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TP Sounds - Distortion - Skips

Most of the time, when am using the default "boop" sound for button hits I am hearing a slight distortion. The distortion sounds like a skip or something, and I am guessing this is tied to the architecture of the Modero line sound processor. Hitting the same button, I can hear the distortion happen in different parts of the playback, so I am sure the recording is fine... Also, the G3 panels do not have this problem (still love the immediate sound and instant feedback and touch sensitivity of the old CV6 panels) , and I have not tried to do any critical listening to the 5200i (anyone?).

I have heard this mostly on MVP-8400s. I have not had time to gripe about this until now, and figured I would ask "the collective" before really crying foul.

I know I should try to record it and put a sample on here...maybe I will update this post later with one.

Anyone else having "boop" sound issues? Did I miss another post regarding this issue?

Thanks for your eyeball time.

Comments

  • a_riot42a_riot42 Posts: 1,624
    roognation wrote: »
    Anyone else having "boop" sound issues? Did I miss another post regarding this issue?

    Thanks for your eyeball time.

    Oh yeah, same problem on all recent touchpanels that I have used. My guess is that the sound got corrupted somewhere in manufacturing and was propogated through all the touch panels.
    I most often use a different sound for button pushes and am not hearing the same effect so I would guess the distortion is a result of a corrupted file that keeps getting installed on these panels. If you hear the distortion at different parts of the playback, I don't believe that necessarily means that the problem is somewhere else. A corrupted sound file can distort slightly differently every time the playback occurs due to nonlinearities of how a corrupt file gets processed if I am not mistaken. Time to make a request to be able to change the default sound the panels use.
    Paul
  • 2Fast2Fast Posts: 90
    You can check if this is a problem on your computer.

    Take a look: C:\Program Files\Common Files\AMXShare\G4SupportFiles\__system\graphics\sounds

    You'll find the default sounds there.
  • TurnipTruckTurnipTruck Posts: 1,485
    The problem is not corruption of the sound file. It is the processor hanging in the panel during the course of sound playback. I have have found it most in MVP8400i with the second-to-latest firmware. The latest firmware helps some. AMX knows of the problem but is being hush about it.
  • a_riot42a_riot42 Posts: 1,624
    The problem is not corruption of the sound file. It is the processor hanging in the panel during the course of sound playback. I have have found it most in MVP8400i with the second-to-latest firmware. The latest firmware helps some. AMX knows of the problem but is being hush about it.

    Wouldn't you hear it on every sound then? The only time I hear it is on the default sound.
    Paul
  • TurnipTruckTurnipTruck Posts: 1,485
    a_riot42 wrote: »
    Wouldn't you hear it on every sound then? The only time I hear it is on the default sound.
    Paul

    Yes. My experience has been that after a few faulty sound playbacks, whatever is dogging the panel lets go and the playback is fine. It may also be that the default sound has a very quick attack and the hang occurs in the very begining of the playback. If other sounds start off more quietly, the hang may go unnoticed.
  • TurnipTruckTurnipTruck Posts: 1,485
    With today's MVP 8400i firmware release it's finally fixed!
  • roognationroognation Posts: 138
    Touchpanel sounds still not played back properly!

    Hate to rain on the parade, but the sounds are still distorted, even with my current MVP-8400i that arrived from AMX a few days ago (firmware 2.84.18). I plowed through all the setup pages (device number, master IP, wireless, etc) and the default button hit sound was distorted in random places (all over) and in random ways (about 4 different anomolies that I could discern).

    I have emailed service on a few occasions, but this is festering.

    AMX: is this a firmware issue or a hardware/design issue?

    AMX: should we ever expect to hear sound effects from the touchpanels without cracking or ticking?

    I'll update here if I get any further information.

    On a side note, my MVP-5200i does not seem to have this problem.
  • TurnipTruckTurnipTruck Posts: 1,485
    Yes, I thought the latest firmware fixed it, but it did not.

