[Problem]: Pipewire raop -> shairport on Raspberry, extreme stuttering

[hjheins]

What happened?

When playing music from a computer over pipewire raop-discover to shairport on an Raspberry Pi (as part of moode), the sound is extremely distorted/stuttery

Relevant log output

0.023675677 "shairport.c:2203" Startup in classic Airplay (aka "AirPlay 1") mode.
         0.000251875 "shairport.c:2239" Version String: "4.1.1-libdaemon-OpenSSL-Avahi-ALSA-jack-pa-dummy-stdout-pipe-soxr-convolution-metadata-mqtt-dbus-mpris-sysconfdir:/etc"
         0.000032761 "shairport.c:2258" Command Line: "/usr/bin/shairport-sync -v -a Moode AirPlay -- -d _audioout".
         0.000023229 "shairport.c:2294" Log Verbosity is 1.
         0.000033177 "audio_alsa.c:1031" alsa: alsa_maximum_stall_time of 0.200000 sec.
         0.000076562 "audio_alsa.c:1185" alsa output rate is 44100 frames per second
         0.000039115 "audio_alsa.c:1320" alsa: disable_standby_mode is "auto".
         0.000022604 "audio_alsa.c:1324" alsa: disable_standby_mode_silence_threshold is 0.040000 seconds.
         0.000023334 "audio_alsa.c:1326" alsa: disable_standby_mode_silence_scan_interval is 0.004000 seconds.
         0.000041145 "audio_alsa.c:1366" alsa: output device name is "_audioout".
         0.000278125 "shairport.c:2342" disable_resend_requests is off.
         0.000037552 "shairport.c:2343" diagnostic_drop_packet_fraction is 0.000000. A value of 0.0 means no packets will be dropped deliberately.
         0.000026094 "shairport.c:2347" statistics_requester status is 0.
         0.000022917 "shairport.c:2349" daemon status is 0.
         0.000024739 "shairport.c:1517" PID file: "/run/shairport-sync/shairport-sync.pid".
         0.000022917 "shairport.c:2350" daemon pid file path is "/run/shairport-sync/shairport-sync.pid".
         0.000022448 "shairport.c:2352" rtsp listening port is 5000.
         0.000022135 "shairport.c:2353" udp base port is 6001.
         0.000022240 "shairport.c:2354" udp port range is 10.
         0.000022031 "shairport.c:2355" player name is "Moode AirPlay".
         0.000021719 "shairport.c:2356" backend is "alsa".
         0.000022135 "shairport.c:2357" run_this_before_play_begins action is "(null)".
         0.000021771 "shairport.c:2358" run_this_after_play_ends action is "(null)".
         0.000022136 "shairport.c:2359" wait-cmd status is 1.
         0.000022708 "shairport.c:2360" run_this_before_play_begins may return output is 0.
         0.000021927 "shairport.c:2361" run_this_if_an_unfixable_error_is_detected action is "(null)".
         0.000022083 "shairport.c:2363" run_this_before_entering_active_state action is  "/var/local/www/commandw/spspre.sh".
         0.000022448 "shairport.c:2365" run_this_after_exiting_active_state action is  "/var/local/www/commandw/spspost.sh".
         0.000022240 "shairport.c:2367" active_state_timeout is  10.000000 seconds.
         0.000026562 "shairport.c:2368" mdns backend "(null)".
         0.000022448 "shairport.c:2370" interpolation setting is "soxr".
         0.000028490 "shairport.c:2374" interpolation soxr_delay_threshold is 30000000.
         0.000022656 "shairport.c:2375" resync time is 0.050000 seconds.
         0.000023386 "shairport.c:2376" allow a session to be interrupted: 0.
         0.000022239 "shairport.c:2377" busy timeout time is 120.
         0.000022031 "shairport.c:2378" drift tolerance is 0.001995 seconds.
         0.000023073 "shairport.c:2379" password is "(null)".
         0.000021615 "shairport.c:2380" ignore_volume_control is 0.
         0.000021979 "shairport.c:2384" volume_max_db is not set
         0.000021563 "shairport.c:2385" volume range in dB (zero means use the range specified by the mixer): 0.
         0.000022343 "shairport.c:2387" volume_range_combined_hardware_priority (1 means hardware mixer attenuation is used first) is 0.
         0.000022240 "shairport.c:2391" playback_mode is 0 (0-stereo, 1-mono, 1-reverse_stereo, 2-both_left, 3-both_right).
         0.000022187 "shairport.c:2393" disable_synchronization is 0.
         0.000021719 "shairport.c:2394" use_mmap_if_available is 1.
         0.000021719 "shairport.c:2395" output_format automatic selection is disabled.
         0.000022292 "shairport.c:2398" output_format is "S16".
         0.000021823 "shairport.c:2399" output_rate automatic selection is disabled.
         0.000071197 "shairport.c:2402" output_rate is 44100.
         0.000024323 "shairport.c:2403" audio backend desired buffer length is 0.200000 seconds.
         0.000023698 "shairport.c:2405" audio_backend_buffer_interpolation_threshold_in_seconds is 0.120000 seconds.
         0.000023490 "shairport.c:2407" audio backend latency offset is 0.000000 seconds.
         0.000027917 "shairport.c:2409" audio backend silence lead-in time is "auto".
         0.000022500 "shairport.c:2413" zeroconf regtype is "_raop._tcp".
         0.000023437 "shairport.c:2414" decoders_supported field is 1.
         0.000022240 "shairport.c:2415" use_apple_decoder is 0.
         0.000021875 "shairport.c:2416" alsa_use_hardware_mute is 0.
         0.000021979 "shairport.c:2420" no special mdns service interface was requested.
         0.000054062 "shairport.c:2423" configuration file name "/etc/shairport-sync.conf" resolves to "/etc/shairport-sync.conf".
         0.000027604 "shairport.c:2430" metadata enabled is 1.
         0.000022865 "shairport.c:2431" metadata pipename is "/tmp/shairport-sync-metadata".
         0.000022344 "shairport.c:2432" metadata socket address is "(null)" port 0.
