Poor sound quality disrupting video calls

mb87
mb87 Member Posts: 3 New User
edited October 2023 in 2020 Archives
I have a new (4 months old) Acer SWIFT SF314-57G, i7 processor, 16 GB RAM, Windows 10 home. Since the pandemic I am making regular video calls using a variety of platforms (Skype, Zoom, Jitsi, Cisco and others). I have noticed that the sound quality is often very poor - a lot of crackling and cut-outs in the sound stream.This is true using several different locations and different wireless networks, i.e. this is not a connection issue. Recently the issues have become so severe that it is hard to follow some meetings. In addition, I notice that the computer slows dramatically concurrently with the poor sound quality. Sometimes this leads to the video call freezing or in one case, blue screen of death. The problems are the same whether I use the laptop speakers, or my own headphones. The problems persist even if I switch off the video stream. I have tried a few things - reinstalling the audio driver (via the Windows Audio Troubleshooting function), disabling Audio Enahncements, and disabling 'Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device'. I have also tried reinstalling the Audio Driver supplied on the Acer website. Does anyone else have this problem either with this model or another Acer model? I'm not sure if this is a windows 10 issue or an Acer issue?

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,870 Trailblazer
    >>>Recently the issues have become so severe that it is hard to follow some meetings. In addition, I notice that the computer slows dramatically concurrently with the poor sound quality.>>>>

    Do you have any non-Microsoft virus scanners loaded at startup. If yes, uninstall, not just disable, them. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • Does this problem also occur when you use the laptop on battery power? Also, have you tried to update the SST driver on the intel website?
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  • mb87
    mb87 Member Posts: 3 New User
    Thanks for your replies
    @egydiocoelho : The problem seems to occur on battery power and when plugged into the mains. So I don't think it's a result of lower performance on battery power. What is the SST driver? Can you explain why this might be an issue.

    @JackE : I am using Norton antivirus.What evidence should I look for that this is the problem? Presumably I would expect to see high usage of RAM/CPU by a norton-related process but I don't see anything obvious like this?

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,870 Trailblazer
    The problem is Norton is most demanding when its actively trying to filter the Skype, Zoom etc streams for bad stuff. Try uninstalling it. You can always put it back in there. Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