USB Audio pops after increasing monitor resolution

[barrese]

I just upgraded my monitor from a 23" 1680x1050 to a 27" Dell U2711 2560x1440. Ever since that I'm getting frequent audio pops/skips via my USB B&W MM1 speakers when listening to music. I've updated the usb controller drivers to the most recent Intel ones. Windows says my USB Audio drivers are as up to date as they can be. My video card drivers are up to date as well. Never had this problem before this. Nothing else changed but the monitor. I've tried the speakers on both USB 2.0 and 3.0 and same thing happens.

I didn't know if there's a fix for this or if getting a new video card would help?

My specs:
Win 7 x64
Asus P8Z77-V LK
Core i5-3570K @3.40 GHz
2x 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
Plextor 256GB SSD
XFX Radeon HD 4850 1GB video card
Dell U2711 monitor

 

[C1]

Ah ha. Sounds like classic interrupt disruption (conflict?) problem/issue.

Make sure that you've got APIC (16 interrupts) set in BIOS and also check your interrupt assignments in Device Manager. You may be able to fix this by forcing an interrupt re-assignment for example for the audio.

It has been a long ass time since Ive had to screw with something like this, but in the past I recall a preferred interrupt assignment for the hardware devices (eg, audio, NIC, ports, etc.). You'll need to do some research.
=======================
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/change-irq-settings.htm

 

[barrese]

Thank you for your reply. I checked the ASUS BIOS and there is no setting for APIC anywhere. I'm not too well versed in IRQ stuff, but as far as I can tell in Device Manager there are no IRQ conflicts. There is no IRQ listing for the USB Audio or MM1. There is a setting for the video card but it won't let me adjust it manually.

I'm just a bit confused on how changing the monitor resolution could cause this to start when the video card hardware wasn't changed? I thought maybe the higher resolution is taxing the video card too much, but I'm not really doing anything other than running windows and web browsing. I'd just go and get a newer video card if it would help.

Thx
Appreciate any help

 

[barrese]

Well I couldn't figure out a fix for this so I went out and got a new video card. Got a Sapphire HD7850 1GB. The problem is definitely a lot better but is still happening occasionally.

Anyone have a suggestion? I'd really appreciate it. If it was an interrupt conflict issue I'm still not sure how to address that. Also not sure why if it is changing the video card helped partially but not fully. I figured it would either make no difference at all or resolve it completely.

 

[corkyg]

Audio pops are not always easy to trace as this or that. This article is worth a read. It explains what they are and how they occur. Interrupts are but one possible source. It could be you need more memory allocated to the audio buffer. Your bigger video is now sucking up more of that.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct06/articles/pcmusician_1006.htm

 

[barrese]

Audio pops are not always easy to trace as this or that. This article is worth a read. It explains what they are and how they occur. Interrupts are but one possible source. It could be you need more memory allocated to the audio buffer. Your bigger video is now sucking up more of that.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct06/articles/pcmusician_1006.htm

That's an interesting article. I'm going to try an see if I can figure out how to increase the audio buffer. Doesn't seem like there's a direct setting for it in Win7. If anyone knows I'd appreciate the help.

 

[corkyg]

Changing the audio buffer size is not directly easy. The simplest way is to upgrade the sound card to a better one that has a bigger buffer.

According to this, there is a software method, but I cannot vouch for it - never used it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7745019_change-sound-card-buffer-size.html