So, just because you have experienced some problems, dont make out that this is a big issue or even a minor one.
I appreciate you haven't noticed these issues or read of them, and so you think they're so incredibly fringe. As I already pointed out though, I've done hours of research and found many people with similar issues. That "Glitch Free" document was written by company to help their customers deal with exactly these sorts of Windows audio problems, it wasn't put together as some audiophile flight of fancy and they wouldn't have wasted their time if they didn't feel there was a commercial need from a large enough customer base.
Quite interestingly, following the OS tuning prescribed solved the issue. I would tend to agree with you that it may be driver related but I tried all and every combo of drivers possible. The drop outs also occurred with a different dac as well, an Arcam irdac.
As I mentioned to rebbiputzmaker, maybe we just have different expectations. I expect Windows to just work. I've obviously found some stock high volume manufacturer combination (Dell, a specific laptop model) that just doesn't for streaming audio without being tuned to the nines, even when everything else functions perfectly. You call that a screwed up PC, but its really not. The PC is working
as designed (and that's the key here). Legit configurations of windows can and do cause audio problems. Before you just knee jerk write back, please spend some time google searching. I'm glad you haven't experienced this, nor has BillG from the peanut gallery, but its real.
As for the noise, maybe I should send Amir one of my lap tops as obviously the gear he's using at random doesn't expose these sorts of noise and ground issues.
And that's not surprising. If the PC or test condition wasn't specifically chosen to inject the sort of noise that susceptibility and conducted emissions introduce into standardized corner case testing, he's probably not even close to testing boundary conditions. I researched my Dell after the fact and read numerous reports of crap noise USB and ground problems. Also have a look at Telcordia GR-1089, an international telecom test spec for radiated and conducted emissions and RF susceptibility. I've been professionally involved with in a a design capacity more than few products otherwise competently designed and carefully laid out/tested with multimillion dollar budgets that fail only when subjected to tough standardized noise injection test conditions. The sort of testing the vast majority of audio gear is not put through. I think my Dell lap top is on the edge of that sort of bad behaviour,
by design. I do of course agree that its possible to make a dac design more robust against this (and technically know how, I'm an EE, have designed Ethernet, electro-optical and audio HW for commercial use, for years) but I also understand dac vendors have limited resources and some expectations that PCs hold up their end of the bargain.
Amir's tests are wonderful but no where near being complete enough to suss out real audible interaction and comparability issues between legit (working as designed) PCs and dacs, nor does it identify which dacs perform best in this regards.
All I'm asking for is that people be a bit more open minded and not just insultingly ascribe any unknown and unexperienced condition as some audiophile flight of fancy or broken HW. Thank goodness real science and engineering are much more interesting than that or all the design challenges would frankly be boring.