streaming music problem

I've had this problem for years but its worsened since the recent replacement of my hard drive. When I stream music (almost always Spotify), I occasionally get a sudden buzz/grind sound in mid song and the song skips a bit. It's quite jarring actually. I've uninstalled and reinstalled Spotify and also checked for and installed what I believe is the latest sound card driver. Any thoughts?

It sounds like buffering to me. It may be congestion in the incoming line.

Thank you. Is there anything I can do?

As I don't listen to much material online, my response is going to be somewhat limited.

Firstly, I don't think (although I'm prepared to be shown up as wrong ) that the problem lies with Spotify, or your audio card.

I've browsed a few articles (having searched on "streaming audio buffering problems" and "spotify streaming buffering") and the consensus seems to be that if you're running on a PC, try to make sure that there's nothing or not much else that's pulling large downloads from the net at the same time.

This site - http://www.ghacks.net/2007/11/04/a-quick-fix-for-internet-radio-stream-skippings/ - also suggested something to try.

Thanks for your input.

Incidentally, are you the only person in the house using the net at the time you're listening, or are there others, as well?

What streaming app(s) are you using? There may be a setting for how much to buffer before playing.

Usually there is at least one other person using the net. I haven't been able to find any controls for buffering.