Performance Problems w/Media Players and the Shadow

[Guest wazmo]

I have found that Media Players on the Shadow are seriously challenged, and I'm looking for some solutions. I am coming from an SDA and MDA, and I didn't have these problems with those devices. My library has close to 2,000 tracks encoded in AAC format.

Here's what I have run across to date:

(1) Windows Media will play the tracks, but it takes hours for it to process the library, and in shuffle mode it takes 30 seconds or more to play the next track. AVRCP works to switch tracks, but still has the latency issue.

(2) CorePlayer 1.1.1 takes a few minutes to process the tracks, and it takes 8 to 12 seconds to switch tracks. AVRCP also works, with the same latency times.

(3) PockePlayer: I can't seem to get it to shuffle, and it also appears to be response-challenged.

(4) TCPMP 0.71 works fine in shuffling, but AVRCP doesn't work.

One thing I'm tempted to try is to switch the format into WMA to see if the media format is a causal element.

Somewhere I recall seeing some posts about identifying what is in the startup and removing processes to try to improve performance. I'm also looking to see if there may be some registry hacks that may ameliorate the above issues.

[Guest mmmaiki]

I have found that Media Players on the Shadow are seriously challenged, and I'm looking for some solutions. I am coming from an SDA and MDA, and I didn't have these problems with those devices. My library has close to 2,000 tracks encoded in AAC format.

Here's what I have run across to date:

(1) Windows Media will play the tracks, but it takes hours for it to process the library, and in shuffle mode it takes 30 seconds or more to play the next track. AVRCP works to switch tracks, but still has the latency issue.

(2) CorePlayer 1.1.1 takes a few minutes to process the tracks, and it takes 8 to 12 seconds to switch tracks. AVRCP also works, with the same latency times.

(3) PockePlayer: I can't seem to get it to shuffle, and it also appears to be response-challenged.

(4) TCPMP 0.71 works fine in shuffling, but AVRCP doesn't work.

One thing I'm tempted to try is to switch the format into WMA to see if the media format is a causal element.

Somewhere I recall seeing some posts about identifying what is in the startup and removing processes to try to improve performance. I'm also looking to see if there may be some registry hacks that may ameliorate the above issues.

I don't yet have a Shadow(thinking of getting one), and have never used shuffle mode in any case, but I'm surprised about this. From everything I've read, the Shadow is supposed to have better performance than the SDA and MDA, due to more memory, and WM6 (instead of WM5).

Have others also had this problem?

I don't think TCPMP includes AVRCP, so of course that wouldn't work.

Let us know what you find out.

[Guest wazmo]

I don't yet have a Shadow(thinking of getting one), and have never used shuffle mode in any case, but I'm surprised about this. From everything I've read, the Shadow is supposed to have better performance than the SDA and MDA, due to more memory, and WM6 (instead of WM5).

Have others also had this problem?

I don't think TCPMP includes AVRCP, so of course that wouldn't work.

Let us know what you find out.

With my HP6515, TCPMP accepted AVRCP commands (mainly because it used the Widcomm BT stack, vs. the MSFT BT stack.)

I am finding that more memory helps only to a limited degree; namely, you can load up scads of apps. In terms of actual device performance, I haven't found it to be all that helpful.

So far, CorePlayer and TCPMP seems to be the most stable and usable-but when compared to WM5, WM6 isn't such a hot performer, especially given that all of the devices I used (execpt for the HP6515) are 200 Mhz OMAP's.

[Guest palmsolo]

I have found that Media Players on the Shadow are seriously challenged, and I'm looking for some solutions. I am coming from an SDA and MDA, and I didn't have these problems with those devices. My library has close to 2,000 tracks encoded in AAC format.

Here's what I have run across to date:

(1) Windows Media will play the tracks, but it takes hours for it to process the library, and in shuffle mode it takes 30 seconds or more to play the next track. AVRCP works to switch tracks, but still has the latency issue.

Wow, how much music do you have on the device? I have about 75 songs and it takes a minute or so to update the libary when I add tunes. I haven't tried shuffle mode yet.

[Guest gbenrus25]

I have found that Media Players on the Shadow are seriously challenged, and I'm looking for some solutions. I am coming from an SDA and MDA, and I didn't have these problems with those devices. My library has close to 2,000 tracks encoded in AAC format.

