After having been able to avoid this probelm (the "dreaded white noise", as some people call it) for over a month, I experienced it yesterday. In a sense, I was not surprised by it, because my usage pattern that day was inviting the problem to happen: I kept the unit on for 5 hours, with AIR constantly connected to it, and listened to music for over 3 hours (with breaks, but without turning either Devialet or AIR off - testing SAM with Cremona M, BTW, which was a disappointment for me, but that's a rather different topic).
So, this confirms our main pattern: just using Ethernet streaming for a prolonged period of time. The only question is what resets AIR, taking it back to a clean state? Restarting it? Very likely. Disabling and re-enabling? Dubious, since @Confused observed that after the problem happens, disabling and re-enabling AIR only fixes streaming for about an hour. On the other hand, I think I was able listen to Ethernet streaming without issues for over 3 hours during a single day, keeping AIR running, but periodically turning Devialet off (which disables streaming in AIR). Or is turning Devialet itself off has a special effect on AIR, different from just disabling streaming in it?
Quite a few questions. But the pattern remains incontestable and consistent. I'd like to make some PC memory measurments, to see if AIR consumes more memory after streaming music, and if so, what causes this memory to be released. After that I'll be reporting my findings to Thierry.
Of course, there is a theoretical possibility that the problem lies with the Windows WASAPI mode itself. But then why would AIR restarts help to prevent it?
It may also be interesting to try a long streaming session with WASAPI disabled in AIR (and the Preferred Format set to match that of the music material). @Confused, I think you were going to try that at some point.
So, this confirms our main pattern: just using Ethernet streaming for a prolonged period of time. The only question is what resets AIR, taking it back to a clean state? Restarting it? Very likely. Disabling and re-enabling? Dubious, since @Confused observed that after the problem happens, disabling and re-enabling AIR only fixes streaming for about an hour. On the other hand, I think I was able listen to Ethernet streaming without issues for over 3 hours during a single day, keeping AIR running, but periodically turning Devialet off (which disables streaming in AIR). Or is turning Devialet itself off has a special effect on AIR, different from just disabling streaming in it?
Quite a few questions. But the pattern remains incontestable and consistent. I'd like to make some PC memory measurments, to see if AIR consumes more memory after streaming music, and if so, what causes this memory to be released. After that I'll be reporting my findings to Thierry.
Of course, there is a theoretical possibility that the problem lies with the Windows WASAPI mode itself. But then why would AIR restarts help to prevent it?
It may also be interesting to try a long streaming session with WASAPI disabled in AIR (and the Preferred Format set to match that of the music material). @Confused, I think you were going to try that at some point.
JRiver MC20 --> Devialet 250 Expert Pro --> KEF Blades II
