FLAC Playback Stuttering

[pirivan]

TV-Server Version: N/A Don't Use
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.3.0
MediaPortal Skin: Monochrome
Windows Version: XP SP2
CPU Type: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3.2GHz
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB
Memory: OCZ S.O.E 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Motherboard: MSI K9N Platinum AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP
Motherboard Chipset: MSI nForce 570 Ultra MCP
Motherboard Bios: AMI 2.59
Video Card: EVGA 7900GT
Video Card Driver: 163.75
Sound Card: Onboard Realtek ALC883
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver: 5.10.0.5296
1. TV Card:
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card:
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card:
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card:
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec: MPV Decoder Filter
MPEG2 Audio Codec: ffdshow audio decoder
Satelite/CableTV Provider:
HTPC Case: Silverstone LC20-B
Cooling:
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12-430 ATX12V 430W
Remote:
TV: Sony Trinitron 27" SDTV
TV - HTPC Connection: S-Video

Well, I've tried just about everything I can think of and I'm pretty much out of ideas. For some reason FLAC files 'skip' while being played back in MediaPortal. I have read other threads about music 'skipping' but almost all of those are referencing MP3's and don't seem to be resolved. I have found that MP3 encoded files of the FLAC files that 'skip' work fine. The skipping only occurs when playing back FLAC files. If you want a description of what I mean by 'skipping' it can best be described as if the singer was saying the word "realize" when it skips it sounds like "reali li lize" or if he said the word "down" it would sound like "dow dow down ". These don't seem to correlate to any behavior on my part that I can reproduce to get it to occur; it just happens randomly while playing FLAC files.

Increasing the buffer size, turning off visualizations, minimizing Media Portal during playback; none of these seem to help. Based on my system specs ( I recently added a new CPU) I also should have no problem playing back these files, so it's not a question of 'power' either. The CPU utilization doesn't go up at all during these 'skips', it stays at around 4%.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Let me know if troubleshooting requires any additional information; I tried to include as much as possible. So far forum searching and reading the wiki hasn't generated any ideas so I welcome any suggestions!

[hwahrmann]

can you upload one of such files to a free file hoster and PM me the link?

the log doesn't say too much.
just saw tht you are having that on a Realtek HD driver.
Did you update to latest version?
i had that on my notebook under Vista, with some crappy Sigmatel HD drivers.
After updating them, th sound is much beter.

Another thing to try, if configure for example Winamp as external player for flac files and tryx playing them usng the winamp plugin.

[pirivan]

First let me say thanks for response hwahrmann! So far I have indeed updated the driver to the latest version; no luck with that.

As well I have played the files in winamp/VLC without any playback issues that I hear when playing them from within Media Portal. I really don't believe it is the files themselves as it doesn't exhibit the problems at any particular point in the song. I could play a song in media portal and it would 'skip' at 1:30 the first time through and then not when trying it again.