         0.000022812 "shairport.c:2434" metadata socket packet size is "500".
         0.000022604 "shairport.c:2435" get-coverart is 1.
         0.000022553 "shairport.c:2438" mqtt is disabled.
         0.000021822 "shairport.c:2439" mqtt hostname is (null), port is 1883.
         0.000022448 "shairport.c:2440" mqtt topic is /Moode AirPlay.
         0.000021875 "shairport.c:2441" mqtt will not publish raw metadata.
         0.000022032 "shairport.c:2442" mqtt will not publish parsed metadata.
         0.000022239 "shairport.c:2443" mqtt will not publish cover Art.
         0.000021979 "shairport.c:2444" mqtt remote control is disabled.
         0.000021771 "shairport.c:2448" convolution is 0.
         0.000021875 "shairport.c:2449" convolution IR file is "(null)"
         0.000027656 "shairport.c:2450" convolution max length 8192
         0.000022396 "shairport.c:2451" convolution gain is 0.000000
         0.000023125 "shairport.c:2453" loudness is 0.
         0.000022240 "shairport.c:2454" loudness reference level is -20.000000
         0.000246042 "shairport.c:2464" size of hw_addr is 8.
         0.000770156 "rtsp.c:4135" metadata pipe name is "/tmp/shairport-sync-metadata".
         0.041987187 "dbus-service.c:609" >> setting loudness threshold to -20.000000.
         0.000182240 "dbus-service.c:622" >> setting drift tolerance to 0.001995 seconds.
         0.000082396 "dbus-service.c:1016" >> ALACDecoder set to "hammerton"
         0.000058802 "dbus-service.c:1021" >> Active set to "false"
         0.000043750 "dbus-service.c:1034" >> disable standby mode set to "auto"
         0.000046927 "dbus-service.c:1050" >> interpolation set to "soxr"
         0.000054635 "dbus-service.c:517" >> deactivating disable standby
         0.000038959 "dbus-service.c:599" >> deactivating loudness
         0.000037812 "dbus-service.c:533" >> deactivating convolution
         0.000167969 "dbus-service.c:502" >> log verbosity set to 1.
         0.000050521 "dbus-service.c:487" >> stop logging statistics
         0.000038333 "dbus-service.c:447" >> stop including elapsed time in logs
         0.000047604 "dbus-service.c:457" >> start including delta time in logs
         0.000039375 "dbus-service.c:470" >> start including file and line in logs
         0.000102292 "dbus-service.c:1163" Shairport Sync native D-Bus service started at "org.gnome.ShairportSync" on the system bus.
         0.001258958 "mpris-service.c:342" MPRIS service started at "org.mpris.MediaPlayer2.ShairportSync" on the system bus.
        85.550252936 "rtsp.c:1634" Connection 1: Classic AirPlay connection from 2a02:8071:6141:e2e0::295:39242 to self at 2a02:8071:6141:e2e0::ae7:5000.
Event: Run spspre.sh
amixer: Invalid command!
         1.502645677 "rtp.c:965" Time ping turnaround time: 142593526976 ns -- it looks like a timing ping was lost.
         1.993421978 "rtsp.c:2058" Connection 1: POST /feedback Content-Length 0
         0.819793333 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -6685 frames (-0.151587 seconds), at frame: 886366956.
         0.438457604 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2613 frames (-0.059252 seconds), at frame: 886386124.
         0.270395677 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2716 frames (-0.061587 seconds), at frame: 886398355.
         0.421996511 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -3169 frames (-0.071859 seconds), at frame: 886417056.
         0.049435572 "rtsp.c:2058" Connection 1: POST /feedback Content-Length 0
         0.302981511 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2239 frames (-0.050771 seconds), at frame: 886432694.
         0.244822239 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2282 frames (-0.051746 seconds), at frame: 886443043.
         0.426592552 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2830 frames (-0.064172 seconds), at frame: 886462096.
         0.289476042 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2272 frames (-0.051519 seconds), at frame: 886474560.
         0.318988750 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2248 frames (-0.050975 seconds), at frame: 886489142.
         0.255321562 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2959 frames (-0.067098 seconds), at frame: 886500198.
         0.162728073 "rtsp.c:2058" Connection 1: POST /feedback Content-Length 0
         0.184635989 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2380 frames (-0.053968 seconds), at frame: 886514544.
         0.348450052 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -3084 frames (-0.069932 seconds), at frame: 886530304.
         0.347394531 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2237 frames (-0.050726 seconds), at frame: 886545590.
         0.237194011 "player.c:2844" Large negative (i.e. early) sync error of -2941 frames (-0.066689 seconds), at frame: 886556646.
         0.882582864 "rtsp.c:2058" Connection 1: POST /feedback Content-Length 0
         1.999179218 "rtsp.c:2058" Connection 1: POST /feedback Content-Length 0
         0.900523958 "player.c:393" 1024 buffers allocated, 1024 buffers released.
         0.003805521 "rtsp.c:1353" Connection 1: Connection closed by client.
Event: Run spspost.sh
        65.345780027 "mdns_avahi.c:296" avahi: client failure: Daemon connection failed
         0.000211667 "mdns_avahi.c:299" avahi client -- we have been disconnected, so let's reconnect.
         0.421871562 "shairport.c:1669" normal exit

