I've just put together a new computer and I've installed all software and drivers. I seem to be having a serious problem though and I can't seem to fix it.

Whenever I am playing music and do something processor intensive (Lightroom work in this case) the music slows down (like it's underload) and then speeds back up, but it seems like there is a type of lag.

I've changed the buffer, double checked to make sure I have the newest drivers, blah blah blah. I've done everything I can think about.

One note, when the music slows down, so does the rest of the computer. If I had more information, I would give it, but it doesn't seem like I can find anything referencing this type of problem on Google. It makes listening pretty unbearable.

What CPU is this?

Core 2 Duo, overclocked to 2.8ghz.

Does this also happen in Windows Media Player? Which output are you using in Foobar2000? Which version of Windows did you install (including Service pack)?

And which soundcard?

This problem occurs in WinAmp as well, I do not have Windows Media Player on this system as it was removed during an NLITE install. I've tried "Primary Sound Driver" and "Realtek" in Foobar, both exhibit this problem.

I'm running Windows XP SP3.

The soundcard is the onboard sound on an ABIT IP-35E, I also have an Audigy2 installed physically (no software support), but the computer doesn't recognize it...

I do not seem to be having this problem when playing music through Firefox (YouTube). Could this be a software problem with Foobar then?

is DMA enabled on all your hard drives?

It's a SATA HDD, so I don't think that's an issue? I just checked the IDE and SATA controllers in device manager, DMA is on for the IDE channels and I see no option on the SATA controllers for DMA.

Does the problem also occur when you do not overclock the CPU?

That is one thing I had not thought of!
Edit: Yes it still occurs when at stock speed.

Is there any other information I can provide to assist in finding a solution? I'm pretty stumped...
Is there a service critical to smooth playback? Maybe issues with the RealTek driver?
Edit: but it must be a problem with Foobar, as I do not have this problem while watching YouTube videos...

Are you using DirectSound, ASIO, or Kernel Streaming?

Yeah, it definitely must.


Well maybe the Flash browser plugin just doesn't use DirectSound but the legacy WaveOut API?
Try going to "Control Panel > Sound and Audio Devices > Volume/Speaker Settings/Advanced" and decrease the Hardware Acceleration slider.

I'm not sure how to determine this one.




I've tried that, it only degrades performance more.

Well this is all too bad, no ideas? I've hit a roadblock.

Go to Preferences->Playback->Output. If you are using anything other than DS:Primary Sound Device, try changing to it.

Update: I've made sure that the primary sound device is being used. I've also changed sound cards and updated drivers - the problem still persists. I'm now using an Audigy 2 with the newest drivers. What's the deal here guys?

Hard to say. May be an issue related to Nlite?

Any other Nlite users out there?

If it were me, I would not spend even a moment more time on troubleshooting without confirming whether an other media player exhibits the same issues. You don't want to load WMP, fine....it is trivial to load any number of other players.

terry

Is it possible that NLite removal of WMP removed some key component (AFAIR WMP was quite knitted in to the operating system).
From: http://wareseeker.com/Video/windows-media-...2.40.zip/290975


C.

EDIT: Just to add --

Source: http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:nlitexp

I have tried this solutions, but none have worked as of yet. Can anyone field other ideas? There seems to be a difference in the way Flash is processed and sound is processed. I know this because YouTube videos do not demonstrate this problem, yet WinAmp and Foobar do.

Does Microsoft's DirectX diagnostic program provide any hint what's wrong with your computer configuration?

Start it (windows\system32\dxdiag.exe) and test your system (both tabs Sound and music).

have you looked at any of this forums threads on DPC latency issues?

it is another important thing to check for this type of audio playback issue.

also, google the program "DPC Latency Checker"

the issues are particularly common with certain Gigabyte motherboards.

JBruckner,

referring to this statements I can imagine your situation comes from your hardware configuration (IRQ conflicts) more likely than from your software settings, so you might have more success in finding a solution by posing your question in a forum related to hardware / OS topics.

Some deliberations only:

• Onboard soundchips and additional soundcards often influence each other negatively, so deactivate the onboard soundchip (BIOS).
• Remove the soundcard (and activate the onboard sound).
• Choose another slot for your soundcard or/and your graphic card ("Lightroom work in this case").
• Read in the motherboard's manual whether there are slots less prioritized (timing or sharing critically).

Does one of this steps solve the problem?

Sadly, I removed the DXDIAG from my Windows install with NLite. I could pick up the .exe from another Windows computer in my house - I may do that if these other solutions do not work.




Will check this out.




I am currently testing audio performance with the onboard audio chip disable via BIOS. This solution had not presented itself to me until today; so, thank you. If this does not solve the problem I will try these other solutions.
A question: could memory timings and clock speeds be affecting playback? Could there be some mismatch between the memory and CPU on an overclocked PC that would create these types of problems?

Thanks for all the help everyone. I really apprecaite it.

What I would do in such a situation is this:

• Do a fresh install of the FULL windows XP (with reformat) and NO overclocking.
• Install all the basic drivers.
• Check to see if the same problem occurs.

If it doesn't you know it's not a hardware issue.

Then I'd do a fresh XP install via NLITE and check to see if the problem occurs.
If the problem does occur then you know that it's related to the NLITE install and it's NOT a hardware issue.
If the problem doesn't occur, then overclock and see if the problem occurs.
Still no problem keep adding software/drivers until it does.

C.

Is your processor scheduling set to favor background services?

I'm not quite ready to throw the towel in yet. That is a major amount of work - and I'm in the middle of editing a wedding right now.





No, programs.

I agree that a clean normal install of Windows might help determine the true culprit here. However, prior to that, I suggest you restore default (optimized or fail safe) BIOS settings and see if it changes the behavior.

Did you try to move the card to another slot already?

Did you try to restore another driver?

Maybe you can find some small old harddrive to perform the install on, so you don't have to ruin all your data on your current harddrive.