Audio Problems

[Guest]

I'm having problems with my audio. When I am playing music and using the PC
at the same time, the audio output distorts and breaks up. I have Windows XP
Home Edition and use Musicmatch for my mp3 files. My soundcard is
Turtlebeach Santa Cruz. My PC is a Sony PCV-RX560 with 512mb of RAM. Can
anyone suggest a fix/solution? Thank you.

 

[R. McCarty]

Which PCI Slot is the card installed into ? Numbering schemes
vary, but Slot #1 is generally considered to be adjacent to the
AGP slot (Light Brown in color, shorter than White PCI connectors).

 

[Guest]

I don't think this is a PCI Slot issue since I did not have this problem
until recently but the card is in slot 1. Thank you.

 

[R. McCarty]

The reason I asked that question is that most motherboards only
provide 2 independent IRQ slots in them. Most recent PCI cards
can handle IRQ Sharing without any issues. You may be right if
this is a recent occurrence that didn't involve any hardware changes.
Anyway, I would run MSInfo32.Exe, Expand Hardware Res. &
then click into the IRQ mapping and see where your Turtle Beach
is assigned. If it isn't sharing an IRQ then that isn't likely your cause.

Have you checked for a MusicMatch update lately ? -or updated
any other multimedia type app that might have replaced or updated
any Codecs.

 

[Guest]

I ran MSInfo32.exe. My Turtle Beach sound card is assigned to IRQ 22, but
Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System and NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller are
also assigned to IRQ 22.

I've updated all my software and drivers. Thanks.

 

[R. McCarty]

22 should be OK, as your Motherboard has an APIC which extends
normal IRQ mapping from 15 up to 23. However, IRQs have priority
and placing a Sound Card that high in the signaling tree may not be an
optimal setting. I would probably move the Sound card to Slot #2 or
Slot #5 which should give it an independent IRQ with a higher priority
such as 5 or 10.