One second delay in waterfall and audio. Help please!

Ron K2RAS

I just installed SmartSDR for Mac on a new M2 Mac Mini. I am seeing about a one second delay in the waterfall and audio when I start or stop SSB transmitting. The mic and PTT switch are directly connected to the Flex front panel. The software is at release 2.9.31 and Loopback is being used to route the audio. The radio is a 6500 running firmware 2.12.1.

The network stats show the Internet RTT at 20ms, the Radio RTT jumping between 0.3 and 13 ms, and the radio latency jumping between 3 and 22 ms. The Mac is loaded with memory and the CPU usage is less than 10%.

Any direction in getting the delay reduced would be greatly appreciated.

73, Ron

K3SF

When running Macssdr there is no need to run loopback to move audio except for digital.

The Mac M2Mini's have tinie tiny speaker not worth listening to.

i have M1 Mini wiht same small speakers

In my shack I use powered Bose Speakers for audio directly connected to the radio (6600m)

i do run Macssdr both on macbook air as well as mac mini's

You select audio on pull-down list in settings of Macssdr…

Best to set audio buffer size to small that will minimize audio delay…

this setup works for me best

this is screen shot from M1 mini from my Apple display which has nice stereo speakers in it

so i use them when doing multiflex ops

..i have powered Bose speaker on the 6600m when using its front panel for operations

i do run a gigbyte network switch that connects the mac minis and 6600m

Paul K3SF

Ron K2RAS

Thanks for the comment. I am running Loopback for digital modes. I also have the radio and Mac directly connected to a switch and the network stats do not show substantial delays. I think the problem is not with the speakers since the same delay exists in the waterfall.

Ron

Mike-VA3MW

Here on some ideas to see if the Mini is overloaded and delayed in building your Waterfall.

Here are some built-in and third-party tools you can use:

Built-In Utilities

1. Activity Monitor:
   • Steps:
     1. Open Activity Monitor from the Applications > Utilities folder or by searching for it in Spotlight.
     2. In Activity Monitor, you can view various tabs like CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network to see the performance of your Mac.
     3. The CPU tab shows the usage of CPU by different processes, which can help identify if any process is overloading your system.
     4. The Memory tab shows the memory usage and can help identify if you are running out of RAM.
     5. The Disk tab shows disk activity, and the Network tab shows network usage.
2. Terminal Commands:
   • Steps:
     1. Open the Terminal from the Applications > Utilities folder or by searching for it in Spotlight.
     2. Use the following commands to get detailed information:
     • top: Shows the list of processes and their resource usage.
     • vm_stat: Provides a summary of virtual memory statistics.
     • iostat: Provides CPU and I/O statistics.
     • netstat: Displays network connections, routing tables, interface statistics, masquerade connections, and multicast memberships.

Third-Party Utilities

1. iStat Menus:
   • Steps:
     1. Download and install iStat Menus from iStat Menus.
     2. This tool provides detailed information about your Mac’s CPU, GPU, memory, disks, network, sensors, and battery, all in your menu bar.
2. Intel Power Gadget:
   • Steps:
     1. Download and install Intel Power Gadget from Intel Power Gadget.
     2. This tool provides real-time power usage data, temperature, and frequency for Intel processors.
3. Sensei:
   • Steps:
     1. Download and install Sensei from Sensei.
     2. Sensei is a powerful utility that provides detailed information and analytics on your Mac’s performance, including CPU, GPU, disk, and memory usage.
4. CleanMyMac X:
   • Steps:
     1. Download and install CleanMyMac X from CleanMyMac X.
     2. CleanMyMac X not only helps in cleaning junk files but also includes a system monitoring tool that provides insights into your Mac’s performance.

Using these tools, you can monitor your Mac Mini's performance and identify if any specific application or process is causing it to be overloaded.

Ron K2RAS

Can I open a support ticket and pass some of the system reports on to you for review? FYI, the CPU load is only about 12% and there is 15GB of unused memory. FYI, I attached the vm_stat report and it shows a large number of 'translation faults'. I don't know whether this is normal or not. The Mac is new and very fast, I doubt that it's performance is the culprit.

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Ron K2RAS

I finally solved my problem. For those who follow there were two underlying issues… I deleted and re-installed SmartSDR for Mac from the App store. This solved the delay in the waterfall. I then determined that the delay in audio was separately caused by using an Airplay speaker (an Apple HomePod). Switching to a wired USB speaker solved the audio delay.

Mike-VA3MW

Ron,

Nice work. Thanks for sharing how you got it fixed.

73