No Sound Playing Music since last 12.1.0.71 update Win8.1 64bit

Question

No Sound Playing Music since last 12.1.0.71 update Win8.1 64bit

Since the last update last week to 12.1.0.71 (Win 8.1 64bit) I am able to play content within iTunes program, but unable to get any sound from it. This is the same when I playback my music, or videos in iTunes. Worked fine before the upgrade.

Sound works OK with other programs, and even Windows system sounds work fine. Just does not work when playing content within iTunes application.

Tried making sound changes in iTunes and Sound control panel to no avail.

Is there a bug in the iTunes 12.1 update ?

Windows PC 64 bit-OTHER, Windows 8

Posted on Feb 1, 2015 2:59 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 1, 2015 9:21 AM in response to BermudaBarracuda

Since the latest 12.1.0.71 update, direct sound option is removed in "playback settings" and windows audio session/WASAPI is the single default option.

I also noticed audio stuttering while doing any other activity on PC since the update (especially chrome browsing). I have 32GB RAM so it is not a RAM consumption issue. This is with 64 bit version on windows 8.1 and it also made the iTunes library incompatible with rolling back to earlier versions and restoring to earlier date didn't help as well.

Try playing with your sound card settings and choose WASAPI and iTunes audio should work. I hope Apple will fix this issue in the next update.

P

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Answer 2

hhgttg27

Level 5

5,597 points

Feb 1, 2015 9:17 AM in response to BermudaBarracuda

There is an alternative downloader for 64-bit editions of Windows here:

iTunes 12.1 for Windows (64-bit — for older video cards)

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.

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Answer 3

Feb 1, 2015 9:28 AM in response to hhgttg27

Thank you for the download link. Two audio options are available now after that update and 'direct sound' option seems to resolve the stutter induced by chrome. It is strange because WASAPI is known to bypass such interference from other programs.

P

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Answer 4

Feb 1, 2015 10:21 AM in response to hhgttg27

thanks, i had problems playing songs, direct sound was not available.

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Answer 5

Feb 1, 2015 11:28 AM in response to pramod1969

Thanks for the reply. The removal of DirectSound is definitely the cause. I wonder whether it was removed intentionally or not by Apple ?

I find it surprising that my iTunes is unable to work with my PC in WASAPI mode, given as it is a high-end spec and less than 6 months old. My music content is also 44.1 kHz, so in theory, with an iTunes setting of 44.1 kHz, it should not need to be re-sampled with WASAPI. Anyway, I am unable to change any sound card settings to work iTunes specifically with WASAPI, so I am stuck waiting for an update too iTunes, or an explanation or solution for WAS from Apple.

I have seen the alternative download for iTunes for 'older graphics cards', which I believe will solve this as it allows DirectSound option in addition to WAS. I see it also mentioned in another reply in this thread. It begs the question as to why Apple created two versions, as if they kept both sound options in a single version, then it would enable continuity of service and avoid having two versions.

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Answer 6

Feb 1, 2015 1:12 PM in response to hhgttg27

Thanks, this fixed the audio problem I was having which was a constant stutter when I was using Chrome.

<sarcasm>I'm utterly shocked that iTunes for Windows would have playback issues given my decade-plus bug free experience with it.</sarcasm>

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Answer 7

Feb 3, 2015 11:10 AM in response to BermudaBarracuda

This alternative download link also fixed the problem for me as well. So Thanks! 🙂

I had to go back in to the settings and manually change it back to direct sound.

Running Windows 8.1 with i7 4930, 32GB Ram, and 2x GeForce 760s in SLI. Go figure that I would need a driver for "Older Video Cards".

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Answer 8

Feb 19, 2015 10:09 AM in response to BermudaBarracuda

I decided not to proceed with the "older video cards" version as there were some horror stories associated with that, and so have lived with 12.1.0.71 and without audio playback in iTunes for Windows.

Apple has just released version 12.1.1.4, which has now fixed my problem, as Direct Sound is now selectable again for me to use. So Apple have re-converged both Direct Sound and Windows Audio Session into the same version.

🙂

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