I have over 6,000 tunes that I play using iTunes. Until recently, they played almost flawlessly. However, recently, I’ve started to hear much random static in all the files. If I play the same file again, the static will occur at different spots in the music. I’ve tried reinstalling the driver but that doesn’t help. Is there any software available that can clean on-the-fly? If not, what steps can I take, if any, to help clear up this issue?
I’ve tried reinstalling the driver
You mean you reinstalled iTunes and QuickTime?
I would be looking in Windows to find out what it’s doing to your playback sound.
How long has it been doing this? There was a new iTunes about one or two weeks ago
If it’s an overload condition, you could try Boosting iTunes volume and turning down the soundcard volume control, or the other way around. If one is all the way up and the other very low, the hot one could be overloading. That may sound crunchy during high volume notes. That could have been an accidental adjustment you forgot about and the distortion just didn’t show up for several songs.
You don’t have to make changes to the sound system, Skype will be happy to make them for you. Sometimes Skype forgets to put adjustments back when it’s done.
Koz
Check in the Task Manager to see how much junk is running on your computer.
If any of your hard drives are getting full, delete some stuff to make more space. Performance is likely to suffer if there is less that 10 % free disk space on any hard drive.
Avoid running multiple audio applications at the same time - for example, if you use Skype, shut it down completely when not in use.
Check that Windows is updated and is not running demanding maintenance tasks while you are working (may not be easy on modern versions of Windows).
Check that all other running programs are up to date.