    AMX is mum on this one. I only ever got a tech support person to partially confirm the existence of the problem once.

    It's been several firmwares since this started happening. Leads me to beleive that it is not an easy fix for them.

    .....continue speculating
  • VLCNCRZRVLCNCRZR Posts: 216
    TP sounds

    I gave up on using sounds on the TP's because
    of their dependable unreliability.

    I had the issue of loading in small MP3's or WAV's
    and the panel would sometimes only play half
    of the audio clip or not play it at all.

    I wasnt even driving this from code, I had the sound
    playing as part of the button definition.

    I guess I decided that the audio quality was not the
    reason I was using the touch panel, it was just a
    nice little add (when it worked).
  • Spire_JeffSpire_Jeff Posts: 1,917
    Well, I have avoided touch panel sounds ever since the early days in which playing sound files eventually locked up the touch panels (even just the button hit/miss sounds). I do use the button hit sound now, but that is about as far as I take it.

    If I really need to play sounds, I use a box that plays sounds off of a flash card and connect it into the audio switcher. The has been done for doorbell sounds, fire alerts, burglary alerts, and it could even be used to announce events (such as "Dinner is served!"), but nobody has requested this yet :)

    As for the button hit sounds, it seems that when the panel first wakes up, it does not play the first button hit sound and often times the second button hit is chopped up or only the last half plays.

    Jeff
  • DHawthorneDHawthorne Posts: 4,584
    My understanding of this problem is that the processor hangs during playback; why is another matter. It may not be firmware fixable, they may simply need a bigger input buffer chip.
  • TurnipTruckTurnipTruck Posts: 1,485
    Spire_Jeff wrote: »
    As for the button hit sounds, it seems that when the panel first wakes up, it does not play the first button hit sound and often times the second button hit is chopped up or only the last half plays.
    Jeff

    My experience as well.
  • annuelloannuello Posts: 294
    I hear this issue on both our MVP-8400 and NXD-CV7 panels.

    I would agree with Dave re the buffering. Perhaps the code that fills the buffer with the .wav file could be optimised further, or even use the good old double-buffering approach that Apple have been using for 15+ years. (Fill one buffer while playing from the other. Swap pointers to each buffer when the end of the buffer is reached.) Presumably Apple have separate interrupt routines servicing the read & write.
  • a_riot42a_riot42 Posts: 1,624
    I hate the default sound and use a different sound for push and release. Having a push and a release sound really makes the panel feel more mechanical like you are really hitting buttons so I prefer it. I haven't seen a problem yet using sounds, so I am not sure why others are having such an issue. The one bug I have found is that if the sound is long and occurs during a page flip it can get muddled. But I think the trick is to use sounds of short duration.
    Paul
  • Spire_JeffSpire_Jeff Posts: 1,917
    a_riot42 wrote: »
    I haven't seen a problem yet using sounds, so I am not sure why others are having such an issue.

    The problem I am speaking of was a VERY real firmware problem a few years ago. It has since been fixed, but the memory will continue to haunt me :) It happened around the time I was just getting comfortable with programming touch panels and it caused me countless hours wondering what I had screwed up in code to cause the problem until I finally talked with Tech support and learned about the issue.

    Jeff
  • a_riot42a_riot42 Posts: 1,624
    Spire_Jeff wrote: »
    The problem I am speaking of was a VERY real firmware problem a few years ago. It has since been fixed, but the memory will continue to haunt me :) It happened around the time I was just getting comfortable with programming touch panels and it caused me countless hours wondering what I had screwed up in code to cause the problem until I finally talked with Tech support and learned about the issue.

    Jeff

    Is it all sounds or just the default sound?
    Paul
  • Spire_JeffSpire_Jeff Posts: 1,917
    The problem was a memory leak and it was caused by any sounds playing. It took longer when it was using the default sounds because they were smaller in size than the other audio files I was using. If you have any older installations that occasionally lock up, make sure you update the firmware.

    Jeff
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