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Dang, this thing has been a workhorse for years and it's giving me fits this week. I'm experiencing audio stutters during playback. Any PC nerds out there have any ideas or suggestions?

The problem:
- Audio 'stuttering' during playback. No noticeable cracking or popping; an interruption in the audio timeline with audio dropout and loss of continuity in the timeline
- This shows up in my DAW (Reaper) and other audio apps; like playing an mp3 in iTunes
- Frequency of the glitching is related to video activity. It increases if I have a window open that's updating (scrolling etc)

Specs:
- PC running Win10 Pro version 1803; I'm on auto updates in the semi-annual channel. (BTW; if this is your cue to make a snarky Apple comment just move along. When linux becomes a viable platform for pro-audio I'll drop windows like a hot rock)
- i7 (Lakeland) chipset 4 core 64bit
- 32GB of DDR4 RAM
- Yamaha Steinberg MR816x firewire interface. I have a PCIe to firewire card in this box; I bought the TI card recommended for audio applications.

Stuff I've looked at and tried
- Twiddled with ASIO latency, upped the sample count etc. Increasing the sample count/latency to max doesn't stop this, or even reduce it's frequency
- Turned off anti-virus, my backup s/w, the hard-drive indexing feature on my recording drive and disabled the ethernet adaptors in the box, none of these things have any effect on the problem.
- I've monitored system resources in my DAW (Reaper) and through task manager, nothing suspicious in any of those grapsh when the glitch happens.
- The driver for the interface is the latest one available. I'm about to re-install it.

I'm running out of ideas. Anything else to look into? Thanks in advance

Get LatencyMon to check your DPC latency

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

See what driver has the highest DPC count after running for a while

audio drive capacity vs. how much you have filled it up? Is iTunes also running from the same audio drive?

Mechanical drive 50% or less full for performance.
SSD 75% or less full for best performance

though the video comment makes me say motherboard or video card is on the edge of going.

cosmicdolphin wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 04, 2019 10:47 am

Get LatencyMon to check your DPC latency

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

See what driver has the highest DPC count after running for a while

Great tool, thanks for the pointer. Nothing shows up running it with and without my DAW running.

It does post the warning about me using variable clock speed on my CPU. I ran an audio stress test with and without the variable clocking when I built this box and it really didn't make any difference. But, it's worth a shot turning it off and seeing what happens.

andygabrys wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:45 am

audio drive capacity vs. how much you have filled it up? Is iTunes also running from the same audio drive?

Mechanical drive 50% or less full for performance.
SSD 75% or less full for best performance

though the video comment makes me say motherboard or video card is on the edge of going.

Good stuff to check...
My OS drive is SS and less than 50%, my audio and sample libraries are less than 25% full.


I'm beginning to suspect hardware. Just ordered a new MOBO.

The driver for the interface is the latest one available. I'm about to re-install it.

windows 10 probably needs to run the legacy drivers

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ins ... e87?page=2

The variable clock speed looks suspect. If its responding to temperature, it usually wont affect performance until the computer has been on for a while. Since its not a laptop its not likely for power saving.

teleblaster wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 04, 2019 12:49 pm

cosmicdolphin wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 04, 2019 10:47 am

Get LatencyMon to check your DPC latency

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

See what driver has the highest DPC count after running for a while

Great tool, thanks for the pointer. Nothing shows up running it with and without my DAW running.

It does post the warning about me using variable clock speed on my CPU. I ran an audio stress test with and without the variable clocking when I built this box and it really didn't make any difference. But, it's worth a shot turning it off and seeing what happens.

Try: Resetting and matching sample rates on your interface and DAW. Shutdown and unplug/replug most cables. Updating your video card driver from the manufacturers website. Windows may tell you you have the latest version but you need to check anyway. If its current reinstall. The latency monitor may have pointed to that if it was a problem, I dunno.
Best of luck.

Always start by Blowing/Cleaning your circuit boards/intake fans with compressed air and a soft cloth.
Amazing how much heat is generated by built up dust.
Just sayin'...