Muffled audio/poor quality - anyone else?

[albo]

Hi Folks,

I have a relatively-well-updated system, and haven't noticed this issue before, but not sure it wasn't there before. So, every now and again, I'll start getting muffled audio which goes in and out. It's tough to describe, but it's horribly frustrating. It happens with all audio sources: VLC player, mediamonkey, Flash (pandora), etc. It's an intermittent problem, though once it starts it usually stays (though it does sometimes go away). It sometimes seems to happen when the song or audio is in a low-volume part of the track - like it's dropping out or something. I can't reproduce it with any particular action, and while it sometimes seems to happen with heavy disk use, it also happens without disk use. DPC latency doesn't seem to correspond with the poor audio, nor does CPU use.

Has anyone else run into this issue? Any suggestions for tackling it?

thanks,
allie

T400 2764-CTO
Windows 7 Professional x64
Conexant audio driver version 4.92.12.0
HD Audio API 1.0.43.0
SmartAudio 6.0.62.0
6 GB RAM

[truk]

Is this only with the laptop speakers, or do headphones and speakers plugged into the jack do it too?

[albo]

good question - i've only noticed it with headphones, but it could be happening with the speakers too - just that i don't notice it.

[truk]

If it's just headphones, I'd try a different pair. They do that when the cord gets worn.

[albo]

thanks for the reply. it's not just the headphones - it happens on different pairs.

[Mutnat]

Did you try what I suggested over on Lenovo Forum and tinker with your SmartAudio control panel to turn off the speaker noise reduction?