Recommended Posts

6 hours ago, Raphaël G. said:

Could you test if Preview 9 improves this? I silently released preview 9 here.

I tested something as a whim, when my monitor is @60hz it works fine, but when I bump my refresh rate up to 144hz or 165hz it doesn't work.  So @ 60hz it's working great.  Not sure why it would not work at a higher refresh rate...

Spectrum Analyzer bug:
 

I have a duel monitor setup, one is 1080p @ 60hz, the other is 1440p @ 166hz, there is a bug in the NVidia drivers that causes stuttering in windows when two displays are using different refresh rates.  I tested this bug with both monitors @ 60hz and everything works fine.  When I bumped my main monitor up to 165hz is when the stuttering starts in Spectrum Analyzer.  I suspect this issues is being caused by the NVidia driver.  I have only seen this behavior in the edge browser for video playback, the new Chromium browser somehow is not affected by this bug.

Nvidia bug info

@Ravensky Thank's a lot for this information! That might explain why I have problems reproducing it on my computer. I've updated the issue information on the Dopamine GitHub: https://github.com/digimezzo/Dopamine/issues/987

 

It's indeed, not clear why it only happens on now playing.

 

Edit:

 

@Ravensky and @Jackaluichi,

 

Unfortunately I don't have any monitor which has a framerate higher than 60. So can I ask the following?

Could you try out the build that I put on my dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fqvqotogo2jv7kr/AAC54ENOFA89y78d30bMihRWa?dl=0

That build is also called "preview 9" and you should be able to install it over your current version. That build removes the image on now playing. I'd like to know if that improves the situation.

 

Thank you!

@RavenskyThanks for all the information, mate.

 

I also have a dual monitor setup, a 24" Dell 60Hz, but it's almost always switched off, and my main one is an UltraWide 2560x1080 144 Hz. My graphics card, however, is a Radeon RX Vega 56, so I don't think this is a problem exclusive to NVIDIA drivers. I have just tested using a refresh rate of 60 Hz, and just like in your case the problem dissappears. But I've also discovered something else. Even while keeping the refrest rate at 144 Hz, if I close Dopamine in the 'Now Playing' section, when I open it again and press play, the problem goes away as well, but it returns as soon as I switch to any other section within Dopamine.

 

Cheers!

5 minutes ago, Raphaël G. said:

@Ravensky and @Jackaluichi,

 

Unfortunately I don't have any monitor which has a framerate higher than 60. So can I ask the following?

Could you try out the build that I put on my dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fqvqotogo2jv7kr/AAC54ENOFA89y78d30bMihRWa?dl=0

That build is also called "preview 9" and you should be able to install it over your current version. That build removes the image on now playing. I'd like to know if that improves the situation.

 

Thank you!

I've just tested it, and I'm afraid it doesn't make any difference at all.

23 minutes ago, Jackaluichi said:

I've just tested it, and I'm afraid it doesn't make any difference at all.

Thanks! So I can rule that one out.

 

Your observation about starting on now playing, and then opening another screen is quite interesting. In that case, does the stutter happen on another screen than the now playing screen?

6 minutes ago, Raphaël G. said:

Thanks! So I can rule that one out.

 

Your observation about starting on now playing, and then opening another screen is quite interesting. In that case, does the stutter happen on another screen than the now playing screen?

In that case, when I go back to the general view the stutters happen for a brief moment and then they just go away on their own. This bug seems like one of the most weird ones I've come across in a while.

7 minutes ago, Jackaluichi said:

In that case, when I go back to the general view the stutters happen for a brief moment and then they just go away on their own. This bug seems like one of the most weird ones I've come across in a while.

Very strange indeed. How is the spectrum analyzer on the cover and the micro player?

While Dopamine is running and playing music on the Now Playing screen if I switch from 60hz to 120hz or 144hz or 165hz it will instantly start stuttering, (not the music playback just the analyzer) and when I switch back to 60hz while it is still playing it will correct itself and run fine.  So it is definitely tied to the refresh rate of the monitor.  If Dopamine is on the default playback window there is no affect at any refresh rate it just works fine on all.

Hi everyone!

 

Dopamine 2.0 preview 10 is ready for consumption. This release has a very short, but interesting, change log:

 

– [Fixed] Lyrics “Search again” doesn’t work
– [Fixed] High CPU and memory usage

 

For this preview, I spent quite some time optimizing memory en CPU usage. On my test system, this was a success. Hopefully this preview treats you as well as it did me 🙂

 

Enjoy!

 

As always, you can download it here

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1

Another preview is available. I've been handling small annoyances that some people reported. Here's the change log:

 

– [Fixed] Short sound after starting up
– [Fixed] Zero-sized images which are embedded in audio files, are mistakenly treated as valid images.

 

Download here

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
2 hours ago, Raphaël G. said:

Another preview is available. I've been handling small annoyances that some people reported. Here's the change log:

 

– [Fixed] Short sound after starting up
– [Fixed] Zero-sized images which are embedded in audio files, are mistakenly treated as valid images.

