Dropouts are almost always caused by your computer multi tasking. Video card audio drivers are known to cause problems. Open the task manager and keep it open while you listen to playback. Windows can be updating and all sorts of stuff. Try disconnecting from the internet if you haven't already done so. I use it for everything and I often have multiple programs open. I've never had this problem with my Scarlett. This sometimes caused issues if you have Sonar open and tried to play in other software. Those settings don't effect playback from Media player or movies, The drivers will automatically switch to what ever the file playing was set for. You could try a higher setting but this should not have any effect on playing music outside Sonar. You system looks like it should handle lower buffer settings, Mine will produce drop outs if I lower my buffers too far. And finally, are there ways of improving the performance and stability of the Scarlett (or any USB audio interface) by somehow increasing the power to it? For example, should I connect it to a powered USB hub, which is then connected to the PC's USB2 port? Thanks a bunch! It's not a big deal to switch over to ASIO, but I'm wondering if there are ASIO-specific troubleshooting steps I should be taking (to deal with the dropouts). Normally I use WDM with my Delta 44 PCI card. It appears that the 2nd gen Scarlett 2i4 only has one driver, and that's the ASIO driver I'm using: What else can I try as far as finding and eliminating the cause of the dropouts (USB interruptions)? The Scarlett's current ASIO settings are: 44.1 hHz sample rate with 128 buffer size. I have also confirmed that the USB port is indeed 2.0 (by using a USB port viewing tool).

That may have helped, as the interruptions as less frequent, but they still happen.

I have disabled USB power saving (in both the device manager and power management) as suggested in another thread. Playback dropouts like this never happen with my PCI sound cards, so I suspect it might be a USB (or Scarlett) issue.

It's distracting and annoying, and makes me question whether the Scarlett can handle what I'd like it to do with Sonar, which is: multi-track audio recording, playback, and MIDI at the same time. Every few minutes, the sound will cut out for a fraction of a second and then resume. I am currently having dropouts while listening to music.

I haven't used it much with Sonar yet, but have been listening to music on it as a test. I recently got a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 gen2 (USB audio interface). Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (USB audio interface) - Dropouts, ASIO, and other questions

Focusrite usb asio