Warren,

I bet I know the answer to your issue and how to fix it.

The issue is caused by a Dell utility application. The application runs a service called "Dell SupportAssist Remediation". This service is supposed to scan the system on startup for hardware issues and auto generate a support ticket if any hardware issues are found and the unit is within warranty. Use task manager to disable the service and your drop out issue will go away.

+++ HERE +++ is a thread in another music forum that discusses latency and dropouts in some detail.

Interesting that the Dell user forum doesn't know about this. If this works for you, you may be able to report the solution in the Dell user forum. That might help a lot of other Dell users that also are musicians. Your report might also alert Dell Support of the issue with their application so they can pass it along to the development team.


Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (Build 1128) RB (Build 5) - Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home