Experiencing stutter randomly on my Yamaha WXA50

[Lars1111]

Plan

Premium

Country

The Netherlands

Device

Yamaha WXA50

Operating System

NA

My Question or Issue

I'm experiencing randomly stutter using Spotify Connect with my Yamaha WXA-50. When I play music via spotify connect after some time randomly the music stops and 3 seconds later plays the music again, and repeats with same phenomenon with shorter pauses everytime. After a while it plays the music again without stutter. The duration time of the stutter is around 30sec. When I skip the song during this phenomenon, it plays the new song without stutter. It starts mostly after around 15min. playing music via spotify connect without stutter. 

The WXA-50 is connected via ethernet. Via the optical input I connected chromecast audio instead. Via this way I do not experience any issues. When playing internet radio on WXA-50 I also do not experience any issues.

The issue which I am experiencing very annoying. Could someone please help me to resolve?

[Zedman]

I posted a new plea to Spotify via this thread, please feel free to add your 2 cents

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Other-Podcasts-Partners-etc/Spotify-connect-feed-dropping-out/td-p/...

[Cortex-tlse]

Still no feedback from Spotify, at least they should have taken this seriously and start investigation with Yamaha. Nothing seems happing, we just have to pay the service and stay quite….not acceptable.

[simondona]

Same problem here with Yamaha mcr-n470d. Spotify connect is unusuable. Every few minutes the stream drops repeatedly.

Connection is ok, firmware is updated, premium account, country Italy.

[Latskier]

Yamaha troubleshooting suggestions shown below.  I had already performed all these steps, except for changing to the google DNS addresses, which seems to have helped (no stuttering so far).

My scenario is different in that I don't have any MusicCast components such as speakers.  Our house is wired for passive speakers throughout. I just want to use the Spotify app built into my Yamaha AV receiver, and it worked perfectly for years until a few months ago.  Also I have never had any issues streaming from an iPhone to the receiver over AirPlay.

Yamaha:

Thanks for your email, and sorry you're having trouble with your receiver. We're not getting any reports of Spotify streaming issues like this. We did issue an update in Feb 2021 that fixed an issue with Spotify, but if you have v1.96 installed that shouldn't be an issue.

Before doing anything more drastic, I would start by rebooting everything involved in streaming Spotify:

-Unplug the receiver from power for a couple minutes
-Unplug the router from power for a couple minutes
-Unplug any wireless extenders, mesh nodes, or access points, from power for a couple minutes
-Reboot your phone

After plugging everything back in, wait a few minutes for the network to reconnect, then try streaming Spotify again. If the symptom persists, I would next try the following:

-Try initiating playback from the Spotify app on a different PC, smart phone, or tablet
-Try connecting using a different Spotify account.
-Remove your Spotify account information from the receiver. In the MusicCast app, tap "settings" (gear wheel). Under "Room Settings" select your receiver. Then select "Account Settings">"Spotify">"Reset"

If you're comfortable with your router's configuration screens, you might also try changing your DNS server. This is helpful if you're having trouble connecting to a specific website or service. Google DNS is a popular choice:

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns

[Zedman]

hi Latskier, I have also had contact with Yamaha and done what was suggested as you did but still stuttering. Last night 3 hrs of playing wirhout problems and then it started again. Must be on the Spotify server end. I still see the feed choke when the stutter happens, drops to around 10 Kbps. Are you able to view your feed to the Yamaha unit??

[Latskier]

My feed shows a few seconds of 3Mb buffering then idle. Then another ~4Mb and idle. 400Mbps connection idling almost all the time.

I have studied the thruput during a stuttering event and it seems to show a demand of <10Kbps. Not sure that helps identify the issue.

[Zedman]

Yes it does help because this is exactly what I'm seeing and seems to be the only irregularity.

