Anonymous
… it seems the problem is more to do with VirtualBox which seems to suffer from poor sound quality in versions 5.2.x.
I’m using version 5.2.x and have definitely no “periodic distortion pattern and is good enough to watch video tutorials” listen the music or what not. HiFi sound is not to be expected though.
I believe the original problem is not with AntiX after all since it appears the sound is not great in any of my VB Linux guest VM’s
I’ve already answered you what’s the problem — it’s the combination of your HW, vBox versions/drivers and the virtualized OS.
Update:
Just changed VB audio settings from Intel HD to ICH AC97 and got a much improved sound quality. Seems VB 6.0.4 and this setting is a good solution.
… Which is not exactly a ‘tip’ or a ‘universal solution’ for the problem since it depends on … as I’ve already said.
Example:
To ‘fix’ the sound problem in Devuan, I’ve changed VB audio settings from ICH 97 to Intel HD (the oposite of your change). To partialy ‘fix’ the sound problem in eComStation, I’ve changed VB audio settings to Alsa. Most other VM’s are happy with Pulse Audio and ICH 97.
Edit:
And by the way — Such kind of sound problem is not exclusive to the VM’s. I’ve got ‘choppy sound’ on some real HW too, because they use some ancient, rare or exotic components. Such kind of problems are also not exclusive to the sound, but they can also affect video (famous ‘screen tearing’), networking …