I have that problem as well, I can provide dxdiag info at request.

I'm also getting crashes in Pantheon but not in custom matches.

Dont know about the above player but I have x-fi audigy 2 sound card and having the studdering issue. Any ideas for work arounds or eta on fix?

I also have a SoundMax Digital Audio AD1986A I believe to be precise. When there are lots of sounds on the screen it seems to really bog down the game to the point that it is unplayable. I tried setting the audio settings to low and reverb to off, but it still slows way down to the point that it's unplayable. I know my hardwarde is up to snuff, I run WiC at high at 1280x1024 and don't have a problem and the game seems to start fine, but once the enemy shows up and things get going the large number of samples seem to cause a massive slow down. Any ideas?

That said, I love the game and Stardock! You guys do a lot of great things. I'll try to be patient for a work around.

I posted on another thread that I had the exact same symptoms as some of the guys above (stutering sound, extremly bad performance) and updating my sound drivers (SB Audigy 2) solved the problems.  So update all your drivers, make sure your DirectX is up to date, etc.