Sound is crackly and distorted in Windows 2000 guest

[Lapis_Lazuli]

Hi.

My host system is Windows 8.1 build 9600, and the guest in question is Windows 2000 SP4. After updating to Virtualbox 6.1.12 a few days ago, I noticed that the sound quality in my VM has degraded significantly. Before the update, the sound worked just as well as it would on a real PC. Now, the sound is crackly, and the quality is very bad, as if the sound were playing underwater. It does, however, cut to clear sound for a fraction of a second, before becoming distorted again. The latest Guest Additions are installed, and there seems to be nothing wrong with my speakers in the host. This problem does not occur in any of my other VMs, whether the GAs are installed or not. This occurred more frequently when I had multiple VMs running concurrently before, but now this happens even if the VM is the only running program in the host.

Thanks in advance.

[scottgus1]

A guest log will be necessary at least.

Start the guest from full normal shutdown, not save-state. Run until you see the problem happen, then shut down the guest from within the guest OS if possible. If not possible, close the Virtualbox window for the guest with the Power Off option set.

Right-click the guest in the main Virtualbox window's guest list, choose Show Log. Save the far left tab's log, zip it, and post the zip file, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.

[Lapis_Lazuli]

Here is the log file for the VM. Sorry for the late reply, I was asleep.

[scottgus1]

No problem on being asleep, I was, too!

I don't see anything strange in the log, it looks quite similar to a Windows 200 guest I have, same audio setup. I had an audio glitch when I booted it up, the "Windows Logon Sound" sounded like just the first two piano keys tinkling repeatedly. But after full boot I could play that sound smoothly. This isn't a complete test, though, this guest is on a 6.0.14 host with 6.0.14 Guest Additions. I'll try it with 6.1.12 and report back.

[Lapis_Lazuli]

The same thing happened to me before the update occasionally, and it still happens on a Windows ME guest (a log-off in the guest fixes this). No audio glitches happen anywhere else, except for Windows 9x cutting the end off a sound, but that's not a big problem.

[Lapis_Lazuli]

Never mind - after a while, the problem seems to have fixed itself. Thanks for everyone's help.

[scottgus1]

Thanks for letting us know! Glad the problem resolved itself.