Windows 10: DirectX kernel drivers causing audio crackling ISR/DPC lag

My hardware:

i7 8700K no overclock other than whatever boosting the MoBo might do
Asus Z370 Prime A
16 GB 2666 Mhz DDR4
2070 Super
BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 750 W
Windows 10 Pro N 64 bit ofc runs off of an NVMe SSD, I have a few more SATA SSDs but no HDDs on this PC
------------

I have now spent roughly 10 hours trying to figure this out. Instead of describing all I did in a wall of text, I'll just explain the issue and try whatever suggestions I receive.

The issue started around last Friday but I'm not 100% sure exactly when, because it's not always there, there are periods when I don't get audio issues.

I have very severe audio crackling/popping. It is not an issue with the audio hardware, or any hardware I have tried my audio gear on a different PC with no issues, and I booted off of an Ubuntu flash drive in the affected PC and the audio was fine, therefore the hardware is not the issue.

I found out via LatencyMon that I have tremendously high ISR and DPC latencies with DirectX and Nvidia kernel drivers LatencyMon report at the bottom, and it seems that's the source of the issue.

The main things I have tried are:

- updating the motherboard bios to the latest version
- turning off CPU C-states in the bios settings
- turning off the "High precision event timer" device in Windows device manager couldn't find any setting for HPET in bios
- setting the power management in windows to "High performance"
- setting the power management in Nvidia control panel to "maximum performance"
- doing a fresh Windows 10 installation already on version 2004
- setting the RAM speed to base values turning off XMP since this didn't work I went back to using XMP
- turning off Windows "Game Mode"
- turning off Windows "Game DVR"
- removing NVIDIA drivers with DDU and installing an older version of the drivers 456.71, from December 2020 since this didn't work I went back to the latest drivers


Intel Driver and Support Assistant reports there are no missing or outdated drivers on my system.


Nothing fixed the issue. I suspect this might have something to do with the DirectX kernel since that's the one thing I have not been able to individually roll back or change?

I am losing my mind. Please help.


Here's the LatencyMon data:

Screenshot


Text Report

:)

 

DPC Latency Issue - Random audio popping/crackling

I have been having audio popping/crackling for a few months now. I also get random 3-10 second intervals of pure white noise/static come out of nowhere when watching a video or listening
to music.

I'm not sure how to fix it.

I've tried:

• 
  
  Running memtest(no problems)
  
  Resetting my cpu overclock
  
  Reinstalling audio drivers, updating mobo
  
  Turning off fast startup
  
  Changing/reverting audio formats
  
  Updating graphics driver
  
  and possibly a few others I don't remember.
  

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Pics of Latencymon:







_____________________________________________________________________

The Latencymon Log:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONCLUSION

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Your system seems to be having difficulty handling real-time audio and other tasks. You may experience drop outs, clicks or pops due to buffer underruns. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver
running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.

LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:17:47 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SYSTEM INFORMATION

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Computer name: SHAAN

OS version: Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 16299 (x64)

Hardware: MS-7A11, MSI, Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X (MS-7A11)

CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6600K CPU @ 3.50GHz

Logical processors: 4

Processor groups: 1

RAM: 16344 MB total

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CPU SPEED

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reported CPU speed: 3504 MHz

Measured CPU speed: 1 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility
which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes
the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 760.402271

Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 2.408340

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 758.941083

Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 0.908718

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REPORTED ISRs

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 152.708333

Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.397360

Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.426395

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 1697693

ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0

ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0

ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0

ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0

ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REPORTED DPCs

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 1493.638699

Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.370589

Driver with highest DPC total execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.955813

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 13269454

DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0

DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 337

DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 24

DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0

DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires
reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

Process with highest pagefault count: none

Total number of hard pagefaults 0

Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 0

Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 0.0

Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.0

Number of processes hit: 0

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PER CPU DATA

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 67.692004

CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 152.708333

CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 17.89080

CPU 0 ISR count: 1593621

CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1493.638699

CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 31.076181

CPU 0 DPC count: 9917883

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 15.246016

CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 105.669521

CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.311294

CPU 1 ISR count: 100636

CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 339.543379

CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 8.243974

CPU 1 DPC count: 2894304

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.443245

CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 9.460046

CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.003366

CPU 2 ISR count: 3436

CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 100.865297

CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.713309

CPU 2 DPC count: 232278

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.146945

CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0

CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0

CPU 3 ISR count: 0

CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 112.364726

CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.776172

CPU 3 DPC count: 225350

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

High DPC/ ISR Latency

Hello community,

So by way of background, for a while now I have experienced issues regarding audio crackles and pops. This primarily occurs when using Cubase 9.5 but also exists outside of the software too, occasionally. After searching for solutions, I came across LatencyMon
and decided to start testing (the results of which can be found below). I should add that when trying it for the past few days, I have noticed that the 'Highest measured interrupt to process latency' changes between HDAudBus.sys and Wdf01000.sys.

