# [SOLVED] Sound Stuttering in Win 7



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

Dear concerned,

My problem started after installing my Win 7 Ultimate package. Initially I was having a 80 GB HDD with Win XP SP3 installed. Due to size constraints, I installed an additional 500 GB HDD with Win 7 Ultimate in it. Now my system has both the OS.

When I load the 80 GB HDD, it opens with Win XP and when 500 GB is loaded, it opens with Win 7 Ultimate. I was expecting a superior performance as far as sound is concerned as I compose musical projects. 

To my horror, when i played sound clips, both from audio and video, it was stuttering a lot and the beats skipped in between. I tried all the things but that stuttering never goes. I tried loading in Win XP and there was no stuttering. I am really frustrated. 

My system configuration is as under :

*Operating System :* Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Bit in 500 GB HDD and Win XP SP3 in 80 GB HDD.
*Mother Board :* G31M-S2L
*Processor :* Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7400 @ 2.80GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
*RAM :* 4 GB
*Sound Card :* Creative Sound Blaster SB 5.1 VX

Kindly guide me as to how to resolve this issue.

Regards,
Karl Marx


----------



## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

When working properly, it should work the same. I wouldn't expect it to be superior. If you want/need better audio quality/performance, the answer is better hardware, no a new OS.

Having said all of that, the problem is the audio drivers. I don't think the old SB cards are even properly supported in Win7.


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Dear Dogg,

Thanks for the reply. Now how to address this issue? I had checked the drivers and it is all up to date. I updated via Creative website and they are ok. There are no issues when i load in Win XP. But it stutters in Win 7. So I think it has to do something with the operating system. I don't want to go back to Win XP as it is no more supported. Rather than investing in a good sound card, are there any way by which I can resolve this issue?

Thanks,
Karl Marx


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Did you get the Windows 7 driver (the site also has XP drivers)?



> Creative Sound Blaster 5.1 VX Driver 1.04.0090
> Filesize : 40.6 MB
> 
> 
> ...


An excellent 5.1 PCI sound card can be had for $25. I have this one and an well pleased with it:

ASUS Xonar DG 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCI Interface Sound Card - Newegg.com


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Hi Karl Marx and welcome to TSF :wave:

What graphics-card are you using? - Some low-end cards use the PC's RAM for their 'working-space', which could cause your audio to stutter.

Win-7 is a larger install than Win-XP, so you'd have less of your 4Gb for everything else to play with.


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*



MPR said:


> Did you get the Windows 7 driver (the site also has XP drivers)?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks MPR.

Actually I have an updated version of this driver. I even tried installing the one who had recommended but it gave a message that I already have an updated one.


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*



WereBo said:


> Hi Karl Marx and welcome to TSF :wave:
> 
> What graphics-card are you using? - Some low-end cards use the PC's RAM for their 'working-space', which could cause your audio to stutter.
> 
> Win-7 is a larger install than Win-XP, so you'd have less of your 4Gb for everything else to play with.


Dear WereBo,

Thanks for the response.
Mine is a old system. 
*Operating System :* Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Bit in 500 GB HDD and Win XP SP3 in 80 GB HDD.
*Mother Board :* G31M-S2L
*Processor :* Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E7400 @ 2.80GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
*RAM :* 4 GB
*Sound Card :* Creative Sound Blaster SB 5.1 VX
*Display Adapter :* Intel(R) G33/G31 Express Chipset Family

Weird thing is, it is ok in Win XP but stuttering in Win 7.

Any thoughts...

Regards,
Karl Marx


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Win-XP doesn't use quite so much RAM as Win-7, so there's more for the rest of the system to use.

Adding another 4Gb RAM might cure it, but then again it might not. Although more RAM won't make the PC any faster, it will reduce/stop the slowing down as the PC writes to the swap-file - On the 'down-side' though, if you're planning on upgrading your system any time soon, it can be rather a waste of good money that could go towards the new system.

Alternatively, if you don't do much 'heavy' (Machine-intensive) gaming, adding a fairly cheap new graphics-card might stop the lag (Graphics-cards now have their own RAM on the card, so they don't use any system-RAM except for the drivers). Also, even low-end graphics-cards will be faster than using your onboard graphics chip-set, so that could well stop any lag in the audio too.


