XPS Desktops

[mixmkr]

I must say my XPS 8950 with i9, 32 RAM, and the 3060 Ti GPU, has been great for audio recording and video editing.  However, when playing audio, either with my software or a media player, or watching a YouTube, the computer will "pause" for a split second, usually with a white screen "flash" and then continue on. All latest drivers, bios, etc

Obviously for casual YouTube, etc, it's not an issue. Live audio recording or video screen captures, it is. I'm using a Windows 11 approved external sound card and two monitors with the 3060 Ti.  This might occur every 20 minutes or so.

Where might I troubleshoot first?

[RoHe]

@fireberd is the resident expert on audio recordings so maybe he'll have some good ideas...

[fireberd]

I have a recording studio and deal with a lot of audio, but this does not sound like recording studio app problem.

Audio playback reported "popping/crackling" (dropouts) have been an often reported problem since Win 8 in all PC brands.   Causes have been related to wi-fi, Internet, drivers, Dell Support Assist, what is loaded at startup, etc.  Sound is on a shared IRQ (Interrupt) with a  higher priority device and this can be a potential issue. NVIDIA video cards and/or the NVIDIA drivers/apps (I know you don't want to hear that). I know of one 8950 user that is using his for audio recording and he had to remove the NVIDIA video card and use the Intel CPU video to eliminate Latency and dropout problems.  

 Start by download and running the free (and popular) Resplendence Latency Mon.  As the problem happens about every 20 minutes, run Latency Mon for at least 25 minutes.  Latency Mon will overwhelm you with data but its the prime tool we use in recording studio PC's when "taming" them.

Latency Mon

[RoHe]

@mixmkr  Since @fireberd thinks this may be related to the NVidia card, you can also try this:

Click Start>Run>services.msc. If "NVidia Display Container LS" is listed, and it's Startup type is Automatic, change that to Disabled. Don't change anything else in services.msc. Then reboot and see if that solves the problem.

I was getting sudden black screens on my XPS 8930 with NVida GTX 1660 Ti after the latest NVidia driver update Windows Update pushed on me. Since disabling that service, no more black screens.

I no longer have the NVidia Control Panel to change various display settings. Don't care, because I can make most of the same changes on the monitor's own On-Screen Display (OSD).

YRMV!

[mixmkr]

Thx.   Let me try some of these ideas.  I notice the Nvidia 30 series has a driver update out today. (3/22/2022)

Will try that first of course.

Re latency, crackling, etc...I'm very familiar with those issues and related block size and buffer settings...  the fact it happens on a low load YouTube playback, seems to lead to the graphics card 

SUPER thanks and will report back as things progress

[mixmkr]

Since, the latest nvidia update (3/22/2022), it has not happened again.  Keeping fingers crossed.

[RoHe]

That's good news. Keep us posted...

[mixmkr]

XPS 8950, "hiccups" with audio and video...AGAIN

I must say my XPS 8950 with i9, 32 RAM, and the 3060ti GPU, has been great for audio recording and video editing.  However, when playing audio, either with my software or a media player, or watching a YouTube, the computer will "pause" for a split second, usually with a white screen "flash" and then continue on. All latest drivers, bios, etc

Obviously for casual YouTube,  it's not an issue. Live audio recording or video screen captures, it is. I'm using a Windows 11 approved external sound card and two monitors with the 3060ti  This might occur every 20 minutes or so.

Where might I troubleshoot first?

[redxps630]

I would first try to isolate the usual suspects: cpu, gpu, or ram, assuming motherboard is perfectly healthy.  Remove gpu and connect monitor to onboard DP video port.  If issue gone w youtube, cpu/ram are good but gpu/video driver are not.  If problem persists, not gpu but could be either cpu or ram.  remove all rams, reinstall only one (8 or 16 gb).  test each ram.  if each ram reproduces same hiccup, probably not memory but cpu.

[fireberd]

I use my PC's in my home recording studio.

As previously posted in this thread, NVIDIA video has been an issue where AMD Radeon video is not.

Download and run the free (and popular) Resplendence Latency Mon.  It is what we use in audio for trouble shooting.

Resplendence Software - LatencyMon: suitability checker for real-time audio and other tasks