Digital stutter recently developed

[gradus]

I'm at a bit of a loss to know what to do to identify and cure the cause of the intermittent and brief stutter that has appeared when listening to streamed music - R3, Spotify, Youtube etc Its not a regular every 30 secs thing but more sporadic and very annoying
I've tried everything that Spotify have suggested incl delete and reinstall, switching off hardware acceleration etc but to no avail. My ISP assure me that line speed and memory are adequate as indeed they have been until recently. I've undone recent driver updates, deleted odd software progs that seemed to be coincide with the start of the problem but it continues. Googling the problem suggested I tested something called latency with a free software prog (DPC Latency Checker) and that certainly showed a problem existed but disabling various devices didn't make any difference and I'm cautious about the process as I don't really know what I'm doing.
This afternoon my ISP said it might be the beginning of the end for the hard disc or overheating caused by running too much software -seems unlikely as I only run the usual things, or dirt and dust causing overheating and that salvation lies with an expert local engineer/shop giving it the once-over.
Before spending the money, I wonder if any of our experts could suggest a cure?

[johnb]

The first thing to do is to test your actual download speed (which can be very different to the 'line speed') in order to rule that out as a cause of your problem. I'm surprised the people you have been talking to haven't recommended you to do this as the first check.

There are various online checkers you can find by googling on "speed checker" e.g.

http://speedtest.btwholesale.com/

http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/

[gradus]

Sorry forgot to mention that the ISP asked me to do a line speed check and all seemed well.
Have also defragged and run a memory check using Windows memory check device and no problems found. I also checked the cables to the phone and from the router to the pc in case our cats had chewed them but the cables seem fine.
Oo heck.....

[Resurrection Man]

Have you asked your ISP to have a look at the log for your line. I know that my ISP Zen is able to look and see if the line has any problems etc. lack of synchronisation, that sort of stuff.

[gradus]

When I contacted my ISP (Timico) they asked me to run a speed check but I didn't specifically ask about the log so I will. Many thanks.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I find it quite infuriating.

My solution is a cop-out: Listen to CDs and Radio 3 (on a radio). It's far more reliable and saves messing and endless frustration.

[Frances_iom]

I assume you are listening with a direct connection to the PC and that the PC has a hard wired link back to the router - if not suggest replacing any wireless links by cables as this will eliminate any local interference causing glitches on your PC - judging from the amount of buffering iPlayer does for R3 (using my Sony bluRay player) I suspect the glitches are arising from your own equipment - any wireless path is the usual culprit but can you try any computer or device as it could well be some program/failure mode of your windoze box.

[gradus]

Yes I listen by wire and had wondered if the cats had been chewing the cables but they (the cats and cables) are fine.