Ubuntu – Audio stuttering on 18.04

pulseaudiosound

I seem to be getting some audio stuttering regardless of which source is playing on 18.04.

I've tried:

  • add options snd-hda-intel position_fix=1 to /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf
  • edit to load-module module-udev-detect tsched=1 in /etc/pulse/default.pa
  • add resample-method = src-sinc-best-quality in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

No results whatsoever. A small stutter every 4-5 seconds.

Also, I don't have a wireless card.

Edit:

The audio settings window seems like it changes quickly between 'Line Out – Built-in Audio' and 'Headphones'. Footage here

Edit:

If I connect my headphones through the front panel, the output is stable, but if I connect the same headphones through the audio output on the back, the driver seems to keep switching / disconnecting output channels like shown in the videos.

Both alsamixer and pavucontrol are working nicelly, but they both reflect the fact that output channels seems to keep disappearing for brief moments. (The same thing that happens if I actually connect headphones at the front, but only for a few milliseconds, it's noticable).

I tried disconnecting the whole front panel… thinking that the hardware might be triggering "headphone mode", but it had no effect. It was still switching to headphones for brief stutter-length moments.

Edit:
Seems related: link

Edit:
Related: Pops/Crackles on Realtek ALC892, HDA Intel PCH (ALSA
Though… that topic is closed, and like the last guy, disabling auto mute doesn't solve remove the crackling sound for me either. Does anyone know how to make sure it does? Or what "using only alsa" means?

Best Answer

This is an old issue with certain versions of the alsa driver, but disabling Auto-Mute seems to fix the most immediate problems.
Pops/Crackles on Realtek ALC892, HDA Intel PCH (ALSA)

Also in more recent distros with pulseaudio, it might be necessary to disable pulseaudio in order for the disabling of Auto-Mute to actually take effect.
How to Remove PulseAudio & use ALSA in Ubuntu Linux?

A bit scary how this issue actually digs all the way into the kernel, while still depending on pulseaudio, which in this situation we're actually totally fine without.

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