Q: Choppy audio music playback after Itunes 12.1 update on Windows 8.1
Hardware
Intel Core i7-2600 CPU @3.40GHz
RAM 12.0
64bit OS x64-based processor
GC: AMD Radeon HD 5700 Series
Windows 8.1 Pro
iTunes 12.1.0.71
64bit
After updating iTunes to their latest and greatest update, that was on Jan 31, 2015, i have noticed a great deal of choppy/small amount of skipping/popcorn popping in the back ground of all the songs. (keep in mind i only use iTunes purely for music and nothing else)
I have tried the good old Google search but only seemed to run into old articles dating back to 2009, that didn't help at all.
I also noticed that only when using Google Chrome extensively, (many tabs open and surfing), is when it was at its worse, other then that if i just have iTunes running alone with nothing else happening the choppy popcorn distortion is minimized.
any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time.
Posted on Feb 3, 2015 2:49 PM
There is an alternative downloader for 64-bit editions of Windows here:
that seems to address the playback issues that some users have been reporting with the full 64-bit version (the alternative installer here is the same architecture as most previous "64-bit" versions of iTunes, i.e., a 32-bit application with a 64-bit installer). The "for older video cards" label appears to be something of a misnomer as some people have reported that this corrects problems found on current / high-spec systems.
Some users have reported that after installing this alternative version it is necessary to adjust the "Play audio using:" selection in Edit > Preferences > Playback to restore glitch-free audio.
Posted on Feb 3, 2015 2:35 PM