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XPS 8700, Sound stuttering during playback
I have a new 2 month old Dell XPS 8700. I notice the other day a sound problem that is strange to say the least. When I play back a .flac or .mp3 file, the sound stutters. It's like it comes out in pulses once a second. It's quite un-listenable. Not sure when this started. I'm running Windows 8.1 fully updated as of 2/6/2015. The problem shows up with Windows 8 music player, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center and vlc. All show the exact same playback anomaly. It also happens when I use the same players to play an .avi or .mkv video. The sound is bad no matter which audio port I use. I also get the same artifact using USB Headphones with their own DAC. What is weird about this symptom is that if stream Pandora, Somafm, or watch a youtube video, I do NOT get this symptom. The audio is perfectly fine. I ran the Dell PC Checkup and no problems are detected. Device Manager says all my drivers are up to date. Any ideas about what is going on and how to fix this?
Thanks in advance.
DELL-Chris M
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February 7th, 2015 10:00
Follow the instructions here. Once done, re-test the audio.
Cinerama
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February 7th, 2015 11:00
Thanks, Chris. I downloaded the update tool and ran it. Unfortunately it did not detect any updates needed.
Plan B?
DELL-Chris M
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February 7th, 2015 17:00
Did you read down on that page and do the Realtek HD Audio update?
Cinerama
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February 7th, 2015 19:00
I did. I tried the update, but it failed because I already had the update. I had installed it a few weeks ago when I was setting up the PC and downloading all the Windows, Office and Dell updates.
Ironies of ironies is that the failed update helped me resolve the problem. I thought I would uninstall the Realtek drivers via Device Manager which I did. But, before running the update again, I checked to see if the symptom was still present. The stuttering went away! Problem solved.
It seems that this is working with an Invidia sound driver from what I can surmise from Device Manager. So, I'm just not going to install the Realtek driver unless there is a change in the symptom. I'm beginning to think that it was the updating I did a few weeks ago that broke my sound!
Thanks again for helping.