# Computery Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computery-question/350201 "2006-03-28T03:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computery-question/350201/1 "2006-03-28T03:47:05Z")
I just got a new computer a couple of weeks back and so far most everything is pretty cool. But I’ve noticed something in the last couple of days that is starting to vaguely annoy me and I want to see if I can find a fix for it. I notice it both when I’m playing movie files, cd’s, and also mp3’s in Windows Media Player (and Winamp) - within the first five seconds, I’ll get a quick (less than a second long) skip. Kind of like one of those skips where it skips really really fast so it sounds like machine-gun skip. Hard to explain, but if you’ve heard it, you know what I mean. Then sometimes, but not all the time, it will slow down for a couple of seconds a little later. It might happen elsewhere, but I do most of my video watching and audio listening in WMP, so I notice it most there. I’ve checked on my CPU usage and I’m well under the limit so I’m thinking that this has to have something to do with my soundcard. I have a “Realtek High Definition Audio” card. Looking at the mixer, it gives the following info: Audio Driver Version: 5.10.00.5178 DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c Audio Controller: HD Audio Audio Codec: ALC883 Is there anywhere I can check to see if there is a fix for this? I would assume there would be one. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computery-question/350201/2 "2006-03-28T03:51:27Z")
Note: I just recorded a quick example of the skipping, which, since I was recording directly off of the soundcard, didn’t come out as pronounced in the file as it did in the original playback. It is however, still audible as a “slowdown” effect. If you need to hear to diagnose, please email me at my doper user name at hotmail and I can send it over. It’s a 7.0 second wav file and the error is at 3.5 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computery-question/350201/3 "2006-03-28T04:00:26Z")
I just upgraded Winamp to their latest version and am now seeing this issue too. It is annoying and I do not know the cause. I am considering rolling myself back to the previous version. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computery-question/350201/4 "2006-03-28T04:04:05Z")
I doubt it is your sound card. Sound cards produce different quality sound but they usually aren’t bottlenecks the way video cards are. It is most likely a general computer problem and I do not know the solution. It sounds like WMP is trying to play the file before the whole thing is situated in memory or processing. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2006, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computery-question/350201/5 "2006-03-28T05:24:11Z")
You could try playing MP3s through iTunes or some other app, to diagnose down whether the issue is in WMP or somewhere else.