System Information.

Raspberry Pi 3B + Audiophonics es9028 running Moode (which includes shairport 4.1.1-libdaemon-OpenSSL-Avahi-ALSA-jack-pa-dummy-stdout-pipe-soxr-convolution-metadata-mqtt-dbus-mpris-sysconfdir:/etc)

Configuration Information.

shairport-sync --displayConfig
>> Display Config Start.

From "uname -a":
 Linux undermoode 6.1.21-v8+ #1642 SMP PREEMPT Mon Apr  3 17:24:16 BST 2023 aarch64 GNU/Linux

From /etc/os-release:
 Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye)

From /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/model:
 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Plus Rev 1.3

Shairport Sync Version String:
 4.1.1-libdaemon-OpenSSL-Avahi-ALSA-jack-pa-dummy-stdout-pipe-soxr-convolution-metadata-mqtt-dbus-mpris-sysconfdir:/etc

Command Line:
 shairport-sync --displayConfig

Configuration File:
 /etc/shairport-sync.conf

Configuration File Settings:
 general : 
 {
   interpolation = "soxr";
   audio_backend_latency_offset_in_seconds = 0.0;
   audio_backend_buffer_desired_length_in_seconds = 0.2;
 };
 sessioncontrol : 
 {
   run_this_before_entering_active_state = "/var/local/www/commandw/spspre.sh";
   run_this_after_exiting_active_state = "/var/local/www/commandw/spspost.sh";
   active_state_timeout = 10.0;
   wait_for_completion = "yes";
   allow_session_interruption = "no";
   session_timeout = 120;
 };
 alsa : 
 {
   output_rate = 44100;
   output_format = "S16";
   disable_standby_mode = "auto";
 };

>> Display Config End.
>> Goodbye!

