Emergency! MOTU M2 + Intel ARC B580 Driver Conflict - Audio Stutters When Switching Windows

[Simon0910]

Hi everyone,

I'm facing a critical audio issue that's severely impacting my daily use and desperately need your help!

My Setup:

• Audio Interface: MOTU M2

• Graphics Card: Intel ARC B-series 580

• Processor: Intel Core i5-14600K

• Operating System: Windows 11 23H2

• Affected Software: Browser video playback (Chrome/Edge) and online games

Detailed Problem Description:
When I'm watching videos in a browser or playing online games, if I switch to another window, the audio starts continuous stuttering that never recovers. The only way to resolve this is to completely close and restart the application, and when I try to end the process through Task Manager, the software often becomes unresponsive or crashes completely.

What I've Already Tried (Without Success):
✓ Clean installed the latest MOTU M2 drivers
✓ Completely reinstalled the latest Intel ARC GPU drivers
✓ Adjusted all possible buffer size settings on the MOTU M2
✓ Disabled all Windows audio enhancements
✓ Tried different USB ports (both 2.0 and 3.0)
✓ Tested multiple browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox)
✓ Tried different sample rates (44.1k, 48k, 96k)

Specific Symptoms:

• Browser Videos: Audio stutters endlessly when switching tabs/windows

• Online Games: Game audio becomes unusable after Alt+Tab

• System audio becomes unstable until applications are force-restarted

• Software frequently freezes or crashes when forced to close via Task Manager

• Problem occurs across both YouTube and other streaming platforms

My Questions:

1. Is this a known compatibility issue between MOTU M2 and Intel ARC graphics cards?

2. Are there specific settings in Intel ARC Control that I should disable (such as overlay features)?

3. Should I try rolling back to specific older driver versions for either device?

4. Could this be related to the Intel i5-14600K processor architecture?

5. Are there any specific BIOS settings I should check?

This issue is incredibly frustrating as it's affecting both my work and entertainment. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Additional Notes:

• The problem persists across multiple applications

• Even basic video playback becomes unstable after window switching

• The crash when using Task Manager suggests a deeper system-level conflict