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Problem description: For the past few months my computer's suffered from nearly constant audio stuttering--very brief (split-second) buzz-like stutters every five to fifteen seconds. It throws music off beat, is distracting in games and TV shows, and ruins audio/video recordings, cutting out chunks whenever it happens. Worth noting--it happens when I'm using regular windows audio for headphones/speakers, but also when I run audio out through my Focusrite audio interface, which I believe has its own drivers. Also, I don't see any kind of CPU or other performance spikes when it happens. Attempted fixes: It started happening after I installed Virtual Audio Cable/VBCable, so the first thing I did was uninstall that program and try to remove all traces of it from my computer. I also tried updating to the latest version of my motherboard drivers. Also tried switching audio output to my Focusrite audio interface driver/hardware. Stuttering persisted in all cases. Recent changes: Again, it started happening immediately after I installed Virtual Audio Cable/VBCable, so that's my main suspect, but I have no idea how. Also, about 2 years ago my CPU was regularly running very hot (50C, up to 100C under load) due to a defective motherboard. After I replaced the motherboard I expected the CPU might be permanently damaged, although it seemed to perform fine for a year and a half until this audio thing started. -- Operating system: Windows 8.1 System specs: PSU: EVGA Supernova 750 G2 GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K RAM: 32GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz Motherboard: ASUS B85M-G R2.0 1150 Location: USA I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes -- I'm (reluctantly) okay with replacing the CPU if that's the problem but obviously I don't want to shell out if there's another culprit--what can I do to try and narrow this problem down? Haledjian fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Feb 16, 2018 |
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Feb 16, 2018 23:28
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 16:10 |
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Run this and see if anything shows up: http://www.thesycon.de/eng/latency_check.shtml Also, run this to check HD health: https://osdn.net/projects/crystaldiskinfo/downloads/68590/CrystalDiskInfo7_5_1.exe/
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Feb 18, 2018 00:49
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Zogo posted:Run this and see if anything shows up: CrystalDiskInfo is giving me a clean bill of health for all my hard drives, but the latency check is looking pretty consistently nasty:  I tried disabling some stuff and it looks like it's tied to the WLAN card? When I disabled it the spikes stopped, when I re-enabled it they didn't come back until I manually connected to my wifi again. I just updated to the newest drivers for the wireless card, and it doesn't seem to have helped. Did find one person who found that limiting their router's transmit bandwidth fixed the problem, although it seems odd that I wouldn't have experienced it earlier (I've had the same router for a couple of years). Haledjian fucked around with this message at 06:00 on Feb 21, 2018 |
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Feb 21, 2018 05:27
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What's the WLAN card type? I'd try reseating the card but it's possible it's failing and needs to be replaced.
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Feb 21, 2018 07:07
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Zogo posted:What's the WLAN card type? It's an ASUS PCE-N15. I'll try reseating it tonight but I'm happy to order a new one if necessary. Never would have guessed this would be the culprit, haha EDIT - Reseating may or may not have reduced the frequency, but it's still happening. Guess I'll order a new wireless card and see what happens! Haledjian fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Feb 22, 2018 |
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Feb 22, 2018 02:13
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Are you using Voicemeeter Banana as your default audio device and running everything through that? If so, pretty sure it's some bug in VB. I turned on the "Auto Restart Audio Engine" in the "Menu" button but it still comes up for me now and then(probably in between restarts). A quick "Restart Audio Engine" fixes it every time for me. I just live with it.
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Feb 24, 2018 03:52
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So, bad news--I've replaced the WLAN card with a brand-new one, and the latency problems seem about the same: Obsurveyor posted:Are you using Voicemeeter Banana as your default audio device and running everything through that? If so, pretty sure it's some bug in VB. I turned on the "Auto Restart Audio Engine" in the "Menu" button but it still comes up for me now and then(probably in between restarts). A quick "Restart Audio Engine" fixes it every time for me. I just live with it. I've long since uninstalled the VB stuff--typically I'm using the default sound device on this PC, although on the occasions that I've used the Focusrite interface as my main audio device, I've been getting the same hitching. Haledjian fucked around with this message at 20:32 on Feb 24, 2018 |
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Feb 24, 2018 19:55
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I'd remove the GPU and use onboard video temporarily and see if the problem continues or stops.
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Feb 24, 2018 23:35
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Zogo posted:I'd remove the GPU and use onboard video temporarily and see if the problem continues or stops. Just tried this! GPU is out, problem is still persisting. It still consistently stops/starts when I disable/enable the WLAN card in the device manager. Maybe worth mentioning--the replacement WLAN card I put in is the same model. Could it be a driver issue?
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Feb 25, 2018 21:16
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Haledjian posted:It still consistently stops/starts when I disable/enable the WLAN card in the device manager. Maybe worth mentioning--the replacement WLAN card I put in is the same model. Could it be a driver issue? Yea, also that specific card has a lot of bad reviews. Make sure you're on the latest motherboard BIOS: https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/B85MG_R20/HelpDesk_Download/ If that doesn't help you could try three things in any order: Install W10. Try another model WLAN card with good reviews. Try another PSU. Zogo fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Feb 26, 2018 |
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Feb 26, 2018 00:19
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Zogo posted:Yea, also that specific card has a lot of bad reviews. Will do that ASAP, thanks! The WLAN card has 4/5 stars on Newegg and Amazon--do you have any recommendations for a better one?
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Feb 26, 2018 03:50
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Haledjian posted:Will do that ASAP, thanks! It has a high percentage of one star reviews on newegg. A lot of the bad reviews specifically mention latency issues like you're experiencing. I don't have any specific recommendation as I haven't used any WLAN cards for a long time. I'm sure someone in one of those hardware megathreads would be able to recommend some others though.
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Feb 26, 2018 06:11
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Just upgraded to Win10 and the problem is continuing, unfortunately. Going to try and find a different card next! Also just did some reading and saw that I'm actually supposed to be getting MUCH lower latency than I am--people were saying 50-100us is normal, whereas when I'm getting no spikes (WLAN card off), the bars remain steady around 1000us. So maybe I have another, additional problem?
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Feb 27, 2018 10:36
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Haledjian posted:Also just did some reading and saw that I'm actually supposed to be getting MUCH lower latency than I am--people were saying 50-100us is normal, whereas when I'm getting no spikes (WLAN card off), the bars remain steady around 1000us. So maybe I have another, additional problem? Yea, that's another issue but it's because DPC Latency checker was designed to work with Windows 7 and older OSs. The important thing is that when you deactive the WLAN card the audio stuttering goes away. That's strong evidence of it being related to the card.
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Feb 27, 2018 23:37
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 16:10 |
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I wanted to give it a few days to be sure, but I put in a new card on Thursday and it seems to be totally fixed.  Thanks so much for your help!
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Mar 4, 2018 01:06
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