Steps I have taken so far:

1) The first thing I did was simply to plug out all of the USB devices that were inserted in my computer one by one. One potentially notable piece of information is that I switched audio interface very recently - from the Focusrite 2i2 to the Audient iD4.
However, I experienced these issues with my last audio interface too. This step produced no differences.

2) I then, through device manager, disabled a huge variety of drivers one by one to see if there was a particular driver causing the issue. This primarily included network, audio and USB drivers. This step produced no differences.

3) Following this I downloaded Driver Booster and tried to update all outdated drives, of which there were many. This step produced no differences.

Pretty sure there were a few other minor things I have tried too such as disabling WiFi, antivirus and more. All produced no result.

More than happy to provide more details if necessary. Any help is greatly appreciated.

LatencyMon:

Code:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________CONCLUSION_________________________________________________________________________________________________________Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in
 your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates. LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for  0:04:26  (h:mm:ss) on all processors._________________________________________________________________________________________________________SYSTEM INFORMATION_________________________________________________________________________________________________________Computer name:                                        DESKTOP-9TGICJAOS version:                                           Windows 10 , 10.0, build: 17134 (x64)Hardware:                                             N552VX, ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.CPU:                                                  GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300HQ CPU @ 2.30GHzLogical processors:                                   4Processor groups:                                     1RAM:                                                  12156 MB total_________________________________________________________________________________________________________CPU SPEED_________________________________________________________________________________________________________Reported CPU speed:                                   2304 MHzNote: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results._________________________________________________________________________________________________________MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES_________________________________________________________________________________________________________The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution
 of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   2250.220222Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   5.684522Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       2190.220275Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       2.232872_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED ISRs_________________________________________________________________________________________________________Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.Highest ISR routine execution time (µs):              149.830729Driver with highest ISR routine execution time:       HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft CorporationHighest reported total ISR routine time (%):          0.021921Driver with highest ISR total time:                   Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft CorporationTotal time spent in ISRs (%)                          0.023631ISR count (execution time <250 µs):                   82832ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs):                0ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              0ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs):              0ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0_________________________________________________________________________________________________________REPORTED DPCs_________________________________________________________________________________________________________DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.Highest DPC routine execution time (µs):              1638.547743Driver with highest DPC routine execution time:       Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft CorporationHighest reported total DPC routine time (%):          0.562742Driver with highest DPC total execution time:         Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft CorporationTotal time spent in DPCs (%)                          0.710236DPC count (execution time <250 µs):                   944181DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs):                162DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs):              4DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs):              0DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS_________________________________________________________________________________________________________Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from
 disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were
 hit.Process with highest pagefault count:                 winword.exeTotal number of hard pagefaults                       643Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process:          323Number of processes hit:                              18_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PER CPU DATA_________________________________________________________________________________________________________CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       17.051465CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs):                149.830729CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.251434CPU 0 ISR count:                                      82832CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs):                1638.547743CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s):                   7.498538CPU 0 DPC count:                                      938734_________________________________________________________________________________________________________CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       6.104686CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0CPU 1 ISR count:                                      0CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs):                227.875868CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.026960CPU 1 DPC count:                                      2310_________________________________________________________________________________________________________CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       5.310433CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0CPU 2 ISR count:                                      0CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs):                203.476563CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.009951CPU 2 DPC count:                                      1081_________________________________________________________________________________________________________CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       5.152465CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0CPU 3 ISR count:                                      0CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs):                279.683160CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.021462CPU 3 DPC count:                                      2222_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Audio Crackling/Video Lag

Hi,

I have had terrible audio crackling, and cutting out the last two days, as well as video lag whenever the sound cuts out.

I believe the problem is ndsi.sys and wdf01000.sys causing massive DPC latency.

All help would be appreciated.

Thanks.