VERSION: Windows Vista on Dell Studio 1535 with Audacity 2.0.5 installed by .exe
PROBLEM: I have used Audacity for years and never encountered anything like this. Very occasionally there would perhaps be a ‘click’ or glitch owing to some background process, but this is of a different order and magnitude entirely.
The DETAILS: Since yesterday, playback in Audacity of recorded files, all previously fine, have begun to crackle/click/pop every second or so, persistently and yet sort of randomly. This does not appear to be related to any specific files but to a bug or conflict within Audacity. Files on which I had done some USB interface recordings two days ago and files that had not been altered - all files seem to be affected throughout the whole track. So, again there appears to be an underlying issue.
Having read many other forums on similar crackle/pop issues, including recent Aug 31 posts, I have uninstalled and reinstalled 2.0.3, to no effect, then uninstalled and reinstalled 2.0.5 but with no effect either. I have adjusted various “Quality” settings as suggested as well and this has made no difference either. I deactivated Avast to no avail. I uninstalled the only recent updates on my computer (Adobe Flash and Active X from two days ago) but likewise to no avail.
NO matter what I do, the files still crackle, and when I export as WAV they crackle as well. I’ve posted a short WAV sample. Oh, man, I really hope there is a solution to this because I have a year’s worth of recording and mixing and editing on here! Help!