Windows 8.1 Audio Initialisation Problem

smimon

New Member
Messages
4
Hey all

I just reinstalled a fresh copy of Windows 8.1. Everything works fine, apart from the audio. When I play any sound effect, I hear a small "pop" (when the audio channel is initialised), and then about a 0.5s delay before I can hear anything. By this point, I've missed the first 0.5s of the sound effect, and it is halfway through.

When the sound effect finishes playing, I hear another small "pop", as if the channel is then de-initialised.

If I click the sound effect continuously (before the de-initialisation "pop"), it plays fine - once the channel is "open" there is no problem. It's only when it finishes, and I get the second small "pop" sound, that if I try to play it again I get the problem as described. Streamed audio is fine - once the channel is "open" it stays open presumably.

I've got a Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H motherboard, and I'm using the onboard sound.

The audio was working perfectly before the reinstall.

I've run Windows Update, and downloaded and installed the Realtek drivers for this motherboard (from here Realtek) to no avail.

Device manager looks like this - http://i.imgur.com/LtsEbdD.png

I've also tried to go to the speaker properties, and disable "immediate mode". There were no enhancements enabled.

Hope someone can help, thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 955
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850, AMD Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Yamakasi Sparta
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
Ok, it was as I expected - there is a 1 second delay when initialising the audio channel, meaning short sound effects and system sounds are missed.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=151635

I found a utility here which continuously streams a silent sound to the audio in order to keep the channel open. It has fixed the problem, but this is really a massive bodge (workaround), and doesn't really address why the issue started happening after reinstallation when all was previously working.

Any input welcome.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 955
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850, AMD Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Yamakasi Sparta
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
You have two High Definition Audio Devices listed in the Device Manager. I can't tell what they are for, but that suggests the generic basic function Windows installed sound driver is installed, along with the RealTek. Disable both of the HD Audio Codec drivers in the Device Manager and see what happens.

By the way, forum protocol is to not link screen shots or the "My System Specs" to some other site. In the My System Specs, list them direct - see my "My System Specs" for what to do. For screen shots, here is the procedure to post screenshots on this forum:
CLICK ME
 

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.
Hello pal. Thanks for the suggestion, but I already tried that as well to no avail.

I also uninstalled all 3, and rebooted to allow them to be redetected. All 3 came back again.

Yeah I was too lazy to type out all the system specs, you can't copy+paste them from CPU-Z for some reason, I thought an imgur link would be fine. I'll change it over.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 955
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850, AMD Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Yamakasi Sparta
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
The two open audio devices are probably for the audio produced through the video card. Did you install your video card drivers from AMD?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self built
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-4790
    Motherboard
    GA-Z87X-D3H
    Memory
    G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire ATI Radeon R7 250
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC892
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung UN32EH5000, Dell 1703FPT
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    WD5003AZEX
    WD10EZEX
    Samsung HD103SJ
    Samsung 128 GB 840 PRO
    PSU
    SeaSonic M12II SS-500GM
    Case
    Fractal Design Define R4
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9900ALED
    Keyboard
    Logitech K800
    Mouse
    Logitech M705
    Internet Speed
    16 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Avast
    Other Info
    Bose Companion 2 Multimedia Speakers
Not specifically but they've been put on by Windows Update - ATI Catalyst Control Panel has been installed, multi monitor support etc.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 955
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H
    Memory
    Corsair DDR3 8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5850, AMD Radeon HD 5450
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Yamakasi Sparta
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
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