I can't take the audio/video automatic compression . . .

When I download an MP3 audio (or play it live) and play it on this machine, MOST (not all) files are being compressed so that the first word or first syllable after the speaker has paused is cut off. It is so annoying that some files aren't listenable. It also does it SOMETIMES when watching Youtube videos. I can take that same downloaded file, put it on a USB, transfer it to another laptop or MP3 player and it plays fine.

So it has to be some setting on this machine. I've been through the sound settings but don't see anything obvious. Whoever invented the idea of compressing audio or video files should be drawn and quartered.

How do I stop this?

An MP3 file is a compressed audio file. If you are viewing Video, it is most likely an MP4, file which is compressed Video file
If saving a Youtube video, how are you downloading/converting it to MP4 (For video) or MP3 (for audio only of a video clip) What app are you using?
Or are you using the free online Youtube converters. Like:

That doesn't appear to be any sort of re-compression. SOme sort of lag?

What app are you using to play MP3s? Which browser are you using for YouTube videos?

Spunk said:

An MP3 file is a compressed audio file. If you are viewing Video, it is most likely an MP4, file which is compressed Video file
If saving a Youtube video, how are you downloading/converting it to MP4 (For video) or MP3 (for audio only of a video clip) What app are you using?
Or are you using the free online Youtube converters. Like:

YouTube to MP3 Free Converter

Convert YouTube to MP3 for free, the most trusted YouTube to MP3 converter tool. It's fast, free, download instantly and no registration is required.

youtubemp3free.com

Click to expand...

I'm watching Youtube directly on their site, using a Firefox browser.

bobkn said:

That doesn't appear to be any sort of re-compression. SOme sort of lag?

What app are you using to play MP3s? Which browser are you using for YouTube videos?

Click to expand...

As I previously noted in my OP, the lag happens even if I listen to an audio online or download it. I use VLC for audio and video, but it's not that because it even happens when I listen/watch directly from Firefox.

Also, as noted, I can take that same file, transfer it with a USB stick, play it on a different computer or my MP3 player, and it's fine. There is something fishy with THIS laptop.

Andy01 said:

the lag happens even if I listen to an audio online or download it.

Click to expand...

What sound card do you have?
Is there any settings for volume fading or limiting?

Andy01 said:

MOST (not all) files are being compressed

Click to expand...

By default. MP3 & MP4 files are already compressed files (So to Speak) they aren’t being re-compressed.
What speakers are you using?

It is not a compression. To prove this, obtain a WAV file (non compressed) and play it. The same thing will happen. In my experience, every single time I have seen this, it is a delay in the electronics waking up.

As an example, I have right now in front of me a set of Edifier speakers. If I connect to them with an optical TOSLINK cable, I get exactly what you are describing. Plug that same TOSLINK cable into another set of speakers and no problem. In my specific I get around this by using an analog connection instead and that solves it. Note that this issue is not always with just optical connections, it varies with the device on the output side.

Maybe "compression" isn't the right word I should use. I'm aware of many files being compressed like jpg, some audios, etc.

What YT has done in the past few years is "compress" videos that people have uploaded, but they are not automatically de-compressed when you watch them because YT wants to save space. Any pause in audio or movement and YT will compress those spaces so the people look jerky, and they'll talk for 10 minutes without taking a breath because all normal, natural pauses are eliminated. I have a hard time watching them because I find myself not breathing either. At that point I move on.

And people who post a lot of vids bitch about it, because some of them put a lot of time into them and YT is ruining them to some degree, making them unwatchable for some of us and there's nothing the poster can do about it.

That's what this particular laptop is doing, as I noted, on SOME downloaded or live audio podcasts (via Firefox) and on SOME direct YT videos via Firefox (I'm assuming that's YT's fault and out of my hands). I don't think it's ever happened when listening to live radio.

I am having a hard time understanding what are talking about?
All Youtube videos, when clicked on play de-compressed. There are no spaces removed between talking, or without breathing??
Unless you are talking about TikTok? Youtube Shorts? Or Meta/Facebook Reels? Those files are heavily edited by the poster to fit within the 30 second time limit that these videos are supposed to be.

Maybe you can post a link of a video that has these "compressed" Qualities so we can see what you are talking about.

Have you tried playing these videos in another Browser like Edge or Chrome?

Try enabling/disabling hardware acceleration in your browser.

That's not due to compression. It's due to a long-standing Windows problem often called "the silent stream bug". There are various solutions to it. For Nvidia HDMI, there's a registry setting you can change to keep the audio device from going to sleep. This post describes how to do it:


The more general solution is to use a program like SoundKeeper, which has various ways to keep the audio device alive, from merely keeping the device open to emitting constant sound that should be inaudible. It works as you switch from one output device to another, even Bluetooth.

As already mentioned it is certainly not caused by any method of compression.

Such things are likely to be Web Browser and/or sound chip factors/measures such as Standby Tabs, Power Saving, Resource Saving, Green stuff, and so forth.

I have seen no such effects using the Edge Browser.
The obvious thing to do is use another Web Browser to see if the same. If it is, then that would point to Sound chip/Laptop factors.

Try disabling all enhancements...