Here's what I have run across to date:

(1) Windows Media will play the tracks, but it takes hours for it to process the library, and in shuffle mode it takes 30 seconds or more to play the next track. AVRCP works to switch tracks, but still has the latency issue.

(2) CorePlayer 1.1.1 takes a few minutes to process the tracks, and it takes 8 to 12 seconds to switch tracks. AVRCP also works, with the same latency times.

(3) PockePlayer: I can't seem to get it to shuffle, and it also appears to be response-challenged.

(4) TCPMP 0.71 works fine in shuffling, but AVRCP doesn't work.

One thing I'm tempted to try is to switch the format into WMA to see if the media format is a causal element.

Somewhere I recall seeing some posts about identifying what is in the startup and removing processes to try to improve performance. I'm also looking to see if there may be some registry hacks that may ameliorate the above issues.

I also had the exact same issues. However, all my files were in .wma format so I went ahead and converted them to .mp3 format.

(1) Coreplayer 1.1.1:- works very well with mp3 (I'm not sure about AAC) but completely sucks with wma (it skips after about a minute). It is also fast and only takes about 1-2 seconds to switch songs. Also, AVRCP works well (without skipping) with mp3 files but has the latency issue (it just stops working after sometime. I wonder why)

(2) Windows Media is horrible on the shadow. In shuffle mode, it takes forever to change to the next track and with AVRCP, the music goes blank after sometime. It also has the latency issue.

(3) PocketPlayer 3.2: I hated myself when I tried this player. It is dead slow (almost unresponsive) on the Shadow and when it's running, the phone becames very slow. AVRCP also didn't work for me and also, disables AVRCP on both WMP and CorePlayer when it's installed.

(4) TCPMP 0.81 :- Was very good with all types of media. However, AVRCP doesn't work on it cuz it uses the Widcomm Bluetooth Stack.

Therefore, till there's a registry hack, I'd recommend converting all your media to mp3 and using CorePlayer. The only issue was the latency of the AVRCP.

[Guest SomeaznPunk]

I have a Shadow but my memory card hasn't come in the mail yet, so I can't say anything about the music capabilities.

However, this is issue because you have ACC? Does it do the same thing for MP3? With my MDA, I had a few hundred songs and it scanned and loaded my library without any problem. Will give an update when my memory card comes in the mail.

[Guest wazmo]

I also had the exact same issues. However, all my files were in .wma format so I went ahead and converted them to .mp3 format.

(1) Coreplayer 1.1.1:- works very well with mp3 (I'm not sure about AAC) but completely sucks with wma (it skips after about a minute). It is also fast and only takes about 1-2 seconds to switch songs. Also, AVRCP works well (without skipping) with mp3 files but has the latency issue (it just stops working after sometime. I wonder why)

(2) Windows Media is horrible on the shadow. In shuffle mode, it takes forever to change to the next track and with AVRCP, the music goes blank after sometime. It also has the latency issue.

(3) PocketPlayer 3.2: I hated myself when I tried this player. It is dead slow (almost unresponsive) on the Shadow and when it's running, the phone becames very slow. AVRCP also didn't work for me and also, disables AVRCP on both WMP and CorePlayer when it's installed.

(4) TCPMP 0.81 :- Was very good with all types of media. However, AVRCP doesn't work on it cuz it uses the Widcomm Bluetooth Stack.

Therefore, till there's a registry hack, I'd recommend converting all your media to mp3 and using CorePlayer. The only issue was the latency of the AVRCP.

For Smartphones use, I use AAC exclusively as it has the best sound to size ratio, especially at low bitrates with HE encoding (32 kbps). Getting the same sound quality using MP3 I'd have to use at least 160 kbps; which would significantly increase the filesize (though I haven't calculated it out yet; that's my next project.)

I currently have PocketPlayer installed on a trial, and it didn't break AVRCP for me-but its feature set and functionality is so counter-intuitive it's ridiculous-I couldn't get it to shuffle.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's frustrated with its (lack of) media capabilities. ;)

[Guest wazmo]

Wow, how much music do you have on the device? I have about 75 songs and it takes a minute or so to update the libary when I add tunes. I haven't tried shuffle mode yet.

Go back and read my message. ;)