PulseAudio or PipeWire installed?

• Check if your system uses a Sound Server.

How did you install Shairport Sync?

Built from source

Check previous issues

• Confirm

[mikebrady]

Thanks for the post. A couple of quick questions:

1. Have you tried playing from a regular Apple device, e.g. an iPhone or Mac?
2. What sound server is installed on your system -- is it PipeWire or PulseAudio? The backend selected is alsa, (rather than pw if you have PipeWire on your Pi, or pa is you have a PulseAudio). Is that what you intend?

If you got a chance to run dacquery and post the results, it would give us an idea of the capability of the DAC you are using, which might be helpful.

[hjheins]

Hi Mike,

1. nope, sorry, I have no Apple device
2. on the computer: pipewire. on the Raspberry looks like it's alsa

dacquery output:

# dacquery 
  --- Alsa Version: 1.2.4.
  --- Sound Cards: 1.
  --- Card 0:
        --- Name: "I-Sabre Q2M DAC".
        --- Mixer:
               --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              |  Name                              |  Index  |     Min  |     Max  |  Mute dB  |   Min dB  |   Max dB  |
               --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              |  Digital                           |      0  |       0  |     100  |       No  |  -100.00  |     0.00  |
               --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        --- Interfaces and Supported Formats:
              >>> Interface "hw:DAC":
                  This interface supports any rate, format and channel combination from the following table:
                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      |    Rate |              Format |  Channels | Channel Map                                                     |
                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      |    8000 |              S16_LE |         2 |                                                                 |
                      |   11025 |              S32_LE |           |                                                                 |
                      |   16000 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |   22050 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |   32000 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |   44100 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |   48000 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |   64000 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |   88200 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |   96000 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |  176400 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |  192000 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |  352800 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                      |  384000 |                     |           |                                                                 |
                       -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[mikebrady]

Thanks, and to clarify: does the Pi have a sound server on it? A quick way to tell is that if it has a Desktop GUI, it has a sound server.

If you could somehow try it out with an Apple device, it would help to eliminate that RAOP plugin as a potential problem.

[hjheins]

No, the pi has no desktop and no gui

Unfortunately I have no Apple device, so testing that will be difficult.

To clarify: the pi is installed with moodeaudio; before pipewire I pushed music to it over dlna, but as pipewire doesn't support dlna yet, I used raop / shairport as the alternative solution (shairport is part of moodeaudio)

[mikebrady]

Many thanks for the clarifications. Another possibility for testing (and maybe for using?) is OwnTone.

[hjheins]

Hi Mike, thanks. Owntone looks very nice.
However I am looking for a solution to basically select another output/renderer while going through audio on my computer. So like when I open a youtube video/sound file, and I want to stream it directly to the living room instead of my computer. up till pipewire I used DLNA for it, but as pipewire doesn't support that, I tried airplay.
Owntone is nice but apparently not for something like that.

[JayGatsby7]

i use raop from my ubuntu and arch linux desktop workstations. Able to sling to a headless raspberry pi running shairport sync. it works great. Believe that I had issues when trying to do this from a raspberry pi os desktop so it could have something to do with the os and/or desktop you are using on the machine that isn't running shairport-sync. Gnome/Arch linux; Gnome/Ubuntu 24.04 work great for me. I run shairport on a headless pi (lite version of raspbian) using the docker image of Shairport-sync

[hjheins]

hi @JayGatsby7 ,
actually I am playing from a computer with a ryzen 3600, 16Gb Ram, 1Gb SSD to a raspbberry with shairplay installed.

I guess this is a dead-end for now.
I found an alternative solution in pa-dlna which can play from any computer with pipewire installed to any dlna renderer.
So for the moment no airport for me.
cheers :-)