Windows 10: Bizarre sound issues after windows/Dolby update

Ok, so after googling sound issues, I know someone must have knowledge of this. But it's a little strange, and I have a partial workaround but it's really not correct/ideal.



TL;DR - after a windows 10 update and installing Dolby app to try and get Dolby audio to pass to my external DAC/speakers. ALL audio is being sent as if someone is flicking a sound 'light switch' to OFF and then back ON, every other second, basically cutting off every other word someone says. Extremely bizarre behavior.

Setup to understand:

PC - RTX 2070 to TV via HDMI - TV to SB X7 via optical out - SB X7 out to L/R passive speakers.

PC is Windows 10, Ryzen 2600x, asus Prime X470 pro using onboard realtek audio. (the external Soundblaster X7 is basically acting as a DAC/AMP combo, passing the audio that comes from the optical out on the TV. There is no secondary sound card. Remember everything was fine a week ago...

A few days ago I let Windows 10 do some self updates. I also installed the Windows Dolby Atmos app thing (not the headphone one) because I got a new TV/monitor for my PC, and noticed that my external SoundBlaster X7 (with built in Dolby Digital decoder) is not picking up any Dolby source material when/if it exists. (still is passing audio, just not triggering/decoding the DD audio, which has a light illuminate on the sound blaster) Notice that the old TV did trigger Dolby output. Both TV's are setup exactly the same path and setting as was before.



So here's where it gets weird. After updating windows and installing the Dolby app there is some bizarre windows conflict happening. Basically sound is getting cut off every other second on ALL sound ALL the time, regardless of source! It is driving me crazy! This makes listening to music, watching youtube, playing games like audible torture. It's almost like when you have a bad connection on a phone and every other word someone says is cut off. There must be some way to fix this because it was fine before. This is ONLY happening through Windows 10. I also have a PS4 using audio via the same optical out - X7 and it is perfectly fine, and triggers Dolby light on the X7.

I've checked this like Windows power management and it's set to 100%. That's not it. There is something that is constantly pinging/blocking/(restarting?) the audio signal processing in windows every second. Sound timing is accurate during every other second when it is audible. It is NOT lagging at all or slowing down. (I can have that occur briefly when watching youtube and opening new web pages and such, I understand the difference) It's almost like a metronome running and every other tick silences the audio, and on the other tick enables the audio. It literally is like that..."On..Off..On..Off", until the source audio stops.

Partial workaround: So the ONLY thing I have found that COMPLETELY stops this from happening, is going to windows sound properties and opening properties to the TV in the list. This shows me tabs such as 'General/supported Formats/Levels/Enhancements/Advanced/Spatial Sound"

Now if I go to Spatial Sound and change it from "Off" to "Dolby Atmos for Home Theater", then this weird audio lag completely stops...HOWEVER it brings with it two other issues that did not exist before.

Atmos issue #1: So now when any audio is to be heard, there is an extremely loud 'BRRRP' pop/crack sound basically the first millisecond of when sound should be heard, and the rest of the sound is passed normally. The Dolby light illuminates on the X7 at this time. All other sound is fine and if playing a game with constant music/sound and such, this BRRRP sound is never heard again....EXCEPT when something is paused or the audio track ends, a few seconds later the Dolby light turns off and then the issue repeats as such: (Bad simile but idk how else to explain) Like Windows has blocked the audio 'tunnel' thinking there is no more traffic, and put a gate down, and the next source of audio that shows up crashes through that gate, destroying the lead car of sound, while the rest continue on uninterrupted.

Atmos issue#2: The other issue introduced is no matter what options I select in the Windows speaker setup, it REFUSES to try and use only two channels (L/R) for audio. I set it for L/R speakers and when testing the windows 'ding da dong...dong da ding' audio test sound, it ALWAYS tries to check every possible Atmos speaker that does not exist (like 10 of them) no that I only have L/R marked/enabled. So I am not getting audio mapped correctly technically.

Please let me know any recommendations for how to solve this. I have not come across an exact user who has this issue, but still sounds very similar to windows/realtek audio bugs/issues in general.

Thanks so much for any support!

submitted by /u/Bonovox400
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:)

 

Dolby Atmos

We would like to confirm if you have check if you Dolby Atmos can be dectect by your computer?

We suggest that you check if its being detected by following these steps:

• At the bottom right side of your screen, where the Time and date can also be located, look for the
  sound icon.
• Right click on the sound icon, a smaill window will pop up with the Sound
  menus.
• Click on the Playback Devices.
• The Sound window will appear with the Playback
  tab.
• Look for Dolby Atmos to make sure that it is properly installed.

If its not on the list in Playback Devices, kindly check if its listed in Device Manager by:

• From the Start menu, type in Device Manager, then
  Enter.
• Then click the Sound, video and game controllers driver.
• Look for Dolby Atmos, then right click on it, then click
  Unintall.
• Once done, remove your Dolby Atmos device and restart you computer.
  

After your computer has restarted and your are in the Desktop screen of your computer, connect your Dolby Atmos device. It should automatically be installed in your computer by giving you prompts. Once successfully installed, kindly check if it is detected
now by you computer in Playback Devices.

We'll be waiting for your update.

 

dolby issue

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

It's unfortunate that you are facing this issue. Let me assist you with this.

Share this information to assist you better.

• Have you made any recent changes prior to this issue?

This issue may occur due to corrupt audio drivers or settings.

I would suggest you to run playing audio troubleshooter and check if it helps. Please follow these steps:

a. Type troubleshooting in the search box on taskbar.

b. Click troubleshooting in the search results.

c. Click "View all" and then click "Playing Audio".

d. Click "Next" and follow on-screen instructions.

Please also run hardware and devices troubleshooter. Please follow these steps:

a. Type troubleshooting in the search box on taskbar.

b. Click troubleshooting in the search results.

c. Click "View all" and then click "Hardware and Devices".

d. Click "Next" and follow on-screen instructions.

If the issue persist, follow the steps below.

This might have also caused due to any compatibility issues with the Dolby Audio drivers. I suggest you to try installing the drivers in compatibility mode and check if the issue persists. This is to check if this is caused due to any compatibility issues.

Refer to the following Windows 8.1 article to install the Dolby Audio drivers in compatibility mode. The steps apply to Windows 10 as well.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/older-programs-compatible-version-windows

Hope this helps, keep us updated.

 

Clicking sound while using Dolby Atmos surround in headphones.

Hi Remy,

It is possible that your experiencing problems with your Dolby Atmos speaker setup due to corrupted or outdated drivers. To efficiently assist you, we'd like to gather more information:

• Have you made any recent changes prior to this issue?
• Have you tried updating your drivers?
• Which build and version of Windows 10 is installed on your computer?

Meanwhile, we suggest that you follow the steps in this article on how you can run sound troubleshooter. It will let you automatically
diagnose sound problems and provide you a remedy.

Let us know if you need further assistance.