Audio drops out for 1-2 seconds randomly

[kr_emerson]

I'm running version 0.28.20161120-1 backend with a combined backend and frontend on my main computer and just a frontend on a small footprint computer in my kitchen. Unfortunately, last week brought a thunderstorm that killed my HDMI output on my Nvidia graphics card in the standalone frontend. Rather than just replace it, I thought I'd try the native Intel graphics on my Sandy-bridge CPU. When I first built this computer several years ago, the VAAAPI drivers weren't good enough for playback but I've been reading that today's Intel drivers are being used successfully. So I tried it and was mostly successful. The picture is acceptable but the audio occasionally drops out for 1-3 seconds randomly. The picture does not stutter during these audio drops. There is nothing in the frontend log that indicates an error.

The frontend is currently running Ubuntu 16.4 with software from the mythtv repository.

The HDMI from the computer feeds a Sony sound bar and then goes into my Samsung LCD TV. Does anyone know if this issue is common? Should I just buy a new Nvidia graphics card? So close, but still too far.

Any suggestions for troubleshooting would be welcome.

[pgbennett]

Check your audio settings. Is digital audio selected? Try different settings. This type of problem is not normal. The built in HDMI should work fine.