 

Download here

 

 

Thanks, Raphaël! 😄
How's the spectrum analyzer stutter's investigation going? 🤔

58 minutes ago, Jackaluichi said:

Thanks, Raphaël! 😄
How's the spectrum analyzer stutter's investigation going? 🤔

Not good :( I have no idea how to explain what is going on. Also, the fact that I don't have the tools to reproduce it, doesn't help.

21 hours ago, Raphaël G. said:

Not good :( I have no idea how to explain what is going on. Also, the fact that I don't have the tools to reproduce it, doesn't help.

If I were rich, I would give you a 144 Hz monitor away 😜

1 hour ago, Jackaluichi said:

If I were rich, I would give you a 144 Hz monitor away 😜

Hehe thanks :) But no need. I'll find another way somehow. Maybe some other developer can assist. You aren't a developer by any chance? :)

41 minutes ago, kukata said:

@Raphaël G. Hello! When starting the player a brief moment (2-3 secs) from a song of the last played album is been played. He's been having this problem for a long time. It's not the new build.

Preview 11 is also doing that? I hoped I fixed that in preview 11.

Made this account just to ask, so sorry if that's frowned upon in this forum, but I might stick around because the community seems cool 😀

 

I've downloaded Dopamine to replace VLC and from what little time I've used it it seems awesome already, but when I try to make Dopamine the default audio player in the "Default apps" menu as well as in the control panel, it doesn't show up on the list of programs able to be selected. Additionally, searching for Dopamine in the search bar only brings up the playlist folder it creates in "C:\Users\[NAME]\Music", but not the application file itself or its own folder I installed it to.

 

I've also tried using file association in the control panel, much to the same effect of being brought back to the frustrating metro "Default apps" menu.

 

There's no problem running the program at all as far as I can tell (I pretty much downloaded it just a week ago and fiddled with it off and on), but not being able to make it the system-recognized default is kind of a bummer. I haven't found this issue with anyone else, but then again I've been known to have very specific problems nobody else has, so could it be an install problem, perhaps?

 

Sorry for long post. I have no idea what this forum's etiquette is. Every forum is different.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Posts

