From one of the clips opened with Media Info:

General
Complete name                            : Z:\2019 SUG Overview\Interviews\Becky_1_CC.mxf
Format                                   : MXF
Format version                           : 1.3
Format profile                           : OP-1a
Format settings                          : Closed / Complete
File size                                : 728 MiB
Duration                                 : 20 s 20 ms
Overall bit rate                         : 305 Mb/s
Encoded date                             : 2019-10-19 21:14:03.000
Writing application                      : Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve 16.1.0.0.3
Writing library                          : Sony MXF Development Kit (Win32) 4.17.0.146.1

Video
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High 4:2:2 Intra@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : No
Format settings, GOP                     : N=1
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102106001-0401020201323001
Duration                                 : 20 s 20 ms
Bit rate                                 : 300 Mb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Standard                                 : Component
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Bit depth                                : 10 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 1.207
Stream size                              : 722 MiB (99%)
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709

Audio #1
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300-0402020101000000
Duration                                 : 20 s 20 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 152 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS (1601.6 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Stream size                              : 2.75 MiB (0%)
Locked                                   : Yes

Audio #2
ID                                       : 4
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Little
Format settings, wrapping mode           : Frame (AES)
Codec ID                                 : 0D01030102060300-0402020101000000
Duration                                 : 20 s 20 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 152 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 1 channel
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS (1601.6 SPF)
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Stream size                              : 2.75 MiB (0%)
Locked                                   : Yes

Other #1
ID                                       : 1-Material
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:29;29
Time code settings                       : Material Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes

Other #2
ID                                       : 1-Source
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : MXF TC
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:29;29
Time code settings                       : Source Package
Time code, striped                       : Yes

Other #3
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : SMPTE TC
Muxing mode                              : SDTI
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:29;29

From Vegas file properties:

General
  Name: Becky_1_CC.mxf
  Folder: Z:\2019 SUG Overview\Interviews
  Type: Sony XAVC MXF
  Size: 745.41 MB (763,302,448 bytes)
  Created: Saturday, October 19, 2019, 2:14:02 PM
  Modified: Saturday, October 19, 2019, 2:14:54 PM
  Accessed: Saturday, October 19, 2019, 2:14:54 PM
  Attributes: Archive

Streams
  Video: 00:00:20.020, 29.970 fps progressive, 3840x2160x32, XAVC
  Audio: 00:00:20.020, 48,000 Hz, 24 Bit, Stereo, Linear PCM

Other metadata
  Regions/markers: no
  Command markers: no
  UMID: 060a2b340101010501010d23-13-000000-040347b8f56c4bc3aa563d0e03151f19
  Source UMID: 060a2b340101010501010d23-13-000000-6ac94100177243e29eb0f1670d1e0836

Media manager
  Media tags: no

Plug-In
  Name: mxfxavc.dll
  Folder: C:\Program Files\VEGAS\VEGAS Pro 17.0\FileIO Plug-Ins\mxfxavc
  Format: Sony XAVC / XAVC S
  Version: Version 3.0 (Build 2019-02-04)
  Company: MAGIX Computer Products Intl. Co.

Are there any Audio and Video Plug-ins running? A few of my VST audio plug-ins cause occasional glitching in preview

You may want to run "Clean Project Media" (tools menu) and set the 'Dynamic RAM preview" to zero. "Options> Preferences> Video"

Do you have the latest firmware for your audio device installed?

No audio plugins in the project. I do have Izotope RX 6 installed on the system. I'll try your suggestion... thanks.

I'm actually using a USB to XLR convertor that has always worked flawlessly and just uses the generic windows drivers. I'm wondering if something with the newer windows update has messed things up. Here is a link to my audio device. Maybe I need to switch back to a traditional sound card?

You left out the most important system specs for audio related problems. What are you using for a sound card and which driver version and type of driver have you selected in Vegas (ie ASIO, WDM, MS, etc.)? The majority of audio related issues are sound card/driver related. Additionally, a poor performing video card driver have been known to cause these problems for audio, often the latest video card driver may not be the best. This is one of the reason Nvidia is making separate drivers for their video cards. If they have a studio version available for your Nvidia GPU, you may want to try that or vise versa. Audio requires a continuous stream filling the buffer in, and emptying the buffer out. If that continuous stream gets interrupted there will be pops, clicks and drop outs as well as lag.

If interested in more details of what I'm describing, this guy does a pretty good break down explanation. He gets into the common problem around the 22min point.

