Audio randomly & frequently exhibits distortion/static

Nisko · 21 Apr 2016

This phenomena is most noticeable when playing music - but it happens with all audio, whether over the Internet or internal files (jpg). The distortion is random (doesn't occur at the same spot in music if I play a tune over again). I have reinstalled the audio driver but no help. The only thing that works is if I shut down the computer or restart it. The distortion always stops when I do this and may not re-occur for a day or two. Any suggestions?

fireberd · 21 Apr 2016

Is this a PC with Wi-Fi?

Noise/static/skipping/popping, etc has been a frequent complaint. Only problem, there is no "one fix" for the problem. Each has to be handled case by case.

Start with the free Latency Mon program and see what it shows.
Resplendence Software - LatencyMon: suitability checker for real-time audio and other tasks

Nisko · 21 Apr 2016

Yes, I do have Wi-fi. However, I'm frequently playing tunes from my hard drive. I'll take a look at the program you posted. Thank you.

Nisko · 21 Apr 2016

Just looked at LatencyMon and the technolgy is way over my head. How would I use it?

fireberd · 22 Apr 2016

Latency Mon will "flood" you with information. But, run it for a minute or two and the first couple of lines should give you a clue. Does it say this PC can handle audio or does it say there are problems?

Also, Wi-Fi is one known cause of your problem. Temporarily disable Wi-Fi and then play an audio file and see if it makes any difference.

You can also run the DPC Latency Checker, although its not as in depth as Latency Mon.
DPC Latency Checker