DAC popping when browsing with Opera

[JudgmentJay]

So I've got an interesting problem, and this is probably a long-shot as it's a pretty specific issue. I've got a CEntrance DACmini CX external DAC/amp (using USB input), and the playback is perfect except when I'm listening to music and browsing the web with Opera at the same time. When I'm browsing I'll get occasional pops and skips, and it's only in Opera. If I use Chrome or even IE there's no skipping. I've even tried playing music while benchmarking and there's no issue. Also, it's not related to foobar2000. I tried iTunes and had the same issue.

I could be mistaken, but it seems like the skips occur mostly when I open or close a tab. There's a bit of a CPU spike during those times, but it's nothing big... anywhere from 0~7% CPU usage.

I've tried all the typical things such as putting foobar's priority to high/real time, increased foobar's memory caching to 100+mb, increased/decreased latency on both foobar and the DAC drivers, tried using ASIO output in foobar, etc, etc. I also tried switching LAN ports as well as switching USB inputs for the DAC. So far nothing has worked. I should also note that this occurs on both the headphone output and the RCA line out.

I'm probably going to reformat tonight to see if a clean Win7 install will help things.

Like I said, it's probably a long shot, but I'm hoping someone's had a similar issue or has suggestions regarding things I could try.

Thanks!

[Nanometer]

Pops and skips could be a few possibilities, running out of bandwidth, bad drivers or maybe a poorly programmed browser.
I'm gonna just say take the easy way out and say not to use Opera. Chrome and FF are so much better anyways.

In all seriousness, I would check to make sure you have the latest drivers and versions of the programs you are using. Maybe try reinstalling Opera again and see if that makes a difference. If a google result doesn't yield anything we haven't uncovered, then I would say just to stop using Opera for the time being.

[JudgmentJay]

Well, I've been making an effort to switch over to Chrome. I know it's faster and has better image rendering, but certain aspects of its UI are deal-killers for me. I've also noticed that it causes the DAC to pop as well... just far less often. I've also noticed that if I'm downloading torrents or something that maxes out my internet bandwidth, the popping is much more frequent. Though if I'm not using a browser there is no popping... it's like the motherboard can't handle the bandwidth spikes from the browser.

I did a complete reformat, installing the latest drivers and software. I tried every USB port on my PC, including the front ports. Nothing helped. Running foobar in WASAPI out seems to help a tad. I ordered new cables from Monoprice. Not sure what I can do beyond that.

I was wondering though... would having a standalone network card help?

[Nanometer]

Maybe you are saturating your S/B chipset. I've seen issues like that especially with sound cards from the days of soundblaser sound cards on the pci bus. Those days it was hitting the bus limit, or something to that effect. I'd try a completely different computer next though. Not much else I think I would do, but there's a reason why USB sucks for anything that needs dedicated and consistent streaming. Enter in hdmi/toslink/audio jack. There is never a guarantee that your external controller card will play nicely with a system all the time.

[STEvil]

usb has latency issues. play with the polling rate in the bios and whatever other options are available..

[EniGmA1987]

If your motherboard has a PCI-E 1x slot that connects directly from the CPU's lanes to the slot then you could try a PCI-E USB card to bypass the southbridge chip for your audio. But you need to actually look and see how your PCI-E slots are connected, I think sometimes the 1x slots bridge off the SB chip.

[JudgmentJay]

After building my new PC there is no more popping/skipping, so I guess it was an issue with my old motherboard. Glad it wasn't the DAC.

[ScottALot]

Yeah it was the motherboard. I had a Gigabyte board that would cause the speakers to tick/pop once in a while, and it could be remedied by exiting uTorrent... but I cured it with an RMA.