On YouTube the audio does well on car crash channels. I think because there is little talking. If a dashcam has the sound on, it works continuously. No starts and stops. I can hear what the dashcam hears. Some of my favorite channels are "Off Road Recovery" channels. They usually work well with a few stops and starts. Most times I get sound through the whole video. I view 5 or 6 of those types of channels and they usually they work well. Channels that have "Talking Heads" are the worst. I constantly have to press the "Space Bar" to reset the sound or press the "Left or Right Arrow" keys to back up the video 5 seconds or move the video forward 5 seconds. Oh, and if I watch a "Talking Head" video before my "Off Road Recovery" channels, then all bets are off with the "Off Road Recovery" videos. Some days I just have to punch the "Space Bar" every 8 to 10 seconds to hear the audio. Irritating!
When I say "Choppy" I mean that if I'm watching a "YouTube" video and the sound stops and I do nothing, the sound will come back on within 5 minutes or less sometimes. I never really timed it. The sound will start and stop through out the video. I doesn't just stop forever. It is like a buffering issue. Whatever is wrong with my PC's audio drivers, some files types on YouTube and others seem to work better than others. I watched the last 5 episodes of Amazon's "Prime Video" of "Reacher" without a pause. I was amazed.
I had this problem the last couple of years for about a year. My computer expert friend doesn't believe me but I had a "work around" for the sound problem then. A sure fix every time. He is a professional computer and network specialist and he didn't believe me when I told him about my "work around". The "work around" was that after I started up my PC and it had completely loaded, I would play a .MP4 video that I had downloaded. It was a video of a rescued elephant in an elephant sanctuary, scratching herself on some trees that are commonly used by the elephants for that purpose. It never failed.
Then in June of last year my friend visited his father in the house that he grew up in and came over and reloaded my Window 10 Pro OS. After that my PC worked without the elephant video. Then a few months ago, I don't remember the date, it was about last Fall, I was doing maintenance on my PC. I launched the AMD/Radeon control panel and placed my mouse arrow over the "Update" button and a bubble/ information balloon appeared over the "Update" button.
It was a message from AMD/Radeon. It said that Microsoft had downloaded the wrong software in the last update and the video software was wrong. (I’m paraphrasing) The bubble also had a URL that I spent over 30 minutes trying to write down before just doing a screen shot.
The URL was an AMD/Radeon website. It advised that I should reload my GPU software because of the MS Update issue.
The video and the sound was working great since my PC expert reloaded my OS on June 30, 2022. Now a few months later I get this warning from AMD/Radeon to reinstall the GPU software.
So, I thought to myself that I should use AMD’s Uninstall tool to uninstall everything sound related and start over with a clean slate.
So, I ran the uninstaller and messed up my sound. The sound is choppy. It goes off and on. I press the space bar to get the sound to work again. Sometime just for a second and sometimes for 10 minutes. I also press the left and right arrow keys to move the video back and forth.
When my PC expert reloaded my OS in June of last year, I created a folder on C:/ drive and labeled it “X_all drivers used to reload OS”. So, I reloaded the AMD Sound, video, and game controllers’ drivers and then the AMD/Radeon Display adapter driver. But, right away, the sound was choppy. My PC expert moved to Nevada, so I don’t have him to help me.
I found a “How To” 15 minute video about solar panels on a website and played the video. Perfect sound and video.
I don’t know if the YouTube channels I have trouble with are somehow different from the channels I don’t have trouble with. Like they use different signal/file types so that the videos have different file extensions because you don’t see the file extensions on YouTube.
I even have choppy sound on dictionary.com by Farlex. You press the speaker icon and there is no telling what you will hear. Mostly bits and pieces unless you persevere.
Here is the info of my PC: Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H2, Build 19044.2846 desktop pc since last October of 2022.
The original build was in 2016. All original parts. No replacements since then.
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Professional Gaming i7. New in 2016. 1st OS 10 installed in 2016. OS reloaded 3 or 4 times. Last reload on June 30, 2022.
