Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

VB-Audio Network Protocol and applications
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DaveD44
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:46 pm

Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by DaveD44 »

Windows 10 tablet, latest maintenance. Installed VBAN Receptor, selected Realtek High Def speakers, placed the tablet''s IP address in Voicemeeter VBAN, tried 48000Hz and 44100Hz, VM VBAN shows green on right side of IP address which means that it is transmitting audio. On Windows tablet the VBAN Receptor shows green with a "1" in RCV, but nothing is sent to speakers, no lines in Input Level graph. Fixed to Stream 1, hovering with mouse over SignalRate shows proper rate and proper source IP address, 2 channel. Windows Volume Meter shows VBAN-Receptor connection to Speakers, no indication of any audio material (vertical green line). This works well with the app on an Android device, so I know how to do it. But not on my W10 tablet!
The problem may have to do with my initial install. I downloaded the zip file and opened it with 7-zip. Thinking that VBANReceptor.exe was an installation program, I opened it directly within 7-zip without extracting it first to a folder of my choice. Doing it this way ended up putting it all in a local temp directory. I realized my error and placed the zip in a spot where I could find the program and unzipped it there, then ran the executable. So perhaps I need to completely un-install the program by removing it from appdata and removing all the registry entries?
Any ideas? Can you help?
Vincent Burel
Site Admin
Posts: 2008
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:01 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by Vincent Burel »

if you receive 1 stream (RCV = 1) you can select this stream (right click on stream name or ip) to select it.
or enter manually the stream name and ip from in VBAN-Receptor.
DaveD44
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:46 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by DaveD44 »

Well, that was simple enough--after I finally found the place to right click! (The only place in the VBAN Receptor universe where a right click has any effect.)
But I'm getting a lot of stutter on the Windows tablet, which shows up as Overloads and Underruns. The tablet is powerful enough, with a two-core Intel I5-4300 at 1.9GHz, and is not busy otherwise, as I keep it unloaded to conserver battery. I decreased the sample rate at the desktop VBAN outgoing stream to 16kHz and that seemed to help the stutter a bit, but it still happens regularly enough that it isn't usable on the tablet. Hardware Out is set to MME speakers, as WDM speakers results in volume that it too low to be usable. I set Network Quality to Slow (which it isn't--I have a high quality WiFi connection). Engine mode was by default set to Swift; I set it to Default. Buffering is at default settings, and changing MME buffering to other settings did not help. I installed Voicemeeter on the tablet to see if that would help. It did not help; I uninstalled it.
How can I further reduce or eliminate stutter?
Vincent Burel
Site Admin
Posts: 2008
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:01 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by Vincent Burel »

if you get error on stream during stream cut or stutter ( you see red LED on VBAN receptor),
it means the problem comes from the network infrastructure.
the only parameter that can improve the things is the NETWORK QUALITY parameter (set it to SLOW on receptor side for example).

Otherwise WIFI Router or your internet router can prevent or Limit UDP stream data rate (to be checked / configured).
Fiwewall on your transmitter PC can also be a problem (to be checked / configured).
DaveD44
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:46 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by DaveD44 »

I continue to get dropouts and stutter sending from my W7 desktop, on all my devices including two Android devices and the W10 tablet, one at a time. I went ahead and purchased the "full featured" Android VBAN Receptor in the hopes that I could run with a lower sample rate and reduce the problem. It did help a bit.

But first, please! fix the Receptor so it displays properly on my primary device. I have an LG G5 phone with a display resolution of 2560x1440, ~554 ppi. If it's any help, the menu option shows a resolution of 1440x2417, density 423. The equalizer and gain are off the bottom of the screen for the most part and the Input level box cannot indicate any overloads, underruns, etc., because they are off the right end of the box.

Let's fix this dropout problem. I reduced the sample rate to 16KHz and net quality to Slow as I did on the W10 device and it helped a bit. Every now and again when it cuts out for a full second or two the Input Level bars drop, sometimes doen to 048, which might indicate that it is a Windows 7 Voicemeeter master problem besides a WiFi problem? As I stated in an earlier entry, the WiFi quality is good, the desktop running VM is not heavily loaded, I've switched among my four WiFi networks, both 2.4 and 5G, and they are not in each other's way. Various tools indicate that the WiFi quality is good. Etc., etc. LatencyMon shows some problems from time to time, but not often and they don't appear to be directly related to the dropouts, i.e., they don't crop up at the same time. VBAN outgoing stream never shows any errors. As I'm typing this I saw a dropout that lasted five seconds, Input level went down to -48, no red-light errors on the desktop outgoing, can't see any Receptor errors because they are off the Input Level box.

What do I do next?
Vincent Burel
Site Admin
Posts: 2008
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:01 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by Vincent Burel »

if you use broadcast address to send audio to all your devices it may not work with your WIFI router (usually not able to broadcast UDP stream - or with bandwdth limitation ). You may use several unicast VBAN stream instead.
DaveD44
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:46 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by DaveD44 »

I don't broadcast. I have individual outgoing streams to my various devices, and they are "On" only one at a time. They all stutter and drop out. Right not I'm running the G5 at 16KHz and it is continuously dropping out.

One thing may have helped. On my desktop Win7 server I had my two ethernet adapters configured as a team for fault tolerance, where the primary should be the only adapter in use unless it fails, in which case it will fail over to the standby. When I turned off teaming the dropouts and stutter were reduced somewhat. But it is still intolerable.

Any chance you might get the paid VBAM receptor to display properly on my LG G5?
Vincent Burel
Site Admin
Posts: 2008
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:01 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by Vincent Burel »

you have two ethernet adapter configured in the same address range or not ?

because if configured in the same address range, it could be the problem, Windows System could send some packet by the first adapter and other packet by the second one ... but the receptor will receive audio stream for one adapter only (one IP-FROM only).
DaveD44
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2018 6:46 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by DaveD44 »

Sorry for not getting back sooner. I was out.

I did have two Ethernet adapters in team mode, attached to two different routers with different IP address ranges. But one was configured in standby (adapter fault tolerance) mode only. For testing purposes I disabled the second one and turned off teaming. It did not help much, probably not at all. As I said below, I thought stutter and drop out was slightly less while still there with a single network device active, but later on I noticed that the problem level was about the same.

I also configured my Android and Win 10 devices to connect on WiFi ports only on the same router that the desktop is transmitting from. No help. I also started using a WiFi scanner that shows both signal strength and signal quality. Both are excellent.

Might it be that Windows 7 is simply not the right platform for doing this? Are other VBAN users down-streaming to Windows, Android, or IOS devices having similar problems? I would like to hear about other experiences so I can determine whether I am simply wasting my time trying to get something to work that probably never will.
Vincent Burel
Site Admin
Posts: 2008
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:01 pm

Re: Cannot get VBAN Receptor to play sound

Post by Vincent Burel »

you may try with another device on receptor side... maybe our app does not work well with your Android device...
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