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

With older systems, and especially with older Sound Blaster cards as I recall, the sound card may have installed to share an IRQ with another device. Go to Start, type in "devmgmt.msc" and press Enter. Then go to View and Resources by type. Expand Interrupt Request and look for your audio device. Double click on it and go to the Resources tab. Here, it should tell you if there are any conflicts.


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*



WereBo said:


> Win-XP doesn't use quite so much RAM as Win-7, so there's more for the rest of the system to use.
> 
> Adding another 4Gb RAM might cure it, but then again it might not. Although more RAM won't make the PC any faster, it will reduce/stop the slowing down as the PC writes to the swap-file - On the 'down-side' though, if you're planning on upgrading your system any time soon, it can be rather a waste of good money that could go towards the new system.
> 
> Alternatively, if you don't do much 'heavy' (Machine-intensive) gaming, adding a fairly cheap new graphics-card might stop the lag (Graphics-cards now have their own RAM on the card, so they don't use any system-RAM except for the drivers). Also, even low-end graphics-cards will be faster than using your onboard graphics chip-set, so that could well stop any lag in the audio too.


Thank you so much for the response.My motherboard supports only till 4 GB.I am not into gaming. I am into composing music. I have some VSTi' which may consume more RAM.But now, even if i just play out a mp3 song or a youtube video, it stutters.May be i will try out the low end graphic card as suggested by you. Thanks for the guidance.


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*



MPR said:


> With older systems, and especially with older Sound Blaster cards as I recall, the sound card may have installed to share an IRQ with another device. Go to Start, type in "devmgmt.msc" and press Enter. Then go to View and Resources by type. Expand Interrupt Request and look for your audio device. Double click on it and go to the Resources tab. Here, it should tell you if there are any conflicts.


Dear MPR, 
I checked the device manager properties. It is fine. There are no conflicts. It has an onboard Realtek soundcard and the Creative Sound Card and both are ok.
Thanks for the inputs..


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

The only thing I can thing of now that's not already been tried is to uninstall the Realtek sound driver and leave the Sound Blaster driver as the only one on the system.


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Have you checked that the Realtek audio is disabled in the BIOS?


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Dear MPR and WereBo,

Thanks for your inputs. I had disabled the on board sound card. Still that stuttering is there :-(. I think I have to go back to Win XP...When i browsed through internet i found that it is a common problem on all PCs running Win 7. Few are lucky though  All those systems specified are high end systems. Hmmm..Had to live with it.

Regards,
Karl Marx


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

It depends on what you're using the PC for, as to whether a high-end system is needed. Unfortunately, like my system, yours seems to be now past it's prime :sigh: - On the positive side though, unless you're into heavy 'number-crunching work (high-end audio composing/recording, video rendering etc.), with today's high-speed components even a mid-range or some low-end builds can knock the socks off the top-end older systems.

Sadly there's not much that can be done to upgrade your system, another 4Gb RAM would've helped, but you're already at the limit your mobo can use.


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

WereBo,

Mine is a 5 year old assembled system.Anyways thanks for all the inputs ..

Regards,
Marx


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Finally managed to solve the problem by enabling my onboard realtek sound card and disabling my creative sound card from the system device manager. All stuttering gone. Did a little bit of research and found out that my motherboard is Win 7 compatible whereas the creative sound card is Win XP compatible. May be compatibility issues..Thanks everyone 

Thanks to my onboard realtek sound card


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Well found and thanks for posting back with the fix :wink: - You can save some CPU resources by uninstalling the Creative audio-drivers and any/all Creative-related software. When the PC is off, remove the Creative sound-card.


If you're happy all is now well, you can mark the thread <Solved> using the 'Thread Tools' button, near the top-right of the page :wink:


----------



## Karl Marx (Jul 6, 2014)

*Re: Sound Stuttering in Win 7*

Thanks all!!! My issue is resolved for now 

Regards,
Karl Marx


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Y' welcome and happy computing :lol:


----------

