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Fix for iTunes and Stuttering Audio Upon Opening Other Programs

This was answered for me in another mega thread, so I thought I would create it's own topic in hopes of helping as many people as possible.

This is a fix for those that have the problem of iTunes 7 working fine alone, but when opening another program such as a game, etc., iTunes 7 begins to stutter and crackle. This fix assumes that otherwise, the program works correctly (gapless, and other issues are not a problem, no blue screens of death, etc.)

First off my machine:

Dell XPS 3.4 ghz Pentium Dual Core

2 Gig RAM

Creative SB X-Fi audio card, latest drivers installed

Observed problem:

Running iTunes 7, audio sounded fine, but opening another program such as UT2004 (first person shooter game) caused iTunes 7 to stutter and crackle.

This was not an issue in iTunes 6.05. I had to upgrade as I just purchased the new Nano.

As an aside, I have another sound card on my computer, an older Layla Echo 24 professional soundcard, drivers are about 3 years old. When selecting this card, this problem does not occur.

The Fix:
Close iTunes 7
Upgrade your sound card drivers (just to eliminate that as an issue)
Upgrade to latest Microsoft direct X version:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A -9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en

Start

Run

Type: dxdiag

Click "sound 1" or similarly named tab

Slide bar to "basic acceleration" (mine was at full, and basic is two clicks to the left)

Exit

Restart iTunes 7, and startup music

Open game, or other program

Your music in iTunes 7 should now be stutter/crackle free

This may not work for everybody, but it worked for me so I thought I would pass this along.

Good luck!

(resisting urge to type some snarky remark to Apple that somehow their programmers are indeed as human as Microsoft programmers)...oops...sorry about that.




Dell XPS Windows XP Creative SB X-FI Audio Card

Dell XPS Windows XP

Posted on Sep 19, 2006 3:01 PM

Reply
46 replies

Sep 20, 2006 4:23 PM in response to Westport_Hiker

i was hopeful, but it didn't work. well teh one thing that i had to do diff was the dx updating, WGA doesn't like to work on my system for some unkown reason (yes it was bought at a store) so i found a way around their WGA check for it (i think) the one i got was labeled as dxwebupdate for august 2006. it updated just fine and it looks like it should be the same one as the newest update release microsoft sent out

my system is a home built one and haven't had probs with itunes with any other version, until this one. i'm tempted to just go back to the newest version 6 i have, cause this is rediculous. i can't do anything without it sputtering away at me. i tryed uninstalling it and removing every trace of its exsistance off of the system (including registry) and that didn't work i made sure all numbers were set to the correct values for my sound blaster audigy gamer, i was using some non oem drivers, but switched over just to make sure witht eh newest ones creative had, and it made zero diff.

i'm wondering if it is an issue it is having with sound blaster cards...

well anyways if anyone else has any ideas i would like to hear them

Sep 21, 2006 1:35 PM in response to Westport_Hiker

No go for me, which is pretty sad, because I've tried absolutely every fix posted on here, to no avail. Granted, my laptop isn't capable of nearly as much as your Desktop, but considering I could run iTunes 6.5 with tons of other programs and encounter no problems, it really *****. The thing is, it seems as though iTunes is eating up a ton of memory - but the system requirements haven't changed. I hope Apple doesn't release a statement saying "Sorry but this is just how it's going to go from now on." That would suck big time.

Dell Inspiron 630m Notebook Windows XP 100 GB HD, 1 Gig RAM, 512 MB iPod Shuffle, 4 GB iPod Mini

Sep 21, 2006 2:46 PM in response to Traum77

Yeah, i've had this issue too. I've had to close and restart it to fix the problem, and let me tell you, this was completely embarrassing as I was showing my wife the NEW Itunes.

Man, I thought Apple had a reputation of not releasing buggy software like this, but this stuttering issue really blows.

Maybe they went with Microsoft's programmers when they switched over to Intel. heh. No idea but they need to fix this really fast.

Itunes 7.0 = Bugware.

Sep 21, 2006 7:22 PM in response to Westport_Hiker

No luck with me also. I already had my drivers and Direct X updated to the latest version before updating to version 7, and it stutters really bad with too many things running at the same time. I've reinstalled the drivers with the latest Direct X and it still stutters.

I never had this issue with version 6 or any previous versions, I could run a million things and never had it lag or stutter before. But now it seems like it stutters to almost anything I shut down or open up, and I have to exit iTunes and then re open it again for it to stop the stuttering.

I really hope Apple fixes this bug soon because now it seems like it's starting to lag my comments screen as i'm typing when it plays the next mp3. The previous versions were memory hogs, but at least I was able to run it in the background no problem with other things running at the same time, but this is just so bad that I don't even want to use it anymore or recommend people to update to the new version.

Please fix this soon Apple because I do love your products, just not this one right now.

Sep 22, 2006 4:31 AM in response to Westport_Hiker

Worked perfectly for me....hardware acceleration. Thank you so much for posting such an obvious fix...

Not sure that Apple is to blame here either...discovered my sound card had DirectX sound issues that I never knew about. Running the DXDiag application and running through the sound test revealed issues. If Apple are now relying on DirecX for sound, this would explain why their app is suffering so much.

Gabhan
Kerry
Ireland

Shuttle xPC Windows XP Pro

Sep 22, 2006 6:44 AM in response to Skyzyx

The settings you just "tweaked" have to do with DirectX which is a component of your Windows. So in a way it is a "Windows" issue.

This is my personal understanding of the issue. Every sound card is a little bit different, and every sound driver as well. DirectX acts as a layer between the hardware / hardware drivers on one side, and programs. By writing software to interface with DirectX, developers are able to write one version, instead of a different version for every hardware out there, and in some cases different versions for different drivers. DirectSound specifically handles sound. It is also responsible for mixing the sounds together so that two programs can play sounds at the same time. Hardware acceleration has to do with where and how that mixing and other effects are processed.

Which sound card are you using?

Sep 22, 2006 12:08 PM in response to Nathan C

Sorry but the DXDiag fix didn't work for me and if you check the Apple forum readers, they are having the same problems with their machines. So it isn't a Windows issue only.

Does anyone have a roll back procedure for Windows? I give up. This is too frustrating.

Someone wrote a rollback procedure for Apple OS but it is too different to figure out how to convert it to Windows files.

Come on Apple.... Read the forums. You HAD a great product.

Dell Inspiron 8100 Windows XP Pro

Fix for iTunes and Stuttering Audio Upon Opening Other Programs

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