I'm using the USB audio device I listed above your post which use generic windows drivers. I just switched to the onboard (Motherboard ASUS X99-A) RealTek audio and still having the issue. I'm using NVidia studio driver but it looks like there is a new update so I will try that.

As far as setting Vegas I've been using the default but have played with various options with no success. Thanks.

I'll also add, a good tool I like to use to help track down problem devices with driver problems which may be contributing to your audio playback is user bench marks.

https://www.userbenchmark.com/

It will run a simple system performance test on CPU, GPU, RAM and hard drives and then compare your results to other users with the same components and let you know how they're actually performing and often give tips of adjustments to consider making. It doesn't do audio card/driver performance but if everything else is performing average or above, then you can use the process of elimination and start looking at your audio card and driver.

Once you perform the test, it will provide you a web page of your results. I'ld suggest running that and posting your results by posting the web page link it provides.

I'm actually using a USB to XLR convertor that has always worked flawlessly and just uses the generic windows drivers. I'm wondering if something with the newer windows update has messed things up. Here is a link to my audio device. Maybe I need to switch back to a traditional sound card?

Well there is a reason most of us more audio centric folks use more pro level audio interfaces. It's not all about the sound quality, it's more about driver support which ensures it works well in our DAW environment. When you are using onboard sound cards and generic sound devices its often a crap shoot in regards to audio performance recording/playback in a multi-track audio environment especially since you are using 24bit audio.

Behringer has been making some solid performing yet affordable USB audio interfaces more recently although the gold standard tends to lean more towards RME Audio interfaces in regards to audio quality and driver performance but they can come with a pretty steep price tag. Many swear by the RME Babyface for a lower price RME audio device option. If you're doing NLE work, I would definitely look into purchasing a better more prosumer level audio interface device where their drivers are developed to work best for that environment. I just picked up a used Behringer UMC202HD on Ebay for $60, which sounds like it would be plenty ample for for your uses.

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UMC202HD-BEHRINGER-U-PHORIA-2-Channel/dp/B00QHURUBE/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=UMC202HD&qid=1571672823&sr=8-3

To give you an analogy you likely understand. Your system is kind of like me buying a high-end RME pro level audio interface for Vegas and then using the onboard Intel GPU and expecting smooth video editing playback. I understand it may have worked well at one time, but the driver support will not be there to make sure it continues to work as your system evolves with updates.

Definitely look at updating the video drivers, but I would also run the userbenchmarks to help steer you in the right direction of a potential problem device driver.

If you mean the "Microsoft Sound Mapper" driver as the generic Windows driver, then yeah that's typically the worst driver you can use for audio performance. Better to use the Wave Driver, WDM, or ASIO. Look up the ASIO4ALL driver. It's a shareware driver which was developed for these onboard generic audio devices and typically will give you much better performance.

I'm using the USB audio device I listed above your post which use generic windows drivers

That may be part of the problem. If there are not dedicated drivers available for your device, try ASIO4ALL. Windows mapper is inefficient and lacks duplexing.

Your other option is to build a proxy.

That's the strange thing is that I did build video proxies for everything on the timeline and I'm playing back the timeline at Preview (Full). The video quality looks low and plays back smoothly but the audio issue persists. Will try getting a new sound card and other suggestions above to see if that solves the issue. Thanks.

That's the strange thing is that I did build video proxies for everything on the timeline and I'm playing back the timeline at Preview (Full). The video quality looks low and plays back smoothly but the audio issue persists. Will try getting a new sound card and other suggestions above to see if that solves the issue. Thanks.

Definitely try the ASIO4ALL driver to see if you get better results.

http://www.asio4all.org/

Good how to:

https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/installing-and-using-asio4all-for-windows/

Oh, you're using a USB DI, which won't run ASIO. Pretty basic and WDM.

Switch to an actual USB or on-card audio preamp / interface. I use my Zoom recorder all the time with external sources and it works great.

Went to Guitar Center and picked up a Focusrite Scarlett Solo USB interface. Have tried it with drivers it came with and the ASIO4ALL but still having issues. Thinking something else must be up. Will keep testing solutions and report back.

“I'm working on a 6 minute long project and having major audio issues which I've never experienced in Vegas.”

How long has this audio problem been happening?

Is the video from the camera(s) that you use regularly?

Have you installed any new hardware since the last time you ran without error? Especially hard drive controllers, video cards or devices with big-ass buffers.

