MuseScore audio feedback issue during note entry [SOLVED]
tl;dr What appears to be some kind of audio or MIDI feedback loop causes playback during note entry in MuseScore Studio to stutter and bog down. I haven't been able to replicate the problem in any other audio program, and it seems, unfortunately, that it is an issue unique to MuseScore, and only during note entry. (That is, the score plays back properly if I press the space bar or otherwise try to play back the whole score, or a subset of staves. It's just the note entry playback that is affected.) Eventually, after about 10 seconds, the stuttering note playback attenuates and dies out, but unless I wait for each note to die out before attempting to add a new one, the sounds continue to echo and pile up and bog down MuseScore's audio engine. It doesn't appear to affect my PC's resources much, but it's a pretty good machine. This has severely limited the speed with which I can input notes. Disabling and reenabling the sound driver is a temporary (2- to 3-minute) fix. No other apps are affected: The problem seems to only happen with MuseScore Studio, regardless of which audio device is used for playback. My drivers are ASIO, but it appears to happen also with wasapi, mme or directx.
EDIT: It turns out the solution was to increase the buffer size in MuseScore audio hardware preferences and to ensure it matches the buffer size set in the hardware driver.
Detailed description:
Normally, when we place a note or click on a note that has been already placed, the note sounds through the speaker or headphones.
In my case, however, for the past few versions of MuseScore/MuseScore Studio, instead of simply playing the note, it seems as though MuseScore is trying to play the note several times for every click. It's as if the audio drivers with MuseScore are creating a kind of feedback loop—not the kind where a microphone picks up its own sounds playing through an amp; this seems more like a kind of digital feedback that is happening internally in the software layer or between the driver and the software, where the audio hardware is getting a signal to play, and sends it through a T junction sending the audio signal through the speakers as well as back through itself again, or perhaps it's a MIDI signal that is being multiplied with or added to itself, piling up copy after copy of each signal until the whole system gets slightly laggy, and the resulting sound is a stuttering sound similar to what I imagine it would sound like if several dozen copies of the same note were being played simultaneously. Note, this only happens during note entry or when clicking on a note: Normal playback of the whole score or some of the staves is unaffected.
Now, note that this does not happen immediately after starting MuseScore Studio, but only after several minutes of editing a score. Then suddenly, the feedback begins. I have found that, by going to System | Sounds | Speakers / audio device and clicking a couple times on the "Don't allow" button to disable and then reenable the sound driver, the problem temporarily stops and normal behavior ensues for two or three minutes before starting again.
The bug seems to only happen in MuseScore Studio; when I use other DAWs, plugins, etc., including Reaper, Ableton and BespokeSynth, audio playback is normal.
It also seems to happen whether or not I use the card's SPDIF optical out connection to play audio, the sound card's analog speaker jack or headphones connected directly to a USB port on the PC.
My PC is custom-built:
CPU: Intel i9-9820X (10 cores/20 logical cores)
RAM: 64GB @ 3.30GHz,
OS: Windows 11 (updated May 25, 2025)
Storage: 2 x 2TB m.2 SSDs, 1 500GB SATA SSD
Sound (ASIO drivers):
- SB Audigy 5/Rx
- M-Audio AIR 192 6 USB MIDI/audio interface
GPU: RTX 2080ti
MuseScore Studio version: 4.5.2
What I have tried so far:
I have:
- uninstalled and reinstalled the latest audio drivers
- disabled the mobo's onboard sound device in BIOS
- disabled all unused sound devices in Windows Device Manager
- disabled Windows audio enhancements/spatial sound
- enabled and disabled "exclusive mode" in Windows Sound settings
- uninstalled and reinstalled MuseScore Studio and Muse Sounds
- wiped the hard drive and reinstalled the operating system
- updated the BIOS
If anybody has encountered anything similar, or has any suggestions for possible solutions, I would very much appreciate any advice you might have. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Brandon Tyler Burt
Comments
Take a look here https://musescore.org/en/node/339915
Especially the part where you turn off Exclusive Mode.
This may need to be done for each audio device. Headphones and speakers.
In reply to Take a look here https:/… by bobjp
[EDIT: I spoke too soon. See next comment.]
