HDMI Sound Quality Issues - Help!

[mnfesq]

I have a Zotac ID83 that I am running as a MacMini6,2.  It is connected to Vizio 1080p HDMI/HDEF TV.  The Zotac has the HM76 Chipset with an i3  3120M 2.5 GHz CPU, 6 GB of DDR3 1600 MHz Ram, and it has the onboard HD4000 GPU.

 

First and foremost, I have HDMI video/audio working.  The audio uses the Realtek ALC892 codec and HDMI is a device in audio.  In the Audio Midi Setup Utility, it is selected for system audio and notifications.  It only allows up to 48,000 MHz (not 92,000 MHz) and it seems to work better when I use 2 channel 16-bit integer rather than 20-bit.

 

Now, the problem.  Audio, particularly when played in iTunes, is really horrible.  When the first song is selected, there is a buzzing/crackling that lasts about 1-2 seconds.  Then, the audio starts playing ok but cuts out every second or so for only an instant and picks up where it left off, not skipping any part of the song.  Playing videos in VLC media player is a bit better but the audio lags pretty far behind the video even though the video file is resident on my hard drive (not streaming.)

 

I am using the AppleHDA.kext.  I have Audio ID 3 injected via DSDT edit.  I have 2 Clover patches of AppleIntelFramebufferCapri.kext.  I have "UseIntelHDMI" selected.  I am using a fully-patched AppleHDA.kext that I made using AppleHDA Patcher obtained from the Downloads section here.  It doesn't matter which Codec patch I use (ALC885 or ADI 1988B).

 

I don't really know where to go from here.  This is my first attempt at using AppleHDA (I have always had flawless analog audio using VoodooHDA.)

 

Suggestions?

 

EDIT -- In my continuing effort to isolate the problem, I have determined that analog audio with the setup I have does not work at all.  The devices are present but are not functioning.  (However, I noticed that when I plug in the analog cord that connects to the TV, the sound device switches from internal speaker (which does not exist) to headphones.)  Also, the HDMI device is no longer present if I uncheck UseIntelHDMI or disable the two frame buffer patches.  Without those two modifications, I have no working audio.

 

EDIT 2 -- I tried using VoodooHDA (and AppleHDADisabler) with the 2 patches for the AppleIntelFramebufferCapri.kext, changed the sound properties using the Audio Midi Setup utility, and rebooted.  It worked flawlessly - both HDMI video and audio.  I'm still curious about why AppleHDA did not work for me but, at this point, it's purely academic.