Processor: Intel Core i7-6850K. 6 cores
Corsair 1200-Watt Premium Power Supply
Memory: 32 GB of DDR4 Ram. 4 - 8 GB RAM Sticks
C:// drive is a Samsung SSD 960 PRO 512GB Used Space = 118 GB / Free Space 358 GB
Video Card: Radeon RX-480
AMD-Software-Adrenalin-Edition-23.4.3-MinimalSetup-230427_web
Stereo sound through a Samsung TV’s stereo speakers.
I’m thinking about just reloading the OS. The MS Media Creation Tool has 22H2 on it. So, I’m thinking about just reloading the OS and hope for the best. 22H2 wasn’t there last June. That way I’ll have all of the software Versions.
I have the video driver from the ASRock MB website, but I think I’m missing a sound driver.
If anyone has an easier way to correct my sound issue, I’m all ears.
I ran a “Playing Audio” troubleshooter on the sound system. The “Problem Found” was a “Generic Audio Driver” “Detected” with a yellow triangle sign with a black exclamation point in the center.
I opened “Device Manager”, clicked on “Sound, video and game controllers”. Then I clicked on the “View” drop down menu and clicked “Show hidden devices”. Well sir, six faded grayed speaker cones appeared with “Microsoft” on the label, etc. of each one.
AMD High Definition Audio Device (Solid Gray)
AMD Streaming Audio Device (Solid Gray)
Microsoft Streaming Clock Proxy (Faded Gray)
Microsoft Streaming Quality Manager Proxy (Faded Gray)
Microsoft Streaming Service Proxy (Faded Gray)
Microsoft Streaming Tea/Sink-to-Sink Converter (Faded Gray) #1 Same driver in both
Microsoft Streaming Tea/Sink-to-Sink Converter (Faded Gray) #2 Same driver in both
Microsoft Trusted Audio Drivers (Faded Gray)
Realtek High Definition Audio (Solid Gray)
End of trying to show all drivers under “Sound, video and game controllers. Returning to text.
So, I’m thinking that the sound is using a Faded Out Microsoft driver. At least that is what the troubleshooter is saying I think.
I can send follow up .png files of screen shots of Device Manager. And anything else that is requested.
I can also, one by one, make screen shots of each driver’s Properties. You would see the Provider, date, version, signer, and name.
If I disabled and deleted the 6 Microsoft Faded Gray drivers, would the PC then be forced to use the AMD and Realtek sound Drivers?
That’s all I got. I hope this will fit. It did! 2:30AM PST- I can go to bed.
Welcome to Microsoft Community.
I read your thread in its entirety.
It seems to me that your question may have something to do with two things.
First, the browser you use.
If the audio problem only occurs when you visit YouTube and play the video, I can equate that to saying that it seems like the problem only occurs when you play the Web video, right? Could you tell me which browser you are using? If it's convenient, you might try switching to a different browser and visiting the same website and playing the same video.
Second, the device's audio driver.
You'll notice that some drivers have a yellow exclamation mark under "Sound, Video and Game controllers," which indicates that the current driver is faulty. You can send me the screenshot here to confirm which driver is faulty.
It might be useful to try right-clicking on the appropriate driver and selecting Update driver, but the most appropriate way to do this is to go to the manufacturer's website and get a fully adapted audio driver for this device and install it.
If it is convenient for you, you can also provide me with the diagnostic results of the audio troubleshooter for confirmation.
Best regards,
Mitchell - | Microsoft community support expert from MSFT
Hi Mitchell. Thanks for taking notice and helping. Regarding the browser, I followed your advice and used Chrome on YouTube. I usually use Firefox. I sign into YouTube using Firefox. So, YouTube throws the channels I subscribe to at me. So, I know which channels start chopping the fastest. 1st I used Chrome without signing in and YouTube threw channels at me that I don't usually view. But, the videos on three channels started chopping up after several minutes. So, yes, it is not just Firefox.
