Studio XPS 8100 Realtek ALC887 Integrated Audio - weird skipping/jittery sound

As it does it after the PC has been "up" for about a day, I would look at what else is running and if there is any memory leak and loss of any memory.

You could try uninstalling the sound in the Device Manager then restart the PC and Windows will detect and reinstall the sound.  Sometimes when you do this it puts the sound on a different IRQ and fixes flakey problems.

I have almost the same issue on my Studio XPS 8000 with the exception that I would characterize the sound as crackling and obstrusive enough as to make watching a movie on the desktop unbearable.  I have called Dell support and followed their recommendation in downloading, uninstalling and then reinstalling the latest audio drivers (from Dell, not Realtek).  But in a day, the problem was back.  A reboot fixes the crackling but since I tend to leave my desktop running, this is a big issue.  

I've called Dell again and they're sending out a technician to replace my motherboard soon, hopefully that will fix the issue.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try what Fireberd said and hope it goes away.

Has anyone else seen this issue? I seem to still have a weird issue with audio. When I play something with audio (movie/music) regardless of program used to play, I get a weird skipping sound, or jittery sound every few seconds. It only lasts about half a second, but it’s enough to annoy you. Upon reboot the problem clears for about a day. Troubleshooting performed is uninstalling the driver, and reinstalling the Dell driver. Last night I went to Realtek.com.tw and grabbed the latest drivers from the manufacturer since they were newer than Dell’s version. I am waiting to see how this works out as it takes about a day for it to show up. In Control Panel- Sound, the Realtek High Definition shows under Speakers. The ATI DP Output is greyed out so that should not be causing an audio conflict.

Oh hey Chris, did the new drivers from Realtek.com.tw fix the issue?  I'd rather have it fixed without getting a whole new motherboard.  And if it did, how can I get the download?

Thanks!

Fireberd, I uninstalled the Realtek drivers and restarted to let Windows 7 find and install the sound drivers.  This time, the problem came back within a couple of hours - even worse than before.  I think I'll have to go through with the motherboard replacement after all.  :emotion-6: sigh

I have an XPS 8100 and have this exact same problem with the skipping sound.  Memory leak does appear likely b/c when I fresh restart my computer, memory usage is ~17%.  After about 5 days of leaving it on, it is 30%.  I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the sound in Device Manager as Fireberd suggested.  Hopefully it fixes the problem.

Another weird thing I noticed is that in Device Manager, the "Hgh Definition Audio Device" appears 3 times.  Don't know if this is normal.

Do you have the latest versions of Roxio Burn and  Dell's Data Safe Local? This audio problem has been linked to some earlier versions of those apps: Download and install Roxio Burn A00 version (R244364) or later. Update Data Safe Local by navigating to DSUpdate.exe on the local Hard Drive. NOTE : 10 minutes after the 3rd system reboot the DSUpdate scheduler will request DSUpdate.exe to check for an update on the website. Ron

Hey Ron, I have "Roxio Easy CD and DVD Burning DE Home" that's pre-installed, Is that the same as Roxio Burn?

Also, how do I find DSUpdate.exe?  It's not in my Programs folder and Windows can't find it via the start menu search.

I have an XPS 8100 and have this exact same problem with the skipping sound.  Memory leak does appear likely b/c when I fresh restart my computer, memory usage is ~17%.  After about 5 days of leaving it on, it is 30%.  I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the sound in Device Manager as Fireberd suggested.  Hopefully it fixes the problem. Another weird thing I noticed is that in Device Manager, the "Hgh Definition Audio Device" appears 3 times.  Don't know if this is normal.

In my Device Manager, the "high definition audio device" appears twice.  As far as memory leak, I don't know how to check it, and if it is leaking, what can you do to stop it?

I don't believe Roxio Burn and Roxio Easy CD are the same. Roxio Burn used to be called  DLA (Drive Letter Access) which allows direct drag and drop burning to an optical disk. You may have both on your system.  I suppose if you tried to install the Burn update, but don't have it, the updater would probably complain.  Set a manual System Restore point before doing anythng, just to be safe.

