Sound problem with second PC

[BloodOmen]

Ok, so i've been trying to sort out a secondary pc for double logging purposes etc and I have this very annoying problem its using a cheap ass £5 sound card although I don't think thats the problem basicly what happens is this- When i first installed windows everything was working fine etc on it then all of a sudden the sound starts to get VERY crackly and no matter what I try it won't go back to normal... so I formatted it to see if it was the sound card or not but it wasn't the crackly noise only seems to come back like 2-3 days after a format so i'm thinking its possible a setting somewhere with windows or some form of fuck up that can be fixed.



Anyone got any ideas? its driving me insane as I like to listen to music on 2nd comp while i'm gaming on the main pc.


p.s i'll post a dxdiag for what its worth

I can post additional information if needed :S

------------------
System Information
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Time of this report: 10/13/2007, 17:03:25
Machine name: PC2
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 291MB used, 2169MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

 

[caLLous]

I had something similar and it ended up being a fault with the speakers. Well, I bought new speakers and the problem went away, that's as far as my diagnostic skillz took me on this one.

 

[Kryten]

does it not have onboard sound you can use?

 

[BloodOmen]

does it not have onboard sound you can use?

Does aye since I posted this thread its been fixed :> had something to do with the sound card heh the reason I didn't use onboard sound in the first place is one of the jacks was broken on the motherboard but my mate pointed out that it had jack sensing on so I can plug my speakers into my mic jack and just swap the config around works fine now thx for the replies tho.

 

[Kryten]

ah i see : good to hear then

 

[Gray]

Strange. I was going to just make an exact same thread on this now.

For many many moons, ive been having a minor issue with crackling coming through my headphones [Always been a headphones user since Counterstrike. Goodness!].

Anyway, while i knew this problem existed, it didnt cause me many problems, but the crackling has since become quite sharp to my ears, and much louder than it usually was.

Previously the crackling just happened anytime i had my headset on [Whether it was browsing the internet, playing music, games etc] but after a short while i would get used to it somewhat - But now with the apparent "sharpness" i know that its there.

I havent been that lucky when it comes to headsets/headphones. Over the past 6-7 years ive gone through more of them than i have shoes, but credit to these Seinhesier ones - They have been fairly stable so i dont have any problems.

I did check on the internet tonight what could be causing this, PROBLEM is, there could be two major issues and it could be either one of them. The first one is i have a Soundblaster Audigy Soundcard, and secondly i have an Asus A7N8X-E [Deluxe] -Which i *think* is an NForce[2?4?] Chipset.

And it seems to be the Chipset or the Soundblaster causing the issue. When i search for Soundblaster - It brings up the X-Fi [I think?] but that isnt my model - But it is a Soundblaster. Problem is there doesnt seem to be a perfect fix for it.

I havent really done any work on my PC in years [Literally] im more "un"confident to actually check through the BIOS and things and mess around with Registry stuff.

I'll be seeing whats available over the next month or two in regards to getting a new PC. Chances are *i* wont be building it because i think its far too advanced for me now and i havent been keeping up, but i'll probably get someone to build one for me. In the meantime im stuck with this shit of crackling occuring!

 

[Kryten]

Odd - similarly to my previous post, have you tried the onboard? Of course bear in mind that having an nForce2 motherboard you've got soundstorm on board - which is far superior to the Audigy 2's and comparible if not slightly better than the X-Fi, depending on what you're doing with it.

Crackling otherwise is normally a sign of interference - and for some reason I have something tapping my brain suggesting this is a known issue with sound blasters and those Asus boards.

In fact - a quick google around confirms that, certainly from Creative's forums, and not just for Vista users. So for the time being, put your Sound Blaster aside and "make do" with the Soundstorm onboard.

The only "loss" you'll have with that is full EAX support - but coming onto your last comments re a new system, if you of course chose to use Vista, you'll lose EAX (in it's completion) anyway.

Otherwise the only two things you can do other than remove the card, is removing any possible means of interference - other than the obvious such as phones and what not, things like wireless headphones and other FM transmitters nearby can cause havoc (especially for those of us with the old Creative labs speakers that used to pick up radio even when turned off!).
You can do something similar in your PC by going into the bios and locating and turning *ON* "spread spectrum" - this has a few different names across board manufacturers but normally contains the above two words That is designed to lower electrical interference across PCI devices on the motherboard and might be worth a shot.

 

[Gray]

At the moment i cant see anything which may cause interference, i did consider if it was some type of static coming from that but dont know.

The back-end of the PC is next to some electronic/electric things however - The USB/Bluetooth Hub, my USB Hub and not forgetting my 6 port Surge Protector - I think the SP might actually cause interference.

Hm

 

[Kryten]

It shouldn't do, but I've seen a few that "buzz" annoyingly, so It's possible I suppose.
Otherwise try the spread spectrum bits in the bios.