Info Windows 10 1903 has a Nasty AUDIO Stutter Bug !!

[Deleted member 2731765]

Is anyone aware of this ? Thankfully, I'm using Windows 7 OS, so I don't have to deal with all these issues. I do have a sound card though.

Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903) is the pinnacle of neglect and contempt Microsoft has shown towards the all-important audio subsystem of the modern PC.

With it, Redmond has one-upped its last big move against audio, by killing the DirectSound hardware pipeline and mongrelizing PC audio under Intel's lousy and fundamentally anti-competitive Azalia specification that solves common audio compatibility problems under a scorched-earth guiding principle - "kill any feature that could possibly lick our aftersales support budget, by dumping every aspect of audio onto a very restrictive host-signal processing (HSP) architecture, let people come up with their own soft DSPs, because CPUs can handle them." Windows 1903 proves how this approach wasn't a silver bullet against PC audio problems, and is fallible.

Symptoms :

Audio stuttering and glitching, and lots of it. Think Winamp circa 1999 running on a Pentium 133 with its CPU priority toggle set to "low," and the CPU being subject to the rigors of Internet Explorer rendering Yahoo.com over a 56K PCI soft-MODEM. That bad!

What's Wrong:

Drawing inspiration from the other world-famous Washingtonian product, the Boeing 737 MAX airplane, Microsoft introduced Windows 10 1903 with a boatload of insufficiently-documented under-the-hood changes. Some of these changes affect Deferred Procedure Call (DPC) tick-rate, causing spikes in DPC latency, affecting the audio pipeline.

It goes on to postulate that outdated drivers for audio devices that have gone EOL (end of life) that aren't ready for dynamic DPC could effectively render your otherwise physically-perfect discrete sound cards unusable. "A common cause for DPC latency is out of date device drivers and Windows processes that are not optimized correctly. Many processes/drivers are involved in streaming audio and many other processes/drivers can cause interruptions in the audio stream."

Article courtesy of TPU:

https://www.techpowerup.com/258611/...io-stutter-bug-microsoft-hasnt-managed-to-fix

 

[boju]

Am dreading the inevitable. Still on Win7 and wishing i never had to deal with 10. Trialed it years back and it was good and liked it but am also grateful i reverted back to preserve my 7 licence because later on, seeing what people went through with data erasing updates and audio problems with Realtek manager, and nuisance settings being turned back on after updates (im sure there's more), im glad i missed all of that bs.

I have an ssd ready for Win10 😕 , when it's time to say a semi good bye to the lovely reliable Windows Seven 😘

 

[britechguy]

Issues with audio do seem to have been the "hallmark issues" of 1903, by and large. They also, as in most cases, seem to be easily resolved, generally by getting the latest drivers.

It has always been more than a bit of a miracle how well Windows 10 has run on all sorts of hardware that was never designed for it or certified to run it. I don't expect that it will, for instance, keep running gracefully in perpetuity on my ancient Gateway desktop with a Pentium Dual Core. Hardware does have a service life, as do OSes.

Having used every version of Windows since it was born, I can definitely say that Windows 10 is, on the whole, far more reliable than any that came before it. I have had fewer problems personally, and am getting fewer service calls, related to Windows issues as opposed to other things since Windows 10 came out.

And most problems get addressed significantly more rapidly than they used to, because their scope and the hardware configurations on which they occur, can be determined very quickly with the advent of system health telemetry (which, by the way, is not only limited to Windows; it's becoming a part of all modern OSes).

 

[Deleted member 2731765]

Next year when MS drops official support for Windows 7 OS, most of the users will not have any other option, except for upgrading to Windows 10.

 

[britechguy]

Next year when MS drops official support for Windows 7 OS, most of the users will not have any other option, except for upgrading to Windows 10.

Precisely, and some will also upgrade their hardware as part of it, which many need to do (as we all do as our computers age).

Most hardware that came originally with Win7 installed on it does just fine, thanks, with Windows 10. But you can't expect ancient hardware that was on its "last gasp update" when it was taken to Windows 7 to keep on going.

