A few months ago I posted here:
ASIO--Clicks, hiccups, etc.Not sure above is the correct way to insert link to earlier post--sorry if not.
Anyway I received a few replies, none of which helped to cure the audio "hiccups" whenever I launched my email or certain other apps/actions that spiked CPU.
As I mentioned at that time I had switched sound cards from a USB Stereo-Link 1200 (no hiccups) to an E-MU 0404 ASIO based PCI card (greatly improved SQ but with hiccups).
Finally a few days ago somebody over at head-fi.org tipped me off to the "PCI latency" issue. See:
http://www.geocities.com/phileosophos/tech/pcilatency.htmlThis sounded exactly like my problem. I didn't feel like blowing $30 on the "Power Strip" utility solution--something I'd likely use all of once. So I searched around a bit and found "PCI Latency Tool v. 2.5," a free utility available at:
http://www.audiotrak.net/support_faq.htm I changed the PCI latency settings to the values recommended at audiotrak. The hiccups are gone. I can launch whatever I want--multi-task to my heart's content--while listening to unsullied pristine sound. I love it.
I was about to upgrade my CPU--motherboard--buy another USB/Firewire sound card--search for a way to change ASIO buffer settings deep in WaveLab or Cubase.
The clue that it was a PCI issue was that the problem surfaced when I switched from a USB to PCI sound card. Of course it could have been an ASIO thing too.
Hope this helps some others here who may be grappling with this stinker...