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[stumpygremlin]

I use MC17, and whenever I listen to music now, I get what sounds like static every time I browse my library or do some action while music is playing. Is there anything I can do to fix this, be it settings or whatnot?

[JimH]

A driver conflict is a possibility.  Does it happen when you move the mouse?  Or when you use a keyboard?

Did anything change on your PC recently?

[stumpygremlin]

It was more when I used the keyboard. However, I did just change the priority of the program from Realtime to High, and it seems to have done the trick.

Note: I did just do a PC reset. (I'd installed Ubuntu, and didn't like it, so I went back to Windows.)

[JimH]

The priority of the program should not be changed from the default.  It doesn't need anything special.

[stumpygremlin]

My problem is that sometimes, when I'm doing other stuff on the computer, the song I'm listening to skips while that other thing, like say, a webpage or program, is loading.

[Frobozz]

Try running DPC Latency Checker and/or LatencyMon.  Read the info about latency on those two web sites.  Note that DPC Latency Checker does not run properly on Windows 8.  If using Windows 8 then stick with LatencyMon.

Those utilities will check if any drivers are hogging the processing time.  That sort of hogging can create the sort of static sounds you are hearing.  There are of course other potential causes as well.

I've had a wifi driver that was a hog.  Some drivers just don't like to share and get along with others.  Disabling the wifi driver (in device manager) would cause the problems to go away.  Solution in that case is to look for updated wifi drivers, switch to using a wired connection, trying a USB wifi adapter instead, try Windows 8, etc.

If it is a DPC latency issue you'll have the same problems in any audio application that is using WASAPI exclusive mode or ASIO.

The problem could also be due to specific USB ports.  Some ports can share resources.  If using a USB keyboard/mouse try moving those devices to different USB ports.  If using  a USB DAC try moving it to different USB ports.  If you have a desktop system try a separate USB interface card just for your audio.

[stumpygremlin]

I used this, but I have no idea how to understand what it's telling me...

[Frobozz]

The DPC latency monitoring tools do get geeky.  Giving stats and info about things most people don't know about.

Which version of Windows are you using?

Here's a help page at SweetWater about how to use LatencyMon
http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/solving-dpc-latency-issues/

Ignore warnings about pagefaults.  Pagefaults aren't going to cause playback problems.  Maybe if you were recording 24 tracks in a studio.  But playback is much less stressful than that.

Start LatencyMon and let it run for several minutes or more while you are playing audio.  Watch the meter levels for DPC and interrupt latency.  Stop LatencyMon if it detects a big problem or you get an audio dropout or after 5 or 10 minutes.  Look at the results it reports and see if you can narrow down what driver caused the problem.

Just because LatencyMon gives you a red warning that your computer might have problems playing audio doesn't mean your computer will have problems.  LatencyMon will give my computer a red warning but I don't experience any audio dropouts or other related problems because of it.

Your problem may not even be DPC or interrupt latency.  There can be other reasons for dropouts.  The latency monitor tools are just quick tools you can run to see if you do have really big latency spikes that correspond to audio dropouts.

[stumpygremlin]

This is what the screen said. Am I reading it right that the wifi driver is the problem? If so, would a USB wifi adapter solve my problem?

[Frobozz]

Ouch!  That's very high DPC latency.

ndis is related to the network driver.  Likely the wifi driver.

Go to Device Manager.  Under Network adapters.  Right-click on the wifi adapter and disable the adapter.

Run LatencyMon again while playing audio in JRiver Media Center.  See if the latency goes down after disabling the wifi adapter.  See if you still get audio static or dropouts.

[stumpygremlin]

I got a little bit of static while running LatencyMon, but only then. Upon disabling the wifi driver, this is what it had. Should I invest in that USB dongle so that I can disable my built-in antenna?

[Hendrik]

WiFi is generally a cause for such problems, so I would be careful in investing too much money.

If you can get one to try and return it if it doesn't help, go for it.

[stumpygremlin]

I found one at Best Buy for $15. Not too bad.

[Frobozz]

If you get a USB wifi adapter you'll need to make sure that adapter doesn't also have bad drivers with bad DPC latency.

I'm using a Netgear N600 WNDA3100 usb wifi adapter with Windows 8.  It works well.  Doesn't cause latency problems with Windows 8.  I use the usb adapter because it has 5 GHz and the laptops built-in adapter does not.

Look for updated drivers for you built-in wifi adapter.  Sometimes updated drivers will fix the problem.  Or sometimes an older driver will fix the problem.

The laptop I'm using had DPC latency problems due to wifi when it was running Windows 7.  Caused occasional audio dropouts.  Updating to Windows 8 completely solved that problem.  Proof that Windows 8 is good for something.  Windows 8 did some work on reducing DPC latency and badly behaving drivers being a hog.  It's a better OS under the hood.  If you're running Windows 7 it might be worth considering Windows 8.

Or you can disable the wifi and use a wired network connection while doing audio.  The wired connection will likely not have the latency problems.

edit: looking at the minimize and close buttons in the upper right of your screenshot shows you are running Windows 8.  Hmm...  Windows 8 is capable of better.  Hunt around for better drivers for you wifi.  If your wifi is using a special utility for managing the wifi connections and settings try disabling or uninstalling that utility and use the stock Windows wifi management tools instead.