Audio Stutter

justinhd

New Member
Messages
6
Hello,

I've seen many threads around these forums regarding this issue but I didn't come across a "fix".
My situation is the following:

Every now and then, the audio of the PC stutters, its like it skips kinda when you're listening to music from a bad CD.
I have the latest drivers from my manufacturer, and yes it says they are for windows 8 and not 7.

My motherboard is Gigabyte X58A-UD3R. The built-in audio is Realtek ALC889.

If you're gonna suggest removing the Realtek drivers and stick with the windows ones, this is not a solution for me as I need the Realtek HD Audio Manager in order to map the sound channels.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 PRO
The RealTek drivers are the preferred drivers. If someone only has the generic basic function Windows HD Audio Codec, the first thing I recommend is to install the proper drivers from the PC or motherboard vendor's site. Do you have the RealTek drivers from Gigabyte? or from RealTek? If not from Gigabyte get them as a first step.

If you installed the Gigabyte Easy Tune (version 6 came with my gigabyte motherboard) uninstall that. It is a known system "hog" and can cause a lot of system latency problems (which could cause your problem).

Skipping, noise, etc has been a problem since Vista. Unfortunately there is no "one fix" for the problem.

One suggestion, go to the Device Manager, RIGHT click on the entry for the RealTek and then LEFT click "uninstall" DO NOT uninstall the drivers. Restart the PC and when Windows starts it will detect and reinstall the sound. Sometimes Windows will install it on a different shared IRQ and fix or minimize the problems. The sound is always on a shared IRQ (Interrupt) with a higher priority device. The higher priority device can "interrupt" the lower priority device (in this case sound) and could also cause your problem.

While you are in the Device Manger, you should only have sound entries for your RealTek sound card and if you have HDMI audio from your video then you should also have the HDMI audio entry. Any other entries in there such as a rogue HD Audio Codec should also be uninstalled to eliminate any potential conflicts.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    i7 6700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero
    Memory
    16 Gb G Skill TridentZ DDR4 3400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel (i7 CPU)
    Sound Card
    RealTek Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" Dell SE2717HR
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    500GB Samsung 850 SSD, 3TB for backups
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 750 G2
    Case
    BeQuiet Silent Base 600
    Cooling
    Deepcool Captain 120EX
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Cable - 100MB Downlink
    Browser
    Edge/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft
    Other Info
    Sonar Platinum 64 bit recording studio software with MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid recording interface unit.
I have the latest drivers from my manufacturer, and yes it says they are for windows 8 and not 7.

As for skipping, noise, etc, I would have to disagree with you, I have never had problems with the sound in Windows 7, and I was using the same driver (not per se).

No, I do not have EasyTune installed, never did, ever.

I will try to remove the driver and let windows install it automatically as you suggested.

As for having something else in there other than Realtek High Definion Audio, I do, but I can't remember at this point if I installed the HDMI Audio drivers for my GPU or not, will check back later.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 PRO
When you said "manufacturer" I didn't know if you were referring to the motherboard manufacturer or the actual chip manufacturer. We get posts about having "manufacturers" drivers and we ultimately find out they are using drivers from RealTek site and not the PC or motherboard vendor.

If you go to the windows 7 forum, the Dell forums or just do a google search you will find many threads about this.

Do a google search for "sound stuttering".

I'm not blowing smoke.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    i7 6700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero
    Memory
    16 Gb G Skill TridentZ DDR4 3400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel (i7 CPU)
    Sound Card
    RealTek Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" Dell SE2717HR
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    500GB Samsung 850 SSD, 3TB for backups
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 750 G2
    Case
    BeQuiet Silent Base 600
    Cooling
    Deepcool Captain 120EX
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Cable - 100MB Downlink
    Browser
    Edge/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft
    Other Info
    Sonar Platinum 64 bit recording studio software with MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid recording interface unit.
Sorry for the confusion.

What I meant is that I have drivers downloaded from the chip's manufacturer, Realtek.
Gigabyte hasn't updated its drivers since 2010.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 PRO
I'm using the RealTek drivers from Gigabyte site for my GA-Z77X-UD5H motherboard. I installed the drivers from the Gigabyte drivers disc that came with the motherboard. The Win 7 drivers work perfectly on Win 8.


I don't know what the difference (if any) there is in the drivers. I do know there is a statement on the RealTek site about using Vendor drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    i7 6700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero
    Memory
    16 Gb G Skill TridentZ DDR4 3400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel (i7 CPU)
    Sound Card
    RealTek Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" Dell SE2717HR
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    500GB Samsung 850 SSD, 3TB for backups
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 750 G2
    Case
    BeQuiet Silent Base 600
    Cooling
    Deepcool Captain 120EX
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Cable - 100MB Downlink
    Browser
    Edge/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft
    Other Info
    Sonar Platinum 64 bit recording studio software with MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid recording interface unit.
If removing the drivers and letting windows reinstall them doesn't get rid of the stuttering, I will try with Gigabyte Drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 PRO
Did you have any luck?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    i7 6700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero
    Memory
    16 Gb G Skill TridentZ DDR4 3400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel (i7 CPU)
    Sound Card
    RealTek Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" Dell SE2717HR
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    500GB Samsung 850 SSD, 3TB for backups
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 750 G2
    Case
    BeQuiet Silent Base 600
    Cooling
    Deepcool Captain 120EX
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Cable - 100MB Downlink
    Browser
    Edge/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft
    Other Info
    Sonar Platinum 64 bit recording studio software with MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid recording interface unit.
I had a big problem when I built my desktop computer back in 2009 on a Gigabte GA-EP45-UD3R with audio stuttering.

Turned out that it was some goofy "power saving" gigabyte utility that I had loaded from driver cd (or got from the Gigabyte website). It was supposed to help make the PC greener, but it resulted in constant audio stuttering.

Wish I could remember the exact name of it, (maybe I will go scour the 7 forums and see if I mentioned it there).

Edit: Found it (does anyone actually have the Sound Stuttering fix? - Windows 7 Support Forums)
The utility was called "Dynamic Energy Saver". I got rid of that and my problems were gone for good.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
Sorry for not coming back to this thread, but I really didn't have the time to deal with the issue and it wasn't that much of a trouble. Now I'm having some free time and I want to deal with it.

I'll start by removing the drivers and let windows install them.

Also, I'm noticing poor perfomance in games which i think may be related to this issue.

I'm using a GTX 560 Super OC from Gigabyte.

@pparks1 I don't have any extra stuff installed, except for the audio driver utility thing from Realtek.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 PRO
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