Game lockup (Sound related - standard fix does not help)

[Leraje]

Got a really annoying problem with game locking up with horrid sound stuttering almost every time I get attacked or in hearing range from fighting canines (including summoned familiars). Usually right after their first yelp or growl the sound disappears for a moment. Shortly the sound resumes with a stutter and the game turns into a slideshow. After that happens it becomes impossible to save/load or for that matter even normally exit the game, even though the menus are available. The only way to exit the game is to kill the TESV.exe via task manager. Audio and video drivers are up to date and I've already tried to use various sound formats (currently running at 24bits 41800 Hz) as well as different speaker configuration - Stereo or 5.1. The problem occurs regardless of the detail level. Bakground music seems to be unaffected and plays fine.

 

Specs:

Intel Core2 Quad CPU @ 2.4GHz

8GB RAM

Windows 7 Pro 64bit SP1

NVIDIA GeForce GTX465 1Gb

HT Omega CLARO sound card with 5.1 speakers

 

Main questions are: any suggestions on how to fix this or is there a way to completely disable sound in the game so that i can get through the parts where the wolfs/dogs are unavoidable (e.g. "Mind of madness" and "Daedra's best friend" quests)

 

Thanks.

[Leraje]

Well, tried fiddling with the sound some more - switched to the on-board audio (realtek something or other) and basic headphones instead of 5.1. Unfortunately that did not have any effect - wolf noises still crash the game. I'm beginning to wonder if it may be something wrong with the actual sound file.