Video driver clicks, etc?

[HOOK]

It has been a long time since I setup Cakewalk with a new computer and a new interface.  I had a MOTU 24i/o running for the last say...15 years.  That's how long it has been.

Knowing better, perhaps, I decided to try the onboard video that comes on the i7 12700k with this Asus board.

I'm getting smallish clicks and disturbances when I start playback sometimes.  But this seems pretty prevalent when I stop playback and click the mouse in various places on the screen.  My gut is telling the this is what happens when Cakewalk doesn't like a video driver.

Does that seem right?  Am I barking up the wrong tree by trying this onboard video?

Suggestions?

Thanks.

[msmcleod]

The fact that it does it when playback is stopped / clicking around the screen leads me to think it's more likely to be a hardware/electrical interference / audio ground issue.

I get this when using my onboard audio interface (I've always used the onboard graphics on an intel board). I solved it by using an audio isolating transformer between the audio output and my monitors:

However, I've never heard of this issue using an external audio interface (I'm assuming your interface is an external and not a PCI based one?) ... so maybe it's something else.

BTW - the isolation transformers do a great job, but I find they only last 3 - 5 years or so... not a huge issue as they're only around $10, but something to bear in mind.

[HOOK]

Thanks.  I forgot to mention one important thing.  This audio disturbance is after playback is paused, but reverb and echo tails are still finishing off.  Long reverb...long delay....or long  cymbal wash from vst drums.  It's not a deal breaker...it's just really annoying.  Higher buffer settings doesn't fix this issue.  Once these audible tails are gone, the issue is gone.

As far as the interface goes, it's external.  The Lynx Aurora (n) on a Thunderboltex 4 add on card.  My understanding is that this is basically PCIe, so maybe you consider that internal.  I had the UA Apollo x6 up and running on this same Thunderbolt card for about 3 weeks and didn't have this issue,  and I put at least 12 hours on it tracking and mixing.  I mean...I got blue-screens when I changed buffer and sampling settings, but I didn't have this particular issue while tracking or mixing.

I'm also trying out the RME UFX II USB, which is supposed to show up today.  So I'm curious to see if it also has this issue.

I updated to the latest video driver last night but that didn't help.  The Thunderboltex 4 card also has video ports on it, but I don't have those jumpered to the board or plugged into video monitors.

Basically, I'm probably being lazy.  I still have the old video card that worked great with my now-dead MOTU 24i/o.  That would be the final move to attempt a fix for this issue.