I need help with latency issues causing audio pops

[MetalMan228]

Hello everyone, Happy New Year!

I just installed my Christmas present to my self, an Audioquest Dragonfly ver 1.2

While it does sound better then the internal sound card I have pops going along with the sound. I researched the problem and found that i have rather severe latency issues, (please see screenshot).

I am looking for advice as the best way to solve this problem. I am also experiencing issues with the audio and video not being in sync no matter what i do and was wondering if this latency issue may be the cause of this also.

 

[fireberd]

Considering this is a USB connected device, I would look at the USB for issues, if you didn't have problems previously with the on-board audio.

Also, if you haven't done it, disable the on-board audio in the BIOS to avoid any conflicts.

 

[MetalMan228]

Well I am open to all options here. I went on the forums for my Media player, which is Jrivers and they have a whole section of threads dedicated to usb DAC's including the one I have. They made all kinds of suggestions, but the only possible issue i found with my system was latency.

Thus i installed LatencyMon and after running the program i was like WHOA!! So i am here to try and get my latency lowered and see if that works.

So, how do i disable the on-board audio in my BIOS?

 

[fireberd]

See my comments on your other post.

 

[abandi]

I have the same problems and have been researching for months. I tried numerous things suggested in various forums. The audio/video stuttering and cursor lag problem disappears for 2-3 days once system is rebooted. Since some of the fixes suggested in the forums required me to reboot, I had, on many occasions, mistakenly thought my problem was fixed only to see it come back in 2-3 days. I ran DPC latency check and there were ugly red and yellow spikes all over the place. I was sure the problem started after a windows update. I could not system restore to a prior date and hence bit the bullet and rolled my system back to factory state! Obviously, the problem was gone. I disabled windows updates. However, my wife needed to run some program which required windows update. She updated it and the problem promptly came back! Since then, I again followed a lot of suggestions but after every possible fix (that needs a reboot), instead of waiting for 2-3 days for the problem to come back, I ran DPC latency check. If the problem is not fixed, I get red bars even without any apparent stutter. Recently I found the following 2 suggestions which I tried. Based on the DPC latency, I think the second one looks promising. These two "fixes" are independent of each other.

1. Start menu--> type "msconfig" in the search box. Go to Boot tab --> "advanced options". Check the "number of processors" box and select the correct number of cores your cpu has. This apparently fixed the problem for some. For me, there were still some latency spike and some mouse stutter.
2. Click on Start menu, right click "My Computer". Click on "advanced system setting". Click on "advanced" tab. Under "performance" click on "settings". Go to "advanced" tab. Under "virtual memory" click "change". Uncheck "automatically manage paging files...". Lower down, check the box for "system managed size". Apply the changes and reboot the system at the prompt. I ran DPC latency check after this and did not get a single red spike! I am hoping that this is a fix but only time will tell. Hope this helps.

 

[MetalMan228]

Hi abandi,

Welcome to Seven Forums!

I agree with your assessment of latency problems,

1) There are as many suggestions as to what causes it and how to fix it, but most of the time none of it works.

2) It seems to be solved, only to reappear again !!

My latency issues developed when I installed an AudioQuest Dragonfly USB Dac at Christmas time.

However, since first making this thread I have found that I only have latency issues when using my Jrivers Media Center in conjunction with the Dragonfly. Other than that i have no latency issues with audio playback using any other program, software or browser.

I think your suggestions are well researched and i will be trying them in the morning. I will report back my findings then.

 

[MetalMan228]

Well, I followed your tree's and in the first one I found only 1 processor showing when there is 2, so i changed that, then i followed the other one and made the appropriate adjustment there and it seemed to help some.

I still have some pops depending on the source material, but the overall level of annoying-ness is greatly reduced.

Then i ran LatencyMon and, wow, there is till major latency issues. The top row will lower to nothing, not even any green then shoot way up into the red. Before once it got into the red it would stay there.

A question though, on the second thing you wanted me to try, under the advanced tab, the processor scheduling was checked for best performance of background services, so i changed it to programs.

If this is not correct, let me know and i will change it back.

 

[abandi]

I had it on programs too. Despite the second option looking promising, the dreaded red spikes are back The latency spikes are not as bad as before, though.

 

[MetalMan228]

Yea, latency is a bit#h

At least it is better now, thanks for the help.

 

[abandi]

I came across this on the internet:

DMA reverts to PIO | Windows Problem Solver

I tried the "quick fix" first but it did not detect any drives that need to be fixed. Unfortunately, there are no IDE controllers in my device manager because I have SATA drive. I will try the manual fix later. Judging by the responses, this appears to be a good solutions. Thought you might be interested.

 

[MetalMan228]

Hey abandi,

Did you post this on the correct thread? You can edit out if necessary.

 

[abandi]

MetalMan228,
I posted it for you. Despite the thread seeming to be about a different problem, the latency issues we are having could be related to what was described in the post. Switching from DMA to PIO could be causing the latency issues as well. If you haven't read the post, do read it when you have time. I did not get around to doing the regedit stuff yet but will report to you if I have any success.