Wow, thank you! I think that did the trick, at least so far. Fingers crossed!
I had seen that page, but I hadn't realized it is necessary to turn off exclusive mode for every audio device, not just the one that's active. Thank you so much, friend. You're a star!
In reply to Take a look here https:/… by bobjp
Oh, dang it, I spoke too soon. So yes, I tried your solution and for a while it seemed to have done the trick. Unfortunately, the problem was merely lurking.
I do thank you for responding, though. If you think of anything else I could try, I'm all ears. Cheers!
In reply to Oh, dang it, I spoke too… by offbrandbear
Interesting that it worked for a while, and the didn't work.
I think I remember someone said they had to disable Hardware Acceleration, also.
Remember, if you use wired, and blue tooth headphones and and/or speakers, That right there is 4 different audio devices. Multiply by how many drivers you use. As well as Built in and usb Interfaces you have.
In reply to Interesting that it worked… by bobjp
Yes, I understand. I have checked every audio endpoint that can be enumerated in device manager and in Powershell with Get-Pnpdevice, and made sure none of them have exclusive mode enabled. Oddly, my installation of Windows 11 does not seem to offer any settings for audio hardware acceleration.
Many audio programs allow choosing an audio protocol, such as Ableton and Reaper, and I generally choose ASIO, as opposed to WASAPI or DirectSound, etc., because this greatly reduces latency. It doesn't seem that could cause the problem, but on the other hand, I haven't found a way to specify ASIO drivers in MuseScore and at this point my brain is just about fried trying to find a solution to this issue.
I'm still experiencing this issue, and it has become frustrating, so I figured I would try another appeal.
I use MuseScore Studio daily and have done so for the past couple years. I really do suspect it's some kind of misconfiguration on my part, since I haven't experienced anything like this issue in other programs.
I tried to find answers on the M-Audio website, which appears not to have anything close to a user forum like this one and it appears their whizbang AI chatbot isn't feeling very chatty tonight. (I have to say, the more I experience AI chatbots, the more I cherish the kind of human interaction that is possible to have on forums such as this one, which are becoming increasingly rare.)
In reply to I'm still experiencing this… by offbrandbear
There are still some things to try.
As an experiment, try using the sound device built into your MB. If you have one. Checking all the settings, of course. If not, move on.
Yes ASIO drivers are supposed to be the best choice. But we are talking MuseScore here. You never know. On some systems, I found Direct drivers to be better. Pick a setup and try different drivers.
You have a very strong system. Lots of things going on. Sometimes that is a problem.
On my older computers that are at or just below MU4 specs, I had to go through the setting to make MU4 work. My newest computer, which is a step above specs, I didn't have to change anything. But it's a laptop without any fancy audio hooked up. I do have a Focusrite.
Hardware acceleration is at the same place Exclusive Mode is.
In reply to There are still some things… by bobjp
OK, thank you. I think I just needed some encouragement and some help thinking outside the hamster wheel in my head. I haven't used the built-in sound device for a while, so I'll check that out, and I'll also see if the problem exists with the DirectX drivers.
If I have no luck with that, I'm just about to take everything apart and put it back together again just to make sure, e.g., RAM is seated properly, etc. It has been so intransigent I would suspect a hardware issue if it weren't for the fact that the problem only affects MuseScore.
I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to respond. These things can be so frustrating. I'm far from a luddite, but after a little bit too much AI chatbot, I start to imagine myself trapped in a dystopian nightmare and frankly it makes me a little paranoid.
EDIT: Fingers crossed!
OK, I think we may have got to the bottom of this. I was looking for places where I could try Direct-X drivers instead of the ASIO ones, as you mentioned, and there was something that kept bothering me about the audio hardware settings in MuseScore. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, and then I realized the buffer size in MuseScore didn't match the buffer size in the ASIO driver. I guess the reason I had ignored it is because the other audio programs I use tend to use whatever buffer size the ASIO driver has, and I hadn't realized it was important. Well, it is. I had to increase the buffer to 1024 so they'd both match and that seems to have done the trick.
Thank you so much for your help and for your patience in reading my extremely long and detailed descriptions. I'm very grateful. 💙