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Windows seems to have a problem with digital audio output (using coaxial/optical outputs) where the audio output goes to "sleep" when not in use and takes a moment to cut back in. I have experienced this issue with Windows 7 and Windows 10 using two different digital speaker systems connected with either coax or optical to onboard Realtek cards in two different motherboards so I think it's safe to say it's a problem with either Windows or Realtek. I don't mean that there is latency during audio playback, but that the speakers don't start working until a quarter second after the audio starts.
While this might not seem like a big deal at first, it means that short beeps and other basic audio alerts are never heard if their total length is less than the ~0.25 seconds it takes for the speakers to kick in. It's also a complete nightmare when editing video or audio.
In Windows 7, I could easily solve this problem by putting a song on repeat in Windows Media Player and setting the WMP volume to 0. This would keep the speaker connection "warmed up", allowing other audio playback to be heard instantly. This solution doesn't seem to work in Windows 10, but I've found that I can keep the speakers "warmed up" if I start playing a completely silent audio file on repeat in WMP.
Is there any way to configure the speaker settings in Windows or Realtek so that the speakers are always "warmed up" and don't take a moment to kick in when audio playback starts? I can't find anything in the driver or hardware settings but maybe I don't know where to look.
user45623
Posted 2016-02-01T19:53:32.217
Reputation: 229