MP3 audio stop/pause lags and stutters in VLC 3.0.1

[laggintoday]

I'm running the Portable Apps version of VLC 3.0.1 on a Core i7, 32GB RAM, and playing audio files off a SSD located in the same machine (the OS drive in this case). Since updating to the latest version, when playing any MP3 file, I am experiencing the following behavior:

1) After pressing 'S' or clicking the stop icon, the audio takes approximately a 1/2 second to stop. Audio playback stopped instantly in the previous version I had installed on this hardware.
2) Pressing spacebar or clicking the pause icon, it similarly takes about a 1/2 second to pause audio playback. When resuming, buffered audio plays for approximately 1/2 second, then "plays" nothing for 1/2 second, and then picks up playing audio again but the end result is missing an entire 1/2 second of playback. Audio playback of MP3 files paused and resumed flawlessly in the previous version I had installed on this hardware.

This isn't a hardware issue. Windows Media Player and Groove Music player don't have any issue with playback - they stop, pause, and resume the same audio files without any issues. This is clearly a VLC software issue.

I see that the changelog (https://www.videolan.org/developers/vlc-branch/NEWS) for 3.0.1 to 3.0.2 mentions this:

Audio filters:
* Fix audio stutter after unpausing

I assume that will fix half of the issues when a Windows build becomes available. Instant stop/pause/resume doesn't appear to be addressed yet?

[laggintoday]

Just updated to version 3.0.2 and all of the above issues still exist.

[Lotesdelere]

I'm running the Portable Apps version of VLC 3.0.1

Uninstall this third party version.
Download the official VLC from https://www.videolan.org/vlc/ , v3.0.2 as of today, the ZIP or 7Zip file.
Extract it to the folder of your choice, then create a folder named "portable" (without quotes) where VLC.exe is.
You have made a portable version of VLC, don't use third party builds.

Then perform your tests again.

[laggintoday]

"Uninstalling" and "reinstalling" the Portable App appears to have corrected the issue. Portable Apps doesn't actually install anything so there's nothing to uninstall.

I did lose my VLC settings in the process, which was slightly annoying but all is well again.

(I did test the official release, which worked fine, but I prefer the Portable Apps environment.)