at times no sound and at times sound is hesitant and fragmented

Note:This pc at one time had opensuse from 11.0 to 42.3 installed on it and the sound was always good. I decided to try Tumbleweed out and the sound has never worked.
NOW:When I play music, at first I was getting no sound, I ran alsamixer and found my master control was almost muted. I corrected this and now I can hear the music, but it is very hesitant and fragmented.
Using on-board sound of Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe m/board. PulseAudio is installed and running. 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller. Driver snd-hda-intel. Codec ALC898.

Starting at this page:
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Audio_troubleshooting

a] Installed pavucontrol - when I run pavucontrol the window is very jumpy and will not allow me to change any settings.
b] Install alsa-firmware deemed unnecessary as I am running Tumbleweed - pls correct if I have misunderstood.

Step 1]

labud@install:~> speaker-test -Dplug:front -c2 -l5 -twav 
speaker-test 1.1.9
Playback device is plug:front
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
WAV file(s)
Playback open error: -16,Device or resource busy
labud@install:~>

errors occured, ran

labud@install:~> speaker-test -c2 -l5 -twav 
speaker-test 1.1.9
Playback device is default
Stream parameters are 48000Hz, S16_LE, 2 channels
WAV file(s)
Rate set to 48000Hz (requested 48000Hz)
Buffer size range from 96 to 1048576
Period size range from 32 to 349526
Using max buffer size 1048576
Periods = 4
was set period_size = 262144
was set buffer_size = 1048576
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right
Time per period = 1.918517
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right
Time per period = 2.384252
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right
Time per period = 2.543103
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right
Time per period = 3.125372
 0 - Front Left
 1 - Front Right
Time per period = 1.443225
labud@install:~>

Result - Sound from both speakers at the right moment, but sound hesitant and fragmented.

Step 2] YAST > HARDWARE > SOUND > OTHER > TEST -no sound
YAST > HARDWARE > SOUND > OTHER > VOLUME - volume is at 100% on both master and PCM - no sound heard on hitting test button.
Note: I can play an audio file and although the sound is fragmented, I can hear it.
YAST > HARDWARE > SOUND - deleted audio card and 50-sound.conf file. After deletetion I can still play an mp3 file but it is very bad.
-Reinstalled sound card. Still cannot hear anything when I press “TEST” button after new install. In running alsamixer I note that auto-mute is enabled and I cannot change it.

Step 3]

labud@install:~> cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k5.3.12-1-default.
labud@install:~> 

labud@install:~> cat /proc/asound/modules
 0 snd_hda_intel
labud@install:~>
labud@install:~> cat /proc/asound/cards
0 [PCH            ]: HDA-Intel - HDA Intel PCH 
                     HDA Intel PCH at 0xf7e30000 irq 61 
labud@install:~> 

running this

 /usr/sbin/alsa-info.sh

in terminal produced this:
http://alsa-project.org/db/?f=8776cccae5b71d64f808a59d807d6ad808cf22ad

In looking at this available information I understand the info in the 1st 20 lines and the codec is ALC898. The rest is foreign to me.

Doing a search on the alsa page for ALC898, I get this:
https://www.alsa-project.org/main/index.php/Special:Search?search=ALC898&go=Go
which just talks about the changes and detailed changes. Not really understanding this info either.

Step 4] I am not sure an update is necessary, my alsa version is:

labud@install:~> cat /proc/asound/version
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version k5.3.12-1-default.
labud@install:~> 

Step 5] I have search for this file [HD-Audio-Models.txt] and cannot find it.

I am needing some advice at this point, as I don’t understand why I can play an mp3 file [albeit sound is horrible], but when I am in YAST>Hardware>Sound I cannot hear anything when the TEST button is pushed, even tho the volume is at 100% on Master and PCM.
Does it have anything to do with when I open alsamixer the auto-mute is enabled? If so, How do I correct this?
What are the other things I may need to do to correct this problem?
Thank You.