Hi,
I have had the same problems with an RME Digi96 audio card designed specifically for digital I/O, including ASIO interfaces.
The only program that has experienced these types of buffering problems is MC.
Marco is also on to something about the WMA change. Prior to the larger distribution of these components, I did not experience the problems. That is why I continue to run on 9.0.180 (and have paid for the 10.0 upgrade in hopes this might be fixed one day).
BTW, a similar problem exists with Wave out by simply uping the buffer to 5 seconds. MC will stutter trying to catch up with the buffering at the beginning of the play list.
So, I suspect that both problems are related to how MC buffers data and some type of MC threading issue. The buffer issue becomes worse when the WMA components are in the mix.
I have tried other programs, like using Winamp and an ASIO plugin, and have not experienced the issue. This, and the fact that many different hardware/driver configurations are experiencing the problem, leads me to believe that it is not driver related, but a problem in MC.
Also, it is not simply a load issue, since CPU on my dedicated music server is usually 0-4% load, and never above 15%.
Regards,
Lynn