked for being a 24 bit file. If that is not the case the message appears. When it is not a 24 bit file it is not a matter of the decoding went wrong but that -somehow- a wrong proxy has been taken. Like the original 16/44.1 is somewhere too, and it shouldn't take that one.

Not of much help will be that the Wallpaper Coverart should show the HDCD logo (middle bottom). But, it will not do that when the track is being played right after Volume Normalization (which is another such a proxy). Still it should be HDCD decoded (instead of the original) although I can't even prove it myself.

I even saw it happening once that the bitrate at the top of the Wallpaper Coverart showed the bit rate of 24/44.1. This is unintentional (should always show the 1411) but is again related to the wrongly dealing with a proxy. So, if you'd grab the resulting file from the Playback Drive (that's easy today), store that somewhere else and load that in the Playlist Area, you'd have that higher bitrate and no HDCD indication. Still it is but I have no means anymore to detect it (because it can only be detected in the original 16/44.1).

It is all fairly difficult to have this right *and* prevent from windows blowing. This is what the message is for, and this is also why it is not allowed to have mixed HDCD / non-HDCD in one album folder. Ah, maybe it is just that. No wait, it *is* that. Eh, period ?
This happens when you think to make "playback folders" and physically copy (without knowing of course) such mixed tracks in there. This, while per "album" folder it is maintained whether it is HDCD or not. Btw, this is on purpose like that and won't go otherwise (or a heavy speed penalty will be your share).
It can also happen with collection albums and mixed tracks are on there (yes, I have seen those, really).

So tell me, can that be it ?

Peter

[PeterSt]

... Anyway ... Right after Volume Normalization it was not the HDCD decoded version which played. Was, because I just solved that.

After Alt-N it seems to be the same : the undecoded version plays. Will solve that too.

Peter


PS: But for understanding : when there's the slightest mismatch between what XXHighEnd thinks of it and what the sound engine detects, the error message will appear.

[Eric]

Peter,
in my case I am having 1 album loaded in the playlist. All tracks of the album are HDCD. No mix with non-HDCD tracks.
The problem occurs only when I Stop and (re)Play the same track (say: t1). There is no problem when I Stop, select a different track (say: t2), and Play. I could Stop playing t2, and select and play t1 again: no problem.
   
After the Error message appears, I always first push the Stop button in order to remove the message. I also tested Play again after that. What happened is that usually the same problem occurred (Error message). However, occasionally the track starts playing without a problem!

I can live with the workaround above. So, although annoying, I would say it is just a minor problem.

Thanks for your efforts!
Cheers
Eric

[JohanZ]

They play fine with HDCD deactivated in XX. But I get the error message when HDCD is activated in XX.

Hi Peter, the last day i have the same problem with hdcd's as mani. Same message. I'm playing with sfs=2. Sorry but my profile is not up up to date. I'm playing with xxhe 09z-8e. How to solve this?
Johan

[PeterSt]

Johan, as far as I can tell :

- Do not play mixed HDCD and non-HCDC tracks in one Playlist.

- When you play an HDCD album, Stop and Play again it may go wrong because of too many complexities for me and cahcheing.

When the latter is in order (or assumed to happen) use that [ C ] button before again pressing Play.

Peter

[manisandher]

I'm having problems playing HDCDs too. But I think it's only with HDCDs that have the 'real' Peak Extension HDCD processing encoded into them.

Can you FileMail me such a track please ?

And do you have some info on this ? I am not aware of such an option ...
Is it denoted on the CD or something ? Is it an option on the PMII ?

Hi Peter, I'm still having problems with HDCD-encoded files. And it's now getting pretty frustrating because many of these files are simply the best-sounding music I've got.

With the PM2 you can encode in four different ways:

1) with 'Peak Extension' only
2) with 'Low Level Extension' only
3) with 'Peak Extension' and 'Low Level Extension'
4) with neither of the two HDCD processes

If you go for 4), the HDCD flag is still active, but there are simply no HDCD processes applied.

With XX, there is no issue with 4) - the HDCD files play no problem.

The issue seems to be with 1)-3). Although it' never stated on  the CD cover itself, hdcd.exe should be able to figure out which HDCD processes have been used. But what's strange is that this always worked perfectly before - I never used to have any issues playing any HDCDs on XX.

Let me know if/when you'd like me to send you a file via FileMail.

Cheers, Mani.

[PeterSt]

Mani,

I myself notice more problems with this than before So I guess I need to look into this ...

Peter