Windows Audio Reset without Reboot

The other day I noticed I had a discernable amount of crackles, pops and other audio artifacts on my GP audio. I (almost) never experience this due to my gear and setup, so when it happens it is unusual. I tried resetting the audio in GP using the panic button, but that didn’t resolve the problem. I then went and checked the Windows audio system by playing something on YouTube and noticed the same junk audio issues. I have had this happen only once before so it’s rare in my experience, but fortunately there is an easy resolution to it for the times it has happened to me.

Windows allows the user to reset the audio system without rebooting (which works too), and further, without having to exit GP or any other application I have running - at least in my experience so far. I made a short 2.5 minute video from several screenshots/images showing how to do this with the hope that someone may find it useful.

NB - there is no audio/voice over on the video. Thought I’d spare everyone the dulcet tones of my very American midwestern twang.

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txt_gone

Dumb question/clarification: This applies even if you are using an external audio interface? (I am guessing yes, but just wanted to confirm).

Maybe, just maybe, you can avoid these issues by not having Windows using the audio interface at all. That would also mean no more watching youtube movies during a performance, but hey, you can’t have it all…

Yes, I use a Focusrite Clarett+ 8Pre, and no - I don’t watch YT while playing :grinning:. Everyone is familiar with the symptoms - pops, crackling, etc - of your computer - Mac or Windows - not being able to keep up with the processing load, but the why - it’s all magic to me.

As I have pointed out though, I think it is very rare where it’s the OS at fault. To the best of my knowledge, this has happened only twice to me in the past several years. With the first episode I rebooted my computer after trying the GP panic audio reset button which didn’t solve the problem, so the second time I was wondering if it was the computer system itself and looked for a way to reset the computer audio system without rebooting.

One other thing I will mention is that the second time it happened was after a recent Windows update. I do other things than play music and am involved in early testing some aspects of these updates, so I am aware of all the caveats about … you name it. Since this is only the second time I have run across this, it might not just be rare, but vanishingly rare. In any case, I thought it might be useful to know that it is possible to reset/restart the audio subsystem without having to reboot as a troubleshooting tool.

Good information, thanks!

This makes me wonder if there is a similar no-reboot-needed path to re-recognize MIDI ports/devices. (?)

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Glad it was helpful. Windows 11 actually has an optional MIDI services console, and yes, the MIDI service can stopped, started and restarted. amoungst several other options. I will try to put another video together on this.

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… and for MIDI drivers → LINK

I’m exclusively running the PreSonus Studio 24C interface connected to my HP (Windows 11) laptop and have the Windows Audio services disabled. I haven’t encountered this issue… and hopefully won’t.

You have dedicated that computer exclusively for gigs?