Popular OS like Win, OSX and Linux are multi-tasking.
As a consequence some job might hog the system like a anti-virus polling the internet at high priority.
Inherent to multi-tasking is that delivering the data might be delayed.
In case of a e.g. a print job this is not a problem. The printer simply waits.
In case of audio it is pop, crackle, static, etc.
To find out what is causing the problem is not easy but there are a couple of tools helping you to find out (sorry, I known them for Win only).
Windows Resource Monitor
Win 7 Resource monitor is an excellent tool to watch system activity.
Look for processes peaking, excessive I/O on the HD, network traffic, etc.
DPC Latency Checker
DPC Latency Checker is a Windows tool that analyses the capabilities of a computer system to handle real-time data streams properly. It may help to find the cause for interruptions in real-time audio and video streams, also known as drop-outs.
As a consequence some job might hog the system like a anti-virus polling the internet at high priority.
Inherent to multi-tasking is that delivering the data might be delayed.
In case of a e.g. a print job this is not a problem. The printer simply waits.
In case of audio it is pop, crackle, static, etc.
To find out what is causing the problem is not easy but there are a couple of tools helping you to find out (sorry, I known them for Win only).
Windows Resource Monitor
Win 7 Resource monitor is an excellent tool to watch system activity.
Look for processes peaking, excessive I/O on the HD, network traffic, etc.
DPC Latency Checker
DPC Latency Checker is a Windows tool that analyses the capabilities of a computer system to handle real-time data streams properly. It may help to find the cause for interruptions in real-time audio and video streams, also known as drop-outs.