xps m1330 Odd sound issue

I had to send my 1330 off to have the right hinge fixed.   I had restored it factory image prior to sending it in.

When I play any kind of sound file there is a brief snippet of audio (after hitting play) just before the song starts to play.    I don't recall this happening before,   I had the stuttering audio issue before as others have but it was fixed by killing the power mizer.  

It also doesn't matter what player I use.  I have used winamp, vlc and windows media player.

Any ideas?  It seems impossible for Dell to NOT have audio issues.

thanks

Scott