Z9X Pro Stuttering (Solved)

Hey guys, I'm a brand new Zidoo user and just bought a Z9X Pro to couple with my new Sony OLED. Hoped to be able to play my 4k remux's but noticing an issue where some movies will stutter and I can't figure out why. They play just fine through Plex. Contemplating whether I need to return this and just use a Shield Pro. That option sucks cause everything I've read says Zidoo is superior but so far that does seem to hold true.

Any suggestions on how to address this? I've tried everything I can think of. New HDMI Ultra certified cables, changing frame rate settings, tried the movie playing off a local hard drive. Nothing seems to work. My next option is to try installing the beta firmware which hopefully won't introduce different issues.

Open to anyone's suggestions on how to possibly resolve this.

 

I never know how, or if even, to, respond to posts like this because I know I can't really help.

My experience with from the X9S right up to the Z9X Pro (via Z9S, Z9X and various Neo incarnations along the way) is that I've never experienced this.

Ever.

I use a variety of remuxes and encodes (which I do myself with Staxrip) and the odd Web-DL here and there for educational reasons

All MKV (because why the hell would anyone want to use BD Menu time vampires?? I know some do, but seriously, why!!??)

And these boxes, despite other foibles and idiosyncrasies, are just rock solid for media playback. As long as your network is robust, and especially as long as your files are sound.

HDMI cables don't make any difference to a situation like this - there are really three variables - the delivery, the files and the player. And as long as the first two are sound, the third has no issue.

But something's obviously a problem here, but what the hell it is, I've no idea.

That's why I rarely respond to problems like this.....

 

Haha well I appreciate the honesty and taking the time to respond even if there isn't an easy solution!

For Delivery wise, I have a pretty good network I think, it's all hardwired 1Gig ethernet. Files are stored on a Unraid NAS and played via SMB (but also tested this with a direct USB connection to no avail). I use a Sennheiser Ambeo soundar connected through eArc to the TV (but also unplugged that to try and eliminate that variable)

For Files, I've seen this on multiple MKV's (agreed on BD menu vampires ) and also tested the same file through Plex and no stuttering at all...

That's leaves the player itself...so either a hardware issue or software...Any suggestions on troubleshooting tips you'd take in my spot? Other than upgrade to the beta or return the player I'm not sure what other things I can try to nail this issue down...

 

which Sony OLED if you don't mind me asking? Is it the A95L?

 

I was watching Equalizer 3 (remuxed by myself) on my Z20 Pro. The playback was smooth and normal until the car explosion scene where I think that bitrate peaked really high (a lot of changes on the screen) and, then, the video stuttered and I had to restart the device. Replayed the scene and it did not cause the stutter. Something strange is going on with these new gen Zidoo devices. My guess is memory leak on something somewhere.

 

What exactly are you "remuxing"? Or are you simply referring to your process of ripping the movie only to MKV and leaving off the menus and such?

 

Yes, remux means decrypt and repackage disc contents into another container like MKV.

 

Should be on the .65 beta
Was someone else having stutter issues all went away once they did the latest f/w
These products are always Beta f/w with the occassional Stable beta added to OTA
Check last 2 pages of the current .65 thread to see what i meant about his stutter went away with the latest f/w

 

Maybe you could test the speedtest of your zidoo. Personnaly I had some stuttering in 4k movies, but it was due to some bitrate spikes in the movie. When it become higher thant 100 bmps, stutters occures. I made changes to upgrade the connection, have a better speedtest, and the stutters disappears. Also, zidoo's wifi suck, and you can't easily change the antennas.

 

My recently purchased Zidoo Z9X Pro stutters at video play back. It first got my attention at the 48:20 minute mark of GoT S05E09, a 4k 24fps HDR10 10 bit yuv420 file where there is a lot going on in the picture. The stutters are best discribes as occasional frame drops but not necessarily at the same frames every time! The part where Dragon grabs the fleeing man or spits its fire around is an infamous part where stutters occur occasionally.

The Z9X Pro is connected with a certified HDMI 2.1 48 Gbps HDMI cable to a Denon X8500HA at the "mediaplayer" IN port at the back of the receiver (which allegedly is a HDMI 2.1 port, but i can't find any documentation that confirms this) than the eARC OUT at receiver to an LG C2 eARC IN port.

I got the newest firmware; 1.0.65 beta, and tried about everything i can:

• the file from a USB thumbdrive (i believe it to be USB3.2) in the USB2.0 and USB3.0 port of the Z9Xpro > stutters
• a 5400rpm harddisk in an external USB3.2 case connected to the USB3.0 port of the Z9Xpro >stutters
• same harddisk connected to the sata port of the Z9Xpro > stutters
• a factory reset > still stuttering

All the same methods but done on a Dune Max Vision (Realtek RTD1619DR) and a Vero 4K+(AMLogic S905D) ran perfectly fine.

It's not file specific though, other files from other sources with other footage stutter as well.

I also posted the same issue on the avforums.com for i wish not to return the unit but rather solve the problem

 

If your Sony OLED is a new A95L, it could be the TV causing the issue. It has a lot of firmware issues that habe to be fixed.

 

I have an LG C2 and a Denon AVC-X3800H. My connection chain is the same as yours. However all my videos are stored on a Synology NAS. I don't see stuttering. I don't have the GoT video you are having problems with so can't check. Are you able to create a 5 minute extract using something like MKVToolNix and uploading to Mega? Ideally the scene you mention in your original post? I can then test to see if I see the same stutter.

 

I see stutter here and there in different files

Here's the part of Got where it's stuttering almost every time:

filemail.com/d/jjoswcmmoweaehb
put www. in front

 

This looks like a known TrueHD bug - there's a certain configuration of file, and I haven't figured out what, where TrueHD soundtracks cause stuttering.

This is a known issue and has been partially fixed in an internal beta but there are still some problems to be fixed.

Just to reiterate, this doesn't happen with most TrueHD files - certainly all mine which are produced with MakeMKV and/or MKVToolnix and/or Staxrip have no issue whatsoever, so I presume it's the provenance of the files (to be polite about it).

In the meantime, use the Dolby Digital track and hopefully you'll see the stuttering disappear.

 

broken file ?
cant get it to play on Z9X Pro or PC

 

Apart from the TrueHD issue, it plays fine here on a Pro.

 

As Mark says this is the True-HD Atmos issue. I can see some stuttering with the default True-HD Atmos track but plays smooth choosing any of the DD 5.1 lossy tracks. Hopefully it will be fixed in next release.

 

The GoT file still stutters in the latest internal, so although this issue has been fixed for some of the offending files, it's obviously not fixed generally.

I've sent a copy to the devs.

I think this maybe the reason so many people are reporting stuttering with this box and yet most of us don't see it at all. Still no idea what's different about the way these files are endoded. I have a sneaky suspicion it's to do with DVDFab but that's just a hunch.

 

Jitter and/or stuttering have been greatly reduced with 1.065 but not completely gone, indeed. Let's say it is acceptable (like an average of 3-4 times in an hour for me, depending on the source), but I still hope they will fix it, especially when the oold RTD1295 player that got replaced by the Zidoo had no issues like this.

 

In that Game of Thrones test file, i switched back and forth between the TrueHD Amos track and the AC3 5.1 track... and lo and behold, the stutters were gone.
Mark did some fine research there! Thanks!