Hi all- It took me quite a while to get to the bottom of this issue, but now that identified it somewhat, I'm not sure how to fix it. Vegas Movie Studio 16. Windows 10

I've got a video project, which I reduced down to a single mp4 on a video track, and a single 44.1kHz WAV on an audio track. When I render this project as AAC, or any other profile that uses AAC (such as Sony AVC, Magix AVC, etc.) the audio is choppy. With each peak, the audio is distorted. And then is has a sort of echo. The problem only occurs on my desktop PC. When I play back on other devices I don't get the issue. It occurs with both Windows Movies and TV and VLC player. Strangely, even after upload to youtube or facebook, the problem persists. But also, no other video file, not even others rendered using the same template in Vegas Movie Studio 16 using a WAV file as input, have this issue. I have two different computers, and files rendered on either one exhibit the same issue.

I've been through a view dozen test cases. Here are some highlights:

Render as WMV or XDCAM (which uses PCM audio) - no problems

Change the audio to 48kHz and 44.1kHz. Also, all combinations of project setting bitrate - fail

Render to WAV or MP3 - no problem

Render to AAc - fail

Change the bitrate on the AAC - still fails

Any ideas?