When my expert friend reloaded my OS last June, I asked him to create a folder on the desktop and move every driver he installed on my PC into that folder. As an expert, he knows where to get the latest updated drivers. My PC was bought and built in 2016. ASRock doesn't do a lot of updating drivers as far as I can see. Since I broke it when I used the uninstall tool, I have tried to use every combination of AMD and Realtek drivers that were in that folder to reinstall my sound. It works but off and on.
So you want me to "Troubleshoot" the Device Manger "Item" of "Sound, video and game controllers".
How do I send you those .PNG screenshot files. I have already taken screenshots of the diagnostic results. I just don't know how to attach them to this document.
By the way, I know what you mean regarding the "Yellow" exclamation mark in Device Manager. I am painfully familiar with that. My expert friend drilled that into me.
There are no "Yellow" exclamation marks on any of the "Sound, video and game controllers" "Drivers? What is the Microsoft term for those things on device manager? These are the Drivers that are NOT faded.
And there are no 'Yellow" Items/flags in any Device Manager item. The only thing out of the ordinary is the Gray faded "Drivers" whose Driver's first name is "Microsoft" that I found how to display by searching for help on the internet. I found a website that advised me to open the "Sound, video and game controllers" item or whatever those Tabs (?) are called. Right click on "Properties" and then go to the menu bar and click the view tab and then click on show hidden devices. That is how I found those gray faded "devices" or whatever you call them.
Before I did anything I searched the internet until I found that website and discovered different "Drivers" than there is now. And found different ones yet again while I was trying different AMD/Realtek Drivers. All faded gray.
Does faded gray means that it is not in use?
And the Troubleshooter saying the problem is the "Generic Audio Driver". I'm thinking generic means Microsoft. As opposed to AMD/Radeon/ or Realtec.
I hate to guess about that kind of thing but there is nothing on the internet saying what it means. I'm just guessing. Along with everyone else.
A couple of those Microsoft driver names I find are very unusual. For Instance, "Microsoft streaming tee/sink-to-sink Converter". There are two of those. That can't be right.
I just read that website that I mentioned earlier.
https://repairit.wondershare.com/audio-repair/fix-generic-audio-driver-detected-on-windows.html
It told me to look at the "Sound" dialog box that you get to by right clicking on the "Speaker" icon next to the date and time on the taskbar. That opens a dialog box. Put your mouse arrow on "Speaker Setup (Stereo)." That opens another dialog box that you should slide you mouse arrow onto "Advanced Setup" and left click that. The "Sound" dialog box opens.
Mine has FIVE duplicated icons that are faded gray and have a RED arrow facing down on them. That is not right. Never had that many before. I think I have seen one. But not 5 of the same icons called "Digital Output" "AMD High Definition Audio Device" "Not plugged in"
And something else is strange and off. I have at the top of the list "Samsung" "AMD High Definition Audio Device" "Default Device" with green check mark. Fully present. Not faded.
Below that icon are the five "Digital Output" "AMD High Definition Audio Device" "Not plugged in" ALL FADED GRAY with the red arrows facing down icons.
Below that is the "Speakers" "Realtec High definition Audio" "DEFAULT COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE"
with a fully present, not faded ICON with a green telephone handset on it. And to the right I see blue bars the indicate the presence of sound working.
The Samsung icon has the Blue bars to the right of that icon as well. In fact I think the blue sound bars are brighter on the "Realtec High Definition Audio" "Communications" icon than on the Samsung "AMD High Definition Audio" icon that is my Samsung TV Speakers that I hear the sound from. But it is almost 3AM and I'm tired.
I am going to "Disable" that bottom "Communications" icon and restart my PC to see what happens. So I have to finish this or lose it. I hope to "hear" back from you soon.
Hi Ted,
If you want to add an image here, the easiest thing to do is to use the Windows Screenshot tool, which you can search for in the taskbar (or use the key combination Windows+Shift+S to take a screenshot directly) and then Ctrl+V to paste it into the reply box.
When you see the following screenshot, it means that the screenshot is uploaded
Best regards,
Mitchell - | Microsoft community support expert from MSFT
