Stuttering / skipping audio playback

[clem]

Expected behavior: Mediamonkey is capable of playing back media smoothly
Actual behavior: Mediamonkey skips / hisses / stutters / garbles audio with regular audio playback

MM: latest version as of writing
PC specs: Windows 10, i7-6700, 16GB memory, bunch of hdd's, FiiO USB DAC E-10 for headphone output

What have I tried:
- fresh install of MM
- make sure no media scanning by MM is taking place (not that that should make a difference...)
- rewind a few secs after the stutter / skip => no repeat of skip (i.e. verified it is not the audio file)
- different output plugins MM DirectSound output or waveOut output v2.0.2a or WASAPI do not make a difference, also tried with different buffering values
- No other software on this pc (spotify, VLC, youtube in browser etc.) skips / hisses / stutters during playback of same audio files
- no problem when streaming from this PC to other devices

More detailed description:
- During the skip / stutter there is not silence, it is more like sound is garbled for fraction of a second ( sometimes last few samples seem to be repeated?)
- happens every few second. Not regular, I'm guessing interval is random between 2-20 seconds? Enough to drive me up the wall while trying to listen through MM (which I'd really like to start using again, after calculating what I'd spend on Spotify if using that for the rest of my life).

Thank you

[Lowlander]

Although you did some of it see: https://www.mediamonkey.com/support/ind ... -corrupted

[clem]

Although you did some of it see: https://www.mediamonkey.com/support/ind ... -corrupted

Misconfiguration:

• Done: The player's volume is set to zero. Verify that the MediaMonkey volume slider is set correctly (if you don't see the player, click View > Player). If the Player doesn't feature a volume slider right click on the Done: MediaMonkey tray icon in the Windows Taskbar tray (next to clock) and select Volume > 100%.
  Checked: The system volume is set to 0. To fix that Right click on Speaker Icon (next to clock in task bar) -> Open Volume Mixer -> Adjust volume of MediaMonkey.
  Checked: A physical volume control is set to 0.
  Checked: The headphone or speakers are disconnected.
  Checked: The Player has been set to output to a different device (e.g. a UPnP player) that is set to low volume or is unavailable. To fix change the output device (Tools > Options > Player).

A problem with the output plug-in. This can be related to underlying audio drivers and how the interact with your system. To fix this:

• Not applicable but done nonetheless: If you recently performed an upgrade to your audio drivers, you may need to re-register them in MediaMonkey. In MediaMonkey, right-click on the Player and select 'Configure Current output plugin'. In the sound card list select your audio card drivers again. Accept the changes and restart MM.
  Done and restarted MM after every switch: Try switching output plug-ins. Go to Tools | Options | Player | Output Plug-ins and change from WASAPI to DirectSound/WaveOut output or way around from DirectSound/WaveOut to WASAPI.
  If the DirectSound plugin yields static, you can try reconfiguring it. Go to Tools | Options | Player | Output Plug-ins, select the DirectSound plugin and click Configure. On the device tab, try either:
  Done: Disabling hardware acceleration
  Done: Switching from 'Primary Sound Driver' to another device.
  Done: If the WASAPI plugin yields static or clicks, try alternative configurations.
  If the above doesn't work, you can try a number of alternative output plugins:
  N/A (no output plugins) SQRSoft: http://www.sqrsoft.com.ar/downloads/ correct link = http://sqrsoft.com.ar/downloads.html
  404: Kernel Streaming: http://www.stevenmonks.pwp.blueyonder.c ... lugin.html
  Cant select my soundcard: ASIO: http://www.mediamonkey.com/support/inde ... le/View/59
  Not applicable: If you experience playback distortion for files purchased from Amazon you'll need to Analyze their Volume again as the Volume values may be incorrect. Use Tools > Analyze Volume on affected files. Make sure Only analyze files with unknown Leveling Adjustment is disabled under Tools > Options > Volume Leveling.

All done, still skipping / stuttering / distorting / garbled playback every x seconds.