Audio issues in Windows desktop version

[radiolandscape]

I have been reading and experimenting with solutions for my issue for a long enough period of time to believe that it requires a new thread. That said, I'm open to correction.

My situation: I have been using the mobile version of Spotify, the desktop version for Mac and the desktop version for Windows for years without any problem. This issue is new with this laptop (ASUS X205TA - HATM1102M 11.6 inch (Intel Atom, 2GB RAM, 32GB HD) WINDOWS 10 DARKBLUE LAPTOP). When I play music for the first time (in a new launch of the process, on a fresh boot, after a reinstall, whatever...) everything is perfect for almost exactly one minute, then the horror...

The audio begins to... I would describe it as stutter. It does not skip any material. It does not repeat any material. It sounds as though it is having buffering issues when I know that it is not (other devices in my home: no issue; other applications on this machine: no issue; etc...).

I have tried:

• adjusting gapless, crossfade, quality, hardware acceleration and proxy settings within the application: fail
• disabling bluetooth and onboard sound devices: fail
• relaunching, rebooting, reinstalling: fail
• crying: fail

All fail. All of the time. No matter what.

Please help me.

Thanks

[amirism]

Would you describe it as a crackling sound? It sounds like an audio buffer issue if the answer is yes. 

Also, what is your audio interface (sound card)?

[marksfavmusic]

I agree.  I'm using Windows 7 (still) on an i5 with a great internet conenction.  Even when I download the songs, I still get the stuttering after about 10-15 seconds of playing (so it's not internet related).  ALL my other music apps work fine (Musicbee, Amazon Music windows app, and anything played through Chrome).  In fact, if I'm playing Spotify on Chrome and then open the Spotify windows app (but don't start playing music through the app), all of sudden the Chrome instance of Spotify starts stuttering!  The Spotify Windows app just has some real issues, and please address them or I'm off to Google Play or Amazon......

[amirism]

Let's start by making sure your audio drivers are up to date. Are you familiar with updating those drivers? I'll be happy to help.

[marksfavmusic]

Yes, the Realtec drivers are the latest, and Windows 7 has all the latest Windows updates. And Spotify app has no proxy set, and hardware acceleration is disabled.

[radiolandscape]

Hi, Here is as much information as I find on the driver: 

• Sound::Playback::Speakers: Burr-Brown Japan PCM2702 (Generic USB Audio)
• Properties::Controller Information::Properties:
• General:
• Device Type: Sound, video and game controllers
• Manufacturer: (Generic USB Audio)
• Location: 0000.0014.0000.002.001.000.000.000.000
• Driver:
• Driver Provider: Microsoft
• Driver Date: 9/28/2017
• Driver Version: 10.0.16299.15
• Driver Signer: Microsoft Windows

and here is portion of the registry: 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\USB\VID_08BB&PID_2702&MI_00]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\USB\VID_08BB&PID_2702&MI_00\7&10247a9a&0&0000]
"DeviceDesc"="@wdma_usb.inf,%usb\\class_01.devicedesc%;USB Audio Device"
"LocationInformation"="0000.0014.0000.002.001.000.000.000.000"
"Capabilities"=dword:000000a0
"Address"=dword:00000001
"ContainerID"="{356ee8e3-07ba-11e8-93ec-94a1a20108d0}"
"HardwareID"=hex(7):55,00,53,00,42,00,5c,00,56,00,49,00,44,00,5f,00,30,00,38,\
00,42,00,42,00,26,00,50,00,49,00,44,00,5f,00,32,00,37,00,30,00,32,00,26,00,\
52,00,45,00,56,00,5f,00,30,00,31,00,30,00,30,00,26,00,4d,00,49,00,5f,00,30,\
00,30,00,00,00,55,00,53,00,42,00,5c,00,56,00,49,00,44,00,5f,00,30,00,38,00,\
42,00,42,00,26,00,50,00,49,00,44,00,5f,00,32,00,37,00,30,00,32,00,26,00,4d,\
00,49,00,5f,00,30,00,30,00,00,00,00,00
"CompatibleIDs"=hex(7):55,00,53,00,42,00,5c,00,43,00,6c,00,61,00,73,00,73,00,\
5f,00,30,00,31,00,26,00,53,00,75,00,62,00,43,00,6c,00,61,00,73,00,73,00,5f,\
00,30,00,31,00,26,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,74,00,5f,00,30,00,30,00,00,00,55,00,\
53,00,42,00,5c,00,43,00,6c,00,61,00,73,00,73,00,5f,00,30,00,31,00,26,00,53,\
00,75,00,62,00,43,00,6c,00,61,00,73,00,73,00,5f,00,30,00,31,00,00,00,55,00,\
53,00,42,00,5c,00,43,00,6c,00,61,00,73,00,73,00,5f,00,30,00,31,00,00,00,00,\
00
"ConfigFlags"=dword:00000000
"ClassGUID"="{4d36e96c-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}"
"Driver"="{4d36e96c-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\\0010"
"Mfg"="@wdma_usb.inf,%mfgname%;(Generic USB Audio)"
"Service"="usbaudio"
"FriendlyName"="Burr-Brown Japan PCM2702"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\USB\VID_08BB&PID_2702&MI_00\7&10247a9a&0&0000\Device Parameters]
"RevisionId"=dword:00000100
"ExtPropDescSemaphore"=dword:00000001
"DeviceSelectiveSuspended"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\USB\VID_08BB&PID_2702&MI_00\7&10247a9a&0&0000\Device Parameters\e5b3b5ac-9725-4f78-963f-03dfb1d828c7]

The problem is best described as stuttering. No audio seems to be skipped or repeated. It starts at about one minute and continues once per second indefinately. I've tried to update the driver and recieved the message the the driver in use was the most current/best one available. 