Has your Microsoft Nanny installed any new drivers, video, chipset, usb root hub, etc since you last ran a project without errors?

Have you ever updated the bios for your motherboard? In case there are any bios/hardware/driver/Windows patch dependencies.

Hi John,

I'm more of a Resolve user these days but revert Vegas when I have a project with photos etc. that I want to pan zoom on as Vegas excels in this area. I did the color correction of the videos that seem to be causing issues in Resolve and exporting as XAVC 4:2:2 UHD. Also just upgraded from Vegas ver. 15 to ver. 17 for this project. Never had audio problems in Vegas before. I did switch out my AMD Radeon RX480 with an Nvidia 2070 super recently along with a fresh reinstall of Windows 10.

Stuff like this where things work and then suddenly don't, can drive you insane. It's usually tied to some device's driver be it chipset, disk controller, Bios, GPU, video card, etc, etc as John_dennis describes. That's the reason I suggested to try running user bench marks, where those test results can often at least point you in the direction of something running amuck.

This is also a good reason I use Macrium Reflect to create multiple backup HDD images of my system before any major system changes such as hardware changes, OS or driver updates. We often spend hours setting up and configuring our systems, where we get to a point of comfort that it's working great. It's at that point when I feel I like how things are running, that I create a backup image so in the event something like marc-s is experiencing does occur, then I know I can easily get back to a time where I wasn't experiencing the problem and then go from there in performing updates in stages to more easily identify a change that may cause problems.

If you don't have a similar imaging backup system in place, I would highly recommend looking into it once you get this problem resolved, where Macrium Reflect works really well. I have my current system setup into a dual boot option. Option 1 boot is that it boots up into Windows 10 Pro x64 after 5 seconds of boot option select. Option 2 boot is that I can select to boot up directly into Macrium Reflect Window PE environment where I can then create HDD image backups or restore them an image backup from an external USB HDD. The dual boot option is just a function you can choose to turn on within Macrium Reflect. If you don't want/like the dual boot option, then you can install macrium on a USB stick and boot from that instead and perform the same tasks. I'm always misplacing my USB sticks and prefer the dual boot option.

Currently with my system, I'm having this problem that when I plug in a USB HDD my desk top background blanks out where I'm suspecting some type of video driver or hard drive controller problem. I've tried re-installing a few different drivers to try and fix the problem but so far I haven't solved the problem but it's a minor issue I've just been dealing with but realize something in my system setup just isn't right at this time. My next step is to restore to a previous HDD image backup using Macrium Reflect where I know that problem didn't exist. I'm thankful, that I put the effort in with those system image backups that I have that option.

Long, long ago, in a land far, far away I used Boot Manager to boot OS/2 and Windows 3.1. Then, I had three Windows 95 systems on one boot drive. I've since gone straight and, now, I just keep track of my AOMEI USB standalone boot drive. Actually, I have them laying around all over the place. The oldest is a 1 GB Sandisk Cruzer that I bought when Circuit City liquidated.

I ran userbenchmark and everything seemed to test out ok.

UserBenchmarks: Game 103%, Desk 84%, Work 76%
CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K - 81%
GPU: Nvidia RTX 2070S (Super) - 119.8%
SSD: Samsung 850 Pro 256GB - 96.4%
SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB - 94.4%
SSD: Samsung 850 Evo 1TB - 101.1%
SSD: SanDisk Ultra 3D 2TB - 95.7% (This is the drive my Vegas project is on)
HDD: WD Green 2TB (2009) - 43.8%
HDD: WD Black 5TB (2015) - 72.8%
USB: WD My Book 1230 3TB - 53.2%
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 DDR4 2400 C15 8x8GB - 113.6%
MBD: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1
 

"SSD: SanDisk Ultra 3D 2TB - 95.7% (This is the drive my Vegas project is on)"

1) Is this drive internal SATA or in a USB enclosure?

"USB: WD My Book 1230 3TB - 53.2%"

2) Is this drive powered on and active on the same USB root hub as your audio device?

With the project running, have you looked at the Response Time (ms) for I/O ranked by Read and Write?

Read

Write

Look for "unwanted" processes running while you're trying to do your work. I can't tell you what the right response time for I/O should be, but for SSDs it shouldn't be more than a few ms. With my NVMe disk, it's rarely over 1 ms.

Can you upload like 30 sec of your problem media, so we can see how it previews on our systems? Use Drive or Dropbox.