Skipping in playback

[kuraiza]

I just bought a new computer that is significantly more powerful than my old laptop and I'm using the beta version of audacity, as I also used on my old laptop. My new computer has 2gb RAM, 160Gb hdd and I'm running vista (if that matters). I'm listening (and recording) through a USB headset (if that also makes any difference).

I'm editing existing audacity projects that I recorded on my laptop. I'm having trouble because audacity keeps skipping through playback. The skips are not errors in the recording, but I have to listen twice every time I hear one to make sure it's not a recording error which makes editing verrrrry slow.

The skips occur mostly when the soundline scrolls to the next "screen", but I have noticed it happening in the middle of a "screen" also.

Can anyone recommend any setting changes that will prevent playback skipping?

Btw: I've tested out recording in audacity on the new computer, and I haven't (yet) experienced any skipping during recording, the problem appears to be in playback only.

[steve]

I'm running vista (if that matters). I'm listening (and recording) through a USB headset (if that also makes any difference).

Yes they both make a difference. The audio system in Vista imposes various problems which are not there in XP. Vista also requires a huge amount more RAM, CPU, hard disk space... just to run - in comparison, XP is much lighter, leaner and audio processing friendly.

USB audio devices are generally much slower and less flexible that PCI audio devices (regular sound cards). With a regular sound card, you could just bump up the audio buffers a bit (Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O) to smooth out playback, but I'm not sure if this will have any effect with your USB device.