Thanks for your help.

[Sebasty]

Hey @radiolandscape

Have you tried toggling Sound settings? It may be caused by some enabled sound 'enhancements'.

You can try out the troubleshooting methods in this Microsoft article.

You can try disabling Local Files in Spotify settings to see if that changes anything.

Try changing the power options by going to High Performance plan.

Some antivirus software may cause this issue as well, http connection scanners and similar. I haven't hear about MS Defender doing it, but if you have a third party antivirus program, try disabling it for a bit to see if the stutter fades.

If the issue still remains, I suggest you to open Task Manager / Resource Monitor and observe resource usage during Spotify playback. Most importantly CPU, memory and disc usage and report your findings here.

Let me know how it goes! 🙂

[marksfavmusic]

Well all sound enhancements are off, local files disabled, power option at high performance, antivirus software off, still stutters.  CPU usage at about 2%, 1.5 GB memory used out of 8 GB, disk looks normal.  BUT, when the stuttering starts, my network usage (from Resource Monitor) goes from 0.1-0.3 Mbps, to 500 Mpbps!  When I stream via Amazon music, it stays in the 0.1-0.3 Mbps range.  What the heck is the Spotify app doing?

[somepunk]

I am also having this crackling issue.

[Sebasty]

@somepunk

Have you tried out the troubleshooting steps in this tread yet? If not, please try them 🙂
In case you're still having this issue, I suggest opening Resource Monitor and observe what your CPU, disc, memory and network are doing when Spotify is playing.

@radiolandscape

500Mpbs 😮 That is weird!

Just in case if you haven't tried clean reinstall, I recommend trying that:

1. Close Spotify and uninstall it.

2. Go to %AppData% in Windows Explorer, and delete any Spotify folders you find in Local and Roaming.

3. Restart your computer.

4. Now reinstall Spotify.

Keep me posted!

[marksfavmusic]

A clean reinstall doesn't help - same situation.  Also, I had to go thru this procedure to uninstall:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Windows/Can-t-uninstall-Win7/td-p/1817991

So why is the Spotify app for Windows 7 "flooding" my local network bandwidth?

[somepunk]

I've done all of the troubleshooting you recommended, and still nothing.

My PC is handling everything fine. I have no audio problems with anything else right now.

[Sebasty]

@radiolandscape

One more thing I could suggest is scanning the computer for malware using Malwarebytes or Superantispyware. I recommend both.

It's quite an odd issue!

It may be caused by the audio driver as well. Try this:
1. Open the Device Manager (type devmgmt.msc in the Windows search box).
2. Expand the "Sound, video & game controllers" and right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio". Target the specific device you are trying to prevent crackling on (Headphones, Speakers, etc).
3. Select to "Update Driver Software".
4. Click on "Browse my computer for driver software".
5. Click "Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer".
6. Put a check in the box "Show compatible hardware" if not already checked.
7. In the list of devices, click "High Definition Audio" or "Generic Audio Device" (the native driver).
8. Click "Next".
9. On the Update Driver Warning box, click "Yes" (install the driver). 
10. Restart the laptop if prompted. If not prompted, then no need to restart.

A third thing that I have toggled specifically with audio playback in mind is this:

1. Go to Control Panel and click on System And Security
2. Click on System. You should see large WIndows logo and some basic system information.

3. Find "Advanced System Settings" and click on it.

4. "System Properties" opens. Go to Advanced tab.

5. Click on "Settings" under Performance.

6. "Performance Options" opens, go to "Advanced"

7. There is "Processor Scheduling", give priority to background processes.

Click OK to save and close.

The setting above is more important with latency in mind. Audio services are background processes and giving them priority reduces latency.

@somepunk What are your computer's system specs? (OS, CPU, memory, hard drive space etc) 🙂

Let me know how it goes 🙂

[somepunk]

I'm running windows 10 on a Ryzen 5 1600, 8gb ram, and a 1tb hard drive.

[Sebasty]

@somepunk @radiolandscape @marksfavmusic

If possible, try to record the stuttering issue somehow (a screen capture or a video with mobile, anything). 🙂

Also, is this issue still present when you

a) try logging in Spotify with a different user

b) try playing music on Spotify's web player with and without having the desktop Spotify open.

c) use Spotify on any other device.

If by chance you have some external soundcards (the kind that have their own drivers), you can try these too. Same for USB headsets.

Keep me posted! 🙂