As for Data Safe Local, I don't know if Dell includes that as a freebee on every system or if you have to request (and/or purchase it).  Have you done a file search for DSUpdate.exe on your hard drive? It might not be in your Programs folder. Maybe somebody else can weigh in on Data Safe Local since I don't have it.

And keep in mind that I can't promise either of these are the root cause of your audio problems. I mentioned them because they've previously been linked to similar problems, but that doesn't exclude other causes, especially if you don't have Burn or Data Sate.  :emotion-5:

Ron

I don't believe Roxio Burn and Roxio Easy CD are the same. Roxio Burn used to be called  DLA (Drive Letter Access) which allows direct drag and drop burning to an optical disk. You may have both on your system.  I suppose if you tried to install the Burn update, but don't have it, the updater would probably complain.  Set a manual System Restore point before doing anythng, just to be safe. As for Data Safe Local, I don't know if Dell includes that as a freebee on every system or if you have to request (and/or purchase it).  Have you done a file search for DSUpdate.exe on your hard drive? It might not be in your Programs folder. Maybe somebody else can weigh in on Data Safe Local since I don't have it. And keep in mind that I can't promise either of these are the root cause of your audio problems. I mentioned them because they've previously been linked to similar problems, but that doesn't exclude other causes, especially if you don't have Burn or Data Sate.  :emotion-5:   Ron

Thanks Ron, I'm going to go thru with the mother board replacement then.  Hopefully that will fix the issue.  If not, I hope Dell will have the grace to take the thing and give me my money back.  I returned to Windows because of the rave reviews on Windows 7, but if this is what I have to deal with on a day-to-day basis, I'd happily continue paying the Apple tax.

I don't work for Dell, but I don't think you can blame them for a software failure/incompatibility with Roxio or Data Safe (which Dell re-brands from somebody else). The issues with Roxio Burn and Data Safe are listed in a Dell technical bulletin so they're aware of the problems and recommended fixes. I agree with Ratz. Try the software updates first. If you replace the motherboard and still have the problem, you'll only end up trying the software updates anyway. Besides, there are other things which can cause audio issues, and not just on Dell PCs. Audio issues may be caused by a defective video card or an incompatible/corrupted video driver. If the video card is using lots of DPCs (delayed procedure calls) that can affect audio quality too. If it's hardware, then the card needs to be replaced, otherwise a driver update might fix it. These things aren't uncommon when there's  a newly released OS in the mix... :emotion-7: Ron

I don't have the Roxio Burn on my computer and I finally remembered what I did to Data Safe - I got rid of it as soon as I got the computer, so I don't think either one of those updates would apply to my situation.

I don't work for Dell, but I don't think you can blame them for a software failure/incompatibility with Roxio or Data Safe (which Dell re-brands from somebody else).

The issues with Roxio Burn and Data Safe are listed in a Dell technical bulletin so they're aware of the problems and recommended fixes. I agree with Ratz. Try the software updates first. If you replace the motherboard and still have the problem, you'll only end up trying the software updates anyway.

Besides, there are other things which can cause audio issues, and not just on Dell PCs. Audio issues may be caused by a defective video card or an incompatible/corrupted video driver. If the video card is using lots of DPCs (delayed procedure calls) that can affect audio quality too. If it's hardware, then the card needs to be replaced, otherwise a driver update might fix it.

These things aren't uncommon when there's  a newly released OS in the mix... :emotion-7:

Ron

Hi

Hi the s/w roxio can be uninstalled but the dell data safe local backup s/w is a OEM bulit in s/w will not be able to uninstalled it, Only way to removed it is to do a clean os installing in the system just by deleting it from the startup or programs files will not remove it. [ just check in c:\program files\dell datasafe local backup - you will find the folder].  If you find the folder try to update by executing the file name dsupdate.exe

~ Ratz

Grab Process Explorer, free from Microsoft. It works like Task Manager but is way better.

Launch PE and click Options>Always on top. Make the PE window small and put it off in a corner so you can see the CPU column. Click CPU until it lists things using the most CPU time at the top of the list (eg, System Idle).

When the audio acts up, look in the PE window to see what's hogging CPU time, aside from System Idle. That might point you at something running in the background such as Windows Indexing Service, Superfetch (both known resource hogs), a virus scan, or DPCs, all of which could cause the problem you're seeing.

Ron