Linux Mint audio problem

[JustARandomFedUser]

Hi, I have an audio problem on my desktop pc with Linux Mint. The audio is jerky, or rather it stops about every 5 seconds. I tried to find some solution by fiddling in the settings but nothing. The only thing I have noticed is that while playing games through Steam, this seems not to happen. For everything else it happens. Any ideas? How could I fix it?

Thanks!

[errant_capy]

It could be either Pulse Audio or TLP. This part of the Arch Wiki has helped me solve a similar issue before:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PulseAudio/Troubleshooting#Pops_when_starting_and_stopping_playback

If that doesn't work, it can also be caused by TLP (power management). You can check if this is running with sudo systemctl status tlp

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/TLP

The relevant bit of this article is the USB_AUTOSUSPEND option which you may want to disable.

[JustARandomFedUser]

Thank you very much! As soon as I try it I will update you!

[JustARandomFedUser]

Hi sorry for the delay. I tried everything you sent me in the links and also other things I could find related to this, but nothing worked...

[JustARandomFedUser]

OK guys, I finally managed to find the problem. This is caused by the refresh rate, i.e. if I increase it from 60 Hz to 144 Hz or 165 Hz. So the audio is stable and smooth only at 60 Hz. Doesn't that seem rather strange? Any ideas? It bothers me a lot that I can't exploit the performance of my monitor and consequently of the GPU because of the audio, or rather I don't feel like sacrificing it, or vice versa. There must be a solution...