I, truly, have found very few Windows 7 users displeased with Windows 10 except some of my clients who are seniors, and that's mostly because many (not all, but many) have "tech fear" to begin with and handle any UI changes exceptionally badly.

I hated Windows 8/8.1 with a burning passion, as the whole UI design presumed touchscreen devices, which many of us are not using and even those of us with touchscreen PCs prefer to interact with them primarily via keyboard and mouse(pad) as we've always done. Windows 8/8.1 did not make that convenient.

Microsoft seems to have heard the "cry of the people" with regard to the Win8/8.1 UI, because Windows 10 is a great marriage of what we all know (and some love) of Windows up to Windows 7 and a few of the good ideas (and there were a few) from the Win8/8.1 era. The idea that all the world's a touchscreen was dumped, thank heaven, while still making it very easy to set yourself up as someone who will primarily use touch if one so desires.

Any long term Windows user has gone through these transitions in the past, and knows that there will be more in the future. The same is true for Mac users, too. Technology and computer OSes specifically don't stand still.

 

[Deleted member 2731765]

I hated Windows 8/8.1 with a burning passion, as the whole UI design presumed touchscreen devices, which many of us are not using and even those of us with touchscreen PCs prefer to interact with them primarily via keyboard and mouse(pad) as we've always done. Windows 8/8.1 did not make that convenient.

I agree on this point. Windows 8/8.1 was a disaster. The OS was finicky. The GUI was also horrible. I still think Windows 7 OS is the most stable OS till now. Windows 10 OS still needs a lot of polish, and it offers room for improvement as well.

 

[allllchemist]

this dude suggested deselecting eSATA enablement in Bios. Worked for my Dell E4300 (old) laptop. back to clear sound again!
https://www.dell.com/community/Lati...-10-updated-to-1803-sound-now-is/td-p/6079998

 

[Deleted member 2731765]

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I agree on this point. Windows 8/8.1 was a disaster. The OS was finicky. The GUI was also horrible. I still think Windows 7 OS is the most stable OS till now. Windows 10 OS still needs a lot of polish, and it offers room for improvement as well.

I disagree win 10 is the best os they ever made

 

[boju]

I disagree win 10 is the best os they ever made

NOOOOO 😱🥶🤮🤢🤯😨😰🤡

😁

 

[Deleted member 2731765]

I disagree win 10 is the best os they ever made

But why ??

 

[Deleted member 14196]

But why ??

Dude, it's the first OS where I can just install it (in under 8 minutes clean!!!! there's one) that has superior device and memory management. It's super fast and super stable for me, always has been on all my work machines and at home. I install it, and let the computer wear out from long years of use. it keeps itself tidy and updated and performing well. Only need to reinstall if I screwed something up, which is next to never.

So far, in all my computing career, it's been the fastest, most stable and best OS. The interface is very nice. It needs no polish, that statement was hyperbole. I usually hear this from typical Microsoft hater. So tired of that nonsense FUD

 

[Deleted member 14196]

Now in the age of VMs (which is where all my work is done) I just clean install a host machine and LEAVE IT ALONE (no stupid useless tweaks) and it lives until the computer dies. The OS is CLEAN and stays clean, no office, no apps other than browsers and necessities like Sublime Text 3, etc... that way, updates are fast and accurate because the host is not poluted. The only thing it gets are regular updates.

All my real work apps (compilers and packagers, etc.) are in VMs far away from the clean optimal host OS. I never lose anything. SUPER RELIABLE and STABLE 100% good

So in summary, I can do little to no work and have super stable, fast and powerful host systems running all my work test labs and build vms and never have to monkey with it. Win7 was a disaster, always having to repair and reinstall over the littlest things, updates hosing it constantly. Win 8 was total crap, 10 was the best they ever made.

 

[boju]

Dude, it's the first OS where I can just install it (in under 8 minutes clean!!!!

That's because half of Windows is left hanging on updates 😁

If Microsoft gave win7 dx12, i guarantee you no-one would be on 10. Since 10's first major update there's been nothing but trouble. Realtek, data wipes, Cortana, forced updates, ugly look, adds, update sharing, gamebar, fullscreen optimisation. Its all crap but i know most of it can be modified but still, Win7 will always be legendary.