    • Gotenks98 is right... Outlook (new) is absolute trash. Doesn't Mozilla have an Enterprise Version of Firebird?
    • Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more by Taras Buria This week's news recap is here, with Microsoft announcing the new Surface Laptop Ultra, fresh chips from NVIDIA for Windows on ARM, a no-build week, fixes for Windows 11's context menus, gaming news, reviews, and more. Quick links: Windows 10 and 11 Windows Insider Program Updates are available Reviews are in Gaming news Great deals to check Windows 11 and Windows 10 Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions. At Computex 2026, together with NVIDIA, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Ultra, its most powerful laptop to date, powered by NVIDIA's RTX Spark processor. Details about this computer are currently scarce, as Microsoft has only revealed certain parts of its specs. So far, we know that the computer has a 15-inch mini-LED display, a rich set of ports, a powerful processor, and all-day battery life. It also comes with a new wallpaper, which you can already download here in full resolution. The Surface Laptop Studio is not the only NVIDIA-powered Surface, which Microsoft unveiled this week. At Build 2026, the company also debuted the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, an odd-shaped desktop with a 20-core NVIDIA Grace CPU and an NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores with FP4 precision, connected via the NVIDIA NVLink-C2C chip-to-chip interconnect for high performance. According to Microsoft, it can run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally without relying on cloud GPU infrastructure. These two new Surface devices are likely to cost quite a lot, and for those who need a more affordable device, Microsoft is preparing the next-gen Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. This week, details about these two devices leaked in plenty of detail. Other announcements at Build 2026 include the following: Microsoft unveils new security tools for IT admins and developers building AI products Microsoft announces Scout, an OpenClaw-powered personal agent for enterprise customers Microsoft unveils MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning and MAI-Code-1 coding models Microsoft announced a new Windows 11 native command-line utility Microsoft unveils Majorana 2 quantum chip, accelerating commercial timeline to 2029 Microsoft believes that AI agents will eventually replace apps through Project Solara Microsoft introduces Web IQ, a Bing-powered search system built for AI agents Last week, Microsoft released a new Experimental build, which introduced a major Start menu upgrade. It now lets you toggle off specific parts of the menu without affecting other features, resize the menu, and hide additional UI elements. We published a closer look here, so if you want to know what Microsoft is cooking without enrolling in the Insider program and installing unstable builds, check it out. Speaking of new features, many users are very annoyed about the way Microsoft delivers them. Recently, a frustrated user shared their experience with gradual rollouts, and even Microsoft engineers admitted there is a flaw in the system that prevents new features from applying properly. One of those new features includes the ability to uninstall AI models in Windows 11 with a single click. Windows 11 is finally getting fixes for its slow context menus. Marcus Ash from Microsoft confirmed that the company is working on fixing Windows 11's context menus. Reworked context menus are going to be faster, simpler by default, and "configurable to what you use most." According to Marcus, Microsoft will share more details soon. Windows Insider Program Windows 11 preview builds, released last week, are now available for download as standalone ISO files. These days, Microsoft regularly pushes new images, allowing users to clean-install its recent Windows 11 preview builds faster and easier. If you want to try the latest Windows 11 features without jumping through the Windows Update hoops, get those new images here. Sadly, Microsoft did not release new Windows 11 preview builds this week. Come back next time. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. Microsoft is preparing new features for Teams. Later this month, the messenger will receive a new download manager with auto-dismissing notifications, reducing clutter and making the overall experience less annoying when dealing with downloads. Mozilla released Firefox 151.0.3, a new bug-fixing update for the browser. It is a small release, which fixes problems with pasting into text fields and the oversized VPN button on the toolbar. The update is now available for all users in the Release channel. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: VS Code 1.123 introduces massive upgrades for persistent AI developer workflows Microsoft OneDrive is getting a simple yet much-needed feature Microsoft faces heat after quietly blocking promised Office features on Apple systems Microsoft resumes forced Copilot app installation on some Windows PCs Browser vendors pen an open letter to Microsoft, saying "enough is enough" Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: AMD Radeon Software 26.6.1 with optimizations for F1 25: 2026 Season, World of Tanks: HEAT, and various bug fixes. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week Steven Parker dropped more mini PC reviews this week. GEEKOM Air12 2026 Edition is a low-power, affordable computer with an Intel Tiger Lake Pentium Gold processor, up to 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage, costing just $349. It is light, quiet, energy efficient, and has modern ports on the front. However, the front-facing USB Type-C is data-only, and there are some quirks with the computer's memory, so check out the full review. The AMD RX 9070 GRE has been released worldwide, and we published a benchmark review comparing this powerful graphics card to the RX 9070 XT, 7800 XT, the NVIDIA RTX 5070, and RTX 4070. It has solid, balanced performance, plenty of RAM, and low temperatures, but watch out for mediocre ray tracing performance and not the best efficiency. Also, we reviewed the Cuktech 10 Ultra, a compact, high-power charger with four ports and a big display full of various stats. This tiny charger can pull nearly 120W and spread that power according to each connected device's needs. It also comes with a high-quality 240W cable, three power modes, and retractable prongs. The best part? It is quite affordable, just make sure you have an outlet placed in the right spot to benefit from the built-in display. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. Do you remember the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Microsoft's first handheld console designed in partnership with ASUS? This week, ASUS revealed a new version of the device to celebrate twenty years of its Republic of Gamers brand. The new ROG Xbox Ally X20 features an OLED display, a transforming D-Pad, TMR sticks, and other changes. However, the chip inside the console is still the same. Forza Horizon 6 launched last month to critical acclaim, but the game will soon have a new rival made by those who used to work on Forza Horizon titles. Mike Brown from Maverick Games announced Clutch, an upcoming racing game with a story-driven campaign, deep car customization, and rich multiplayer. The game is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in Spring 2027. The next update for Minecraft now has a release date. This week, Mojang announced that Chaos Cubed will be available on June 16, 2026. In addition, Mojang published a teaser of the next Minecraft movie. A Minecraft Movie Squared has now been confirmed for a release somewhere in 2027. NVIDIA GeForce Now is getting 18 new games in June. Those include Jurassic World Evolution 3, Fatekeeper, GOALS, Gothic 1 Remake, NTE: Neverness to Everness, and more. If you are a Game Pass subscriber, you can also get new games soon: Persona 5 Royal, Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, and more are coming to the service this month. Sumer Game Fest 2026 happened this week, where we saw plenty of new games, including Alien Isolation 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, Gen Atlas from the Shadow of the Colossus creator, a new Cuphead game in 8-bit style, a new expansion for Mafia: The Old Country, and more. Finally, here are this week's Weekend PC Game Deals, full of discounts and the latest freebies from the Epic Games Store. Other gaming news includes the following: God of War Laufey announced, introducing Kratos' wife as the new protagonist Ori studio's No Rest for the Wicked 1.0 release and console plans announced Microsoft launches Godot Sample to streamline Xbox PC game development on the engine Great deals to check Every week, we cover many deals on different hardware and software. The following discounts are still available, so check them out. You might find something you want or need. Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe - $389.99 | 39% off Sonos Sub 4 - Wireless Subwoofer - $759 | 16% off Logitech MX Creative Console - $159.99 | 20% off This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.
    • Let's goooooooo! I've been loving the entries so far! I still have to finish Rebirth (things have been busy!)! Excited for this next installment.
    • "Revelation?" I was hoping for this episode to be called "Reunion". Oh, well... In a related note, the Final Fantasy VII compilation has received an EC entry, short for Ever Crisis. For those who don't know, it already had AC, BC, CC, and DC entries, short for Advent Children, Before Crisis, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus. I hope it doesn't get an FC entry becaude that would be a freakin' crisis.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      JKR earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      moog19 went up a rank
      Rookie
    • Mentor
      grik went up a rank
      Mentor
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      515
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      277
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      76
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      71
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      68
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!