[arm-allstar] multiple echo link connections and "under water" audio

[Patrick Perdue]

True, but I can rule out ASL being the problem. I have tested with both 
HamVoIP and ASL in isolated incidents, and can report the same results 
either way.

I did some more tests, and basically, what happens is, for every 
connected echo link node, inbound audio from ASL or HamVoIP audio is 
worse for each successive connection. User 1 gets great audio. User 2 is 
slightly worse. User 3 is worse than that, etc. but all of the echo link 
users sound great coming back to Allstar/HamVoIP, even the ones who get 
really terrible audio back from HamVoIP. So, you won't notice the 
problem if you're only monitoring from the ASL/HamVoIP side of things.

By the way, changing all of the connection points to SLIN made no 
difference in my further tests.


On 2/14/2020 10:41 AM, "David McGough via ARM-allstar" wrote:
> This isn't typical of what I've heard when listening to nets with many
> echolink users, so I'm curious as to what the cause is??
>
> Do remember that the HamVoIP distro is radically different from ASL, from
> a software perspective. ASL or any AllStar running on a cloud-hosted VPS
> is the WORST CASE scenario for bad audio issues. So, don't make a
> generalization assuming that if there is a problem with VPS hosted ASL,
> there will also be the same problems with HamVoIP running on a dedicated
> RPi3 or RPi4 board.
>
> Do you know of a repeatable scenario where bad quality echolink audio can
> be produced?
>
> 73, David KB4FXC
>
>
>
> On Fri, 14 Feb 2020, "W4EDP - Emmett Perdue via ARM-allstar" wrote:
>
>> It’s not just you.  I have one that does the exact same thing and
> have heard many others as well.  Everyone that I have head this issue
> with is based on either Allstar or HamVOIP.
>
> On mine, I have played with every adjustment I can find, I have moved
> URI’s away from radios, I have tried chokes on cables, etc.  Using the
> same radio and a Windows (yuk) based Echolink setup, the problem is 100%
> removed, so it is something related to Echolink and Asterisk or one of
> the modules being used.
>
> As a note, I find what you have found to be true everywhere I have heard
> this issue... Echolink to Echolink is generally good,  Echolink back to
> net is generally good.  Same on number of users, if it’s only 1 or 2,
> generally no issue is heard, as soon as there are 3 or more problems
> starts.  It varies, same person can be “under water” on a
> transmission, then on their next, sound fine.
>
> I’ve searched and searched, I can find others talking about the issue,
> but no solutions and people just live with it hoping one day something
> will change.
>
> 73
> W4EDP
>
>> On Feb 13, 2020, at 7:49 PM, Patrick Perdue via ARM-allstar <arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hi all:
>>
>>      I realize that echo link isn't the primary focus of this group, as
>> it relates to HamVoIP, but perhaps some of you may have suggestions.
>>
>> I'm running a bridge between Allstar, DMR, DSTAR and echo link using
>> HamVoIP, DVSwitch and XLXD. I've found that, if only one echo link
>> station is connected, audio is as good as it can be, considering the GSM
>> codec used by echo link, but subsequent stations hear any audio from
>> Allstar as "under water." Echo link to echo link sounds OK, and echo
>> link back to Allstar is fine as well.
>> I've heard this on a few Allstar to echo link bridges other than mine,
>> and it sounds like GSM is being transcoded to GSM a second time. You can
>> mostly understand what is being said, but the artifacts are doubled. I
>> don't really understand how chan_echolink works, or why additional
>> transcoding would be happening at that stage, but that's what it sounds
>> like to me.
>>
>> The echo link bridge is on it's own private node. Should I force GSM or
>> G726 connections only for that node, or will that just make things worse?
>>
>> I don't know for sure if it's multiple connections causing this
>> behavior, or something else.
>> My thought, if this is the case, was to limit the echo link channel to
>> only 1 connection, and keep it permanently linked to an echo link
>> conference server, having people use that instead of my echo link node
>> directly, but echo link doesn't seem to like it when people do that.
>> Any help is appreciated. Feel free to write off-list if you feel this is
>> off-topic.
>> Thanks and 73
>> de
>> KE4DYI
>> _______________________________________________
>>
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>>
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>
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>
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>
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