Crackling sounds - weird!

[Vin]

hey,

I'm experiencing weird crackling and static-ish noises with some games.

Most popular games like Quake III, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2, FIFA 2003
etc sound okay, as do MP3s and general Windows sound events. But a few
games, Pacific Warriors 2, V-Rally 3 (the demo), etc are giving me grief.
I've also managed to replicate the crackling sound within the Windows
environment -- Open up Wordpad and keep the CTRL-END keys pressed together
(for 5-10 secs), this will result in a recurring ding noise, but in my
case, the ding sound doesn't complete playback before the next ding starts,
sounds like didididididing (instead of ding...ding...ding...ding). And while
the 'driiiiiiing' noise occurs, I can distinctly hear the crackling noise
through my speakers.

I would guess, the explosions and other sound effects in Pacific Warriors 2
(an action/arcade flight sim) are overlapping and causing the crackling.

What's even weirder is that if i playback an MP3 file in Windows Media
Player and repeat the Wordpad/CRTL-END exercise, i get the driiiiiiiiing
sound BUT without any static (i've tried keeping an MP3 running in the
background while playing Pacific Warriors 2, but that doesnt help, I'm
guessing games access the soundcard differently)

My Config: WinXP, XP 2400+, KT400, 512MB RAM, Radeon 9600 Pro, Sound Blaster
Live! Value

best,
vin

ps: I've tried fidding with the PCI Latency timer (currently at 32) and even
switching off Creative Labs\Sound Blaster Turbo setting in the registry, but
no luck

 

[*Vanguard*]

hey,

I'm experiencing weird crackling and static-ish noises with some
games.

Most popular games like Quake III, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2, FIFA
2003 etc sound okay, as do MP3s and general Windows sound events. But
a few games, Pacific Warriors 2, V-Rally 3 (the demo), etc are giving
me grief. I've also managed to replicate the crackling sound within
the Windows environment -- Open up Wordpad and keep the CTRL-END keys
pressed together (for 5-10 secs), this will result in a recurring
ding noise, but in my case, the ding sound doesn't complete playback
before the next ding starts, sounds like didididididing (instead of
ding...ding...ding...ding). And while the 'driiiiiiing' noise occurs,
I can distinctly hear the crackling noise through my speakers.

I would guess, the explosions and other sound effects in Pacific
Warriors 2 (an action/arcade flight sim) are overlapping and causing
the crackling.

What's even weirder is that if i playback an MP3 file in Windows Media
Player and repeat the Wordpad/CRTL-END exercise, i get the
driiiiiiiiing sound BUT without any static (i've tried keeping an MP3
running in the background while playing Pacific Warriors 2, but that
doesnt help, I'm guessing games access the soundcard differently)

My Config: WinXP, XP 2400+, KT400, 512MB RAM, Radeon 9600 Pro, Sound
Blaster Live! Value

best,
vin

ps: I've tried fidding with the PCI Latency timer (currently at 32)
and even switching off Creative Labs\Sound Blaster Turbo setting in
the registry, but no luck

A couple things that I would try:

- Run msconfig to disable all startup programs, reboot, and check if the
problem continues or goes away.

- Run Ad-Aware and/or Spybot to see if you have any covert keyloggers
installed.

- You mention a bunch of specs on your system but omit the most
important information: the keyboard you are using since that is the
device you are complaining about. If it is a non-standard keyboard
(multimedia, web functions, programmable, cordless, etc.) then make sure
you install the latest driver from the keyboard maker. If it is a
cordless keyboard, press the reset button on the receiver and then press
the reset button on the keyboard.

- Use the Keyboard applet in Control Panel to check your repeat rate and
also your delay before repeat. There might be other settings depending
on your unnamed keyboard.

 

[John Lee Brown]

A couple things that I would try:

- Run msconfig to disable all startup programs, reboot, and check if the
problem continues or goes away.

- Run Ad-Aware and/or Spybot to see if you have any covert keyloggers
installed.

- You mention a bunch of specs on your system but omit the most
important information: the keyboard you are using since that is the
device you are complaining about. If it is a non-standard keyboard
(multimedia, web functions, programmable, cordless, etc.) then make sure
you install the latest driver from the keyboard maker. If it is a
cordless keyboard, press the reset button on the receiver and then press
the reset button on the keyboard.

- Use the Keyboard applet in Control Panel to check your repeat rate and
also your delay before repeat. There might be other settings depending
on your unnamed keyboard.

--
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John Brown

Also you might try reducing your sound device acceleration to the minimum
and see if that helps. When I play Star Trek Armada that is what I have to
do or I get static and shortened soud effects.

 

[Phrederick]

hey,

I'm experiencing weird crackling and static-ish noises with some games.

Most popular games like Quake III, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2, FIFA 2003
etc sound okay, as do MP3s and general Windows sound events. But a few
games, Pacific Warriors 2, V-Rally 3 (the demo), etc are giving me grief.
I've also managed to replicate the crackling sound within the Windows
environment -- Open up Wordpad and keep the CTRL-END keys pressed together
(for 5-10 secs), this will result in a recurring ding noise, but in my
case, the ding sound doesn't complete playback before the next ding starts,
sounds like didididididing (instead of ding...ding...ding...ding). And while
the 'driiiiiiing' noise occurs, I can distinctly hear the crackling noise
through my speakers.

Soundcard... Creative makes a poor soundcard, then their drivers just make
it worse. This paired with a VIA chipset really emphasizes this. Not sure
who is worse though - Creative or VIA.

The only thing I can think of is to try the soundcard in a different slot,
or try removing the card and using the onboard sound (if you have it.)

IF you are using the digital out on the soundcard (yellow jack), the
plug/jack may be faulty. I had this happen to me. Using analog was fine, but
the digital jack had issues.