Why do I have an approx. 500 millisecond delay when an audio file is played in Windows Vista?

The problem occurs regardless of the program that calls the audio to be played. For example, in IE, many times you get an error dialog box when you hit "back" and the page cannot be displayed unless the page is "refreshed" first. When that happens, a windows defauly "chime" is played. On my computer, I see the dialog box pop up and I have time to click the on before I even hear the "chime" sound. It's quite annoying and I appreciate anyone's help to fix the problem. Thank you!