Audio Hardware Causing Playback Stuttering???

[mandicreally]

So I was having serious playback issues with Premiere Pro lately.  ProRes and H.264 4k video both playing terribly at 1/2 resolution.  I followed all the tips Adobe recommends (clear cache being basically the only one beyond lowering your playback quality).  The only thing that fixed it was I found multiple references to Playback issues being related to Audio Hardware.  

So I switch my Audio Out (in Audio Hardware in Premiere) to one of my monitors (actual PC monitor).  Now my footage is playing smooth as butter.  Previously I was sending audio out to my Motu M2 audio interface.  That interface sends audio to my Studio Reference Monitor speakers and Reference Monitor headphones.  It also is the IN interface for my XLR microphone for voiceover recording.  

Now I found reference to this fix as far back as 2019 (I bet I'd find it further if I kept looking).  So what is going on here?  Does Adobe not consider this a bug?  My monitor speakers are AWFUL, but that seems to be about the only way I get Premiere to actually work as it should.  So do I have to pick whether I get to hear quality audio (to confirm it is even worth using) OR quality video playback?  

And please don't try and pass the buck to Motu on their audio interface.  I truly doubt everyone who has run into this is running the exact same Audio interface hardware. 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Mandi,

Can you tell us about your system and source media? Also, we need info on your Premiere Pro version, please. We have a better chance at solving this with more info.

Thanks,
Kevin

[mandicreally]

Premiere Pro 14.8

Computer:

OS: Windows 10 (build 20H2)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8-core @ 4.1GHz

MOBO: Asus Prime X570-PRO (latest BIOS revision and AMD Chipset drivers)

RAM: 32GB DDR4 3400Mhz

GPU: Nvidida RTX 3080 (running latest Studio Drivers: 461.40)

STORAGE:

- 2TB SeaGate FireCuda SSD (PCI-E Gen 4 drive running on PCI-E Gen 3 bus for project files)

- 500GB Samsung 860 SSD (dedicated solely to Cache files for Creative Cloud apps)

AUDIO: Motu M2 USB-C interface (plugged into motherboard USB-C port directly)

Footage: 
- DCI 4k 150Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 - H.264 (Panasonic Lumix GH5)

- DCI 4k ProResLT footage (GH5 recorded via Atomos Ninja Inferno)

- DCI 4k BlackMagic RAW Footage (8:1 BRAW - BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K)

Oddly enough the only footage that played even close to smoothly before the Audio Hardware setting change was the BRAW footage.  I know it requires the least uncompressing but it is also the most data intensive codec. 

Mind you this is the same base hardware and footage I've been editing for over a year.  Only in the past few months did this issue start to heavily pop up.  The GPU is the only new addition, but I actually bought it in part because I hoped it would fix this issue.  It made zero difference. 

[mandicreally]

Bueller?  No one has any input?  Got a reply from an Adobe Employee in moments but nothing for 2 weeks after? 

14.9 update has come out.  Same problem persists.  Found people as far back as versions in the 13s saying they had this problem.  It seems to be a known issue with various Audio Interface units.  Are we supposed to edit videos without quality audio output? 

[Andy 1968]

Simply changing audio devices can have a huge impact on playback perfomances. I recommend ASIO4ALL drivers a lot of times. I will have a video demonstrating this soon.

[Nguyen Manh T23729130tvt9]

Simply create a new project and copy over