I set up a test situation last night to monitor the packet loss when the stutter happens and everything was ok. 0% loss. No errors in my modem log and nothing obvious in the Yamaha diagnostics log (yes you can see this in the MusicCast app but it's well hidden)

I have tried something different today based on that but it's too early to call a "fix". I'll  keep you posted.

by the way, the Yamaha support team is very quick in responding and very helpful. 🙂

[Latskier]

After switching to the Google dns addresses, I am about 20 hours of playing integrated Spotify on my RX-A3080 with no stuttering. Fingers crossed…

[Zedman]

Got the previous version firmware  for the Yamaha and installed it. Will update after 2 days testing.

[Zedman]

Hi all, before you get too desperate, I can confirm that the fix is in the download and buffer config of the firmware. The previous version Yamaha firmware has been running faultlessly for nearly 25 hrs. Also in the peak 8-10 evening hours.

I'll update Yamaha on monday morning and try to get info regarding an official fix and update.

10/10 for Yamaha on customer service.

0/10 for Spotify for no service.

[Zedman]

I'm assuming that the firmware is device specific but I'll post my fix instructions on monday having aligned with Yamaha. 

In the meantime you will need to find some info about your own device. You can find these by going to diagnostics in the MusicCast app.

Select your room and select the cogwheel top right.

Select App settings >Information>Diagnostics (at the bottom of the page)

You can find the IP address, Firmware version and Connection method there. (see screenshot)

[Zedman]

You can log in to your Yamaha device to select the connection mode, update the firmware and select a few other options. Just type the IP address into a web browser when you are on the same network.

Yamaha sent me a "rolled back" firmware version via download link so, if you want the fix now, contact them at  **bleep**

best of luck!

[Zedman]

Good grief! Spotify won't let me publish the customer service email address. Losers!

anyway, you can find it on the Yamaha Music Europe web site.

[Lars1111]

I noticed that my DNS IP address is strange if compared it to the ones from Zedman. I'm not an IT specialist could someone check if this is normal or not.

I still have the latest firmware installed.

NETWORK_STANDBY, on
|
|NETWORK_NAME, Yamaha WXA-50
|CONNECTION, wired_lan
|DHCP, true
|IP_ADDRESS, 192.168.178.**bleep**
|SUBNET_MASK, 255.255.255.0
|DEFAULT_GATEWAY, 192.168.178.1
|DNS_SERVER_1, 192.168.178.1
|DNS_SERVER_2, 0.0.0.0
|WIRELESS_LAN:ENABLE, true
|WIRELESS_LAN:SSID,
|WIRELESS_LAN:TYPE, none
|WIRELESS_LAN:CH, 0
|WIRELESS_LAN:STRENGTH, 0
|WIRELESS_LAN:RESPONSE_TIME, -s
|WIRELESS_DIRECT:SSID, WXA-50 97B380
|WIRELESS_DIRECT:TYPE, none
|MUSICCAST_NETWORK:READY, true
|MUSICCAST_NETWORK:DEVICE_TYPE, standard
|MUSICCAST_NETWORK:CHILD_NUM, 0
|MUSICCAST_NETWORK:CH, 0

[Cortex-tlse]

Hi,
Nothing strange with your DNS.
It’s juste because Zedman is using google DNS and you are using the default one from your FAI. So nothing to deal with the issue.

[Zedman]

I changed my dns to the Google server because Spotify uses this instead of their own server. You can do that in your router and by logging into your Yam via the web interface. It should give higher performance. 

Primary dns : 8.8.8.8

Secondary dns : 8.8.4.4

[Lars1111]

Ok, that's not possible with the Ziggo connectionbox unfortunately.

[Zedman]

should be. I have Ziggo too.
Dod you log in on the Ziggo box?

[Lars1111]

According to the Ziggo community it's not possible to change the default DNS in the Ziggo connectbox. https://community.ziggo.nl/t5/Internet/Is-het-mogelijk-om-de-DNS-aan-te-passen-in-de-connect-box/td-...

[Zedman]

oh, that sucks but good to know. I still have the ancient Mediabox. I don't think its the main isdue though, for me it was the Yam firmware.