VLC 3+ audio skipping/fluttering after pause and resume

[thugo]

Same as this thread: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=142568
I also have the audio-stuttering-problem when resuming after longer pauses.

I tried:
1. Output module: Alsa
2. Disable Time-Stretching audio
3. Renaming libspatialaudio_plugin.dll

Nothing works! :-/

I use VLC Version 3.0.20 on Kubuntu 24.04.

Can anyone help please?! ... This bug is really annoying.

[amcrest]

I believe that the problem is caused by insufficient memory being restored after transfer to swap space when paused. To check memory size/usage/ availability, use the command "free" with option -g for GB, -m for MB, -k for KB. You may need to kill some memory hog programs viewable with "top" then M to sort by memory usage?

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

DO NOT force ALSA. It won't work well if you use PulseAudio or PipeWire and it won't do anything if you do use plain ALSA.

With that said, stutter on resume is a classic problem with some hardware. Only solution until VLC 4 is to wait it out.

[RasperJasputin]

Same as this thread: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=142568
I also have the audio-stuttering-problem when resuming after longer pauses.

I tried:
1. Output module: Alsa
2. Disable Time-Stretching audio
3. Renaming libspatialaudio_plugin.dll

Nothing works! :-/

I use VLC Version 3.0.20 on Kubuntu 24.04.

Can anyone help please?! ... This bug is really annoying.

I'm on Windows, so your mileage may vary, but what *finally* solved it for me was:

Changing File caching(ms) to 1000 from 300. Settings->advanced->Input/Codecs, scroll down to advanced in there and increase File caching. 1000 has worked for me without issues so I haven't had any need to try anything else. (500 might work, 750 might work... but since I don't notice any delay or issues from 1000 I haven't bothered trying anything else.)

Give it a try, since it looks like you've tried the common recommended fixes.

[thugo]

I believe that the problem is caused by insufficient memory ...

Thank you, amcrest! ... I checked, but I have 8 GB of free memory available and no swap used.

Changing File caching(ms) to 1000 from 300. Settings->advanced->Input/Codecs, scroll down to advanced in there and increase File caching.

Thank you RasperJasputin! ... I changed File caching(ms) to 1000 and even to the maximum 9999. But no success! ... What does make the problem almost go away though is setting it to 0(!). It is much better now and only 1 out of 10 tries it stutters a little bit. ... compared to before: 9 out of 10 times it did stutter really hard. ... So the bug definitely seems connected to the file cashing. ... Thank you very much for this tip. ... a huge improvement!!!

[RasperJasputin]

Thank you RasperJasputin! ... I changed File caching(ms) to 1000 and even to the maximum 9999. But no success! ... What does make the problem almost go away though is setting it to 0(!). It is much better now and only 1 out of 10 tries it stutters a little bit. ... compared to before: 9 out of 10 times it did stutter really hard. ... So the bug definitely seems connected to the file cashing. ... Thank you very much for this tip. ... a huge improvement!!!

Hey cool - glad my suggestion gave you something to try, and at least improved the situation a bit. What a wild result though, I would never have guessed it would work that way for you.