 

[Deleted member 2731765]

I usually hear this from typical Microsoft hater. So tired of that nonsense FUD

Just FYI, I don't HATE Microsoft, or any other company/firm for that matter. Just wanted to clarify this.

That's because half of Windows is left hanging on updates 😁

If Microsoft gave win7 dx12, i guarantee you no-one would be on 10. Since 10's first major update there's been nothing but trouble. Realtek, data wipes, Cortana, forced updates, ugly look, adds, update sharing, gamebar, fullscreen optimisation. Its all crap but i know most of it can be modified but still, Win7 will always be legendary.

AMEN to that !

 

[Deleted member 14196]

no problems for me. ever. zero, zip, nada

100 machines strong and growing at our place. not one issue.

and by 'nobody' would be on 10, laughable! gamers only. much more business users would be on latest as win7 is DEAD

cut the FUD.

for the record, we ALL have realtek audio, never an issue on any machine. even at my house. it's most likely users doing something, installing malware or whatever, POLUTING the os. morons using driver update tools, or constantly installing new (potentially buggy) drivers.. pah!

guess what? I never have these issues, all my gaming is done on consoles. no problems, EVER. period. My pc does not have to be poluted with bloatware games and stupid buggy driver updates all the time.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

That's because half of Windows is left hanging on updates 😁

If Microsoft gave win7 dx12, i guarantee you no-one would be on 10. Since 10's first major update there's been nothing but trouble. Realtek, data wipes, Cortana, forced updates, ugly look, adds, update sharing, gamebar, fullscreen optimisation. Its all crap but i know most of it can be modified but still, Win7 will always be legendary.

Not true at all! This is a lie. If you get the latest iso, it's up to date minus a very few updates. I understand gamers will stick with the dead horse. go for it. let me know how it works out for you after 2020 rolls around. sigh.

 

[boju]

I was pulling your leg on purpose Mandak about the installer, i like to bag win10

Win10 isnt 'bad'. I did try 10 during the upgrade period and didn't have any issues besides my rear audio channels switching to a different jack but other than that all my games and software ran great and all was good. I reverted back to save my 7 licence and glad i did. Because i missed a lot of horse shizen that went on soon after with forced driver updates and data wipes after major updates. I was glad i wasn't apart of that.

Win7 is still innocent.

Forgot to add, issues I've mentioned is from others over the years seeing here. I guess it's user errors probably. I've got an ssd ready to dual boot once support for 7 ends so we'll see.

 

[britechguy]

I can only echo Mandark's observations, both as an end user of Windows 10 and as a support tech.

It's not "good for me" (business wise) that my call frequency has gone down, but it has gone down noticeably in the 4 years since Windows 10 hit the street. In the early days of Windows 10, it spiked up a bit, which was utterly unsurprising, but as the ecosystem has matured the trend has been for fewer and fewer service calls that I can directly relate to Windows itself.

Taken as a whole, and for all of the reasons Mandark has already articulated, Windows 10 is by far and away the best Windows ever produced by Microsoft. You couldn't get me to go back to Windows 7 for love nor money and Windows 8/8.1 was a disaster as far as the UI which presumed that everyone would be using nothing but touch enabled devices, which is absolutely, positively not the case.

I also have to say that Windows Security under Windows 10 (and I mean the successor to Windows Defender, though the statement applies more broadly to OS security overall) is just incredible compared to what came before it and when measured against third-party competitors. And that's not just my opinion, but that of the various labs that do testing on antivirus and security suites:

AV Test

AV Comparatives

SE Labs (Reports Page)

MRG Effitas (360 Protection Testing Category)

The ways in which Windows 10 is just easier to manage, overall, are too numerous to mention, though I will admit that there are a few things that feel "less transparent" than they used to be. Still, on balance . . .

 

[Deleted member 14196]

totall agree with britechguy

 

[boju]

¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[Deleted member 2731765]