mp3 playback stutter on 1420

Hopefully someone has had and fixed this same problem - when playing back mp3's during slight-moderate system use (15-50% cpu load) the sound will stutter and break up every few minutes. I noticed it originally in iTunes (my player of choice) but Media Player suffers the same problem. I've already got all sound enhancers turned off. Any suggestions?

 

Sorry, no help here. Just like to point out I have the very same problem.

I've only noticed it using Media Center, but when I'm playing MP3's, around the end of the song the playback will always stutter for about 1 second. It's more of an annoyance than anything. Just after spending more than a grand on a new toy, I'd like it to work properly.

I haven't tried Google, but maybe if more people are having this problem, there may be some hits there?

 

Did you try setting power plan to performance? I believe it's the CPU auto-throttling feature, CPU clock jumping all over the place for no apparent reason I've got no idea how to fix that.

 

Yeah, when the system is plugged in its set for max performance.

I'd really like to fix this, because random sputters every 3-4 minutes is really compromising the use of my ambient music collection

 

i had the same problem on my 1420. i fixed it by checking disable all enhancements in sound settings.

 

Yeah, the enhancements are already turned off.

 

Does it stutter exactly one time per song. near the end before its about to change?

 

No, I don't think so, but I'll recheck to confirm when I get home.

 

Are you guys playing MP3s off a CD/DVD or from the Hard Disk ? What about playing movies ?

 

Playing the mp3s right off the hard disk. Haven't noticed any problems with movies, but I don't play many...

 

I'm finding the problem is with WMP11 . I have the 1520 w/Vista HP . I switched to Winamp tonite and I'm not having as bad a problem anymore. The studders and pops are gone , only the occasional screech ( like a tennis shoe makes on the court) , but I think my mp3 collection is getting old like me . When using WMP11 I get studders , pops and the occasional screech , when playing mp3's from the HDD or original audio CD's . Winamp plays my original CD's perfect .

Theres a post at the Dell Forum from a Dell rep regarding the problem . After searching the problem it seems the issue has been around awhile with Vista and WMP11 .
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&thread.id=35264

Now if I can just get the headphone jack noise to fade away.....

 

I don't have an Inspiron 1420, but for iTunes, try changing Quicktime (!) prefs to use WaveOut and NOT DirectSound. See http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...Cf&q=quicktime+itunes+stuttering+&btnG=Search for the multitude of references to this.

I was having quite a few stutters on my Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe mobo based machine w/single core Althon 64 3200+ while playing back MP3 and m4p files using iTunes. The above helps a lot, but not completely.

 

The skipping near the end of a song is a reported issue with Vista. Not sure about a fix, test out some other audio players maybe.

I have the same problem with Media Player on my desktop running Vista.

Would love to find a fix. It is usually near the end of the song that it studders / skips a bit.

 

Have you tried this:

1. Go to the "Sound" control panel,

2. Click the first item "Speakers/Headphones", and click the properties button.

3. Go to the "Enhancements" tab and place a check in the "Disable all enhancements"

4. Click apply and the problem is gone.

You'll notice that nothing was checked to begin with. Once the disable option is checked, all the skips and pops go away, no reboot required.

 

Thanks for the suggestion in any case.

 

So I checked my Quicktime preferences to see if DirectSound selected, but I can't find it anywhere. The Sound Out area just gives me Rate, Size, and Channel options, but doesn't let me select DirectSound or waveOut. At the top, it does have an option for "safe mode (waveOut only) but that's not helping either

 

Same here. I was playing mp3 off usb HDD.

 

Found this thread at the Dell support forums for anyone having the same issue. I guess the problem is well documented and currently unsolved, although they do have some suggestions (I've tried the Vista Anti-Lag and it seems to have cured the problem so far...)

edit: After testing for about 20 minutes, downloading Vista Anti-Lag has fixed the problem.

 

Ok, so Anti-Lag didn't give the solution that I hoped, so I tried turning off all wireless (using the wireless catcher) and testing it. No pops, no clicks. So, following the Dell forum instructions, I disabled the a band from my wireless card, and everything seems to be playing flawlessly. Hopefully this strategy actually keeps working. If anyone's having the same issue, give it a try and let me know how it works out for you

 

I know it's old...

It has not helped mine at all.

On a 7200rpm drive it is actually worse.