Sound Crackles on Multiple Sound cards and speakers!

[louie55]

I am running Windows XP Pro SP2 and I have a problem with my sound
crackling when ever ANY sound plays. At first, I thought it was the
sound card (onboard VIA), so, I got out a USB Creative Sound Blaster
external Audio Device and installed it thinking that would solve the
problem, but it still does the same thing! So, then I figured it had to
be the speakers or the speaker cord, so, I tried a new cord, still does
it, then, I unplugged the speakers completely and plugged headphones
in, STILL the same! The only thing I can think of is that it is a
problem internal to Windows XP somehow?? Is that not logical thinking
since it did it with 2 different sound cards and 2 different sets of
speakers???

I have done some Googling on the subject and haven't found much. Many
say to turn the system volume down from MAX, that didn't help. Most of
the problems I found, it was happening when people were trying to
multitask and it would crackle when they were clicking, or scrolling,
or doing something else. That is not the case with me. I can just push
play and sit back and not touch the mouse or keyboard and it will do
it. It happens no matter what music player program I use. It even
happens during windows sounds, not just music.

I have 376 MB of RAM, so I don't think it is a resource problem. I do
have a few programs running in the background, but, with only the
background programs running, I have over 200 MB of free physical RAM. I
don't know what else to try?? Any help would be appreciated.

Louie

 

[Heirloom]

This may be waaaay too obvious.......after installing the USB Sound Blaster,
did you disable the onboard sound??
Heirloom, old and just a thought

 

[louie55]

Well, since the onboard sound had the cracking problem too, I just
figured the problem wasn't related to the other sound card. So, no, I
haven't disabled it, because I am almost sure it won't fix it.

But, I will do it anyway!

Louie

 

[louie55]

Ok, I disabled the onboard sound in Device Manager. Problem is stil
there.

I suppose I could try to disable it at the BIOS level since it i
onboard, but I don't really see any sense in it.

Loui

 

[Bob I]

Could be hardware at most any level, some connection on the motherboard
loose and the sound system just amplifies it.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq.]

http://www.abxzone.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-1500.html


masterblaster03-14-2001, 12:18 PM
Thanks to all who have attempted to solve this problem. I am sick of Creative
Labs ignoring this issue. I just e-mailed them the following letter. If I get
any results, I'll post it here.

------------------------------------------------------

Creative Tech Support,

I am experiencing electrical popping noises and white noise at start-up? And
even worse that that, when I'm playing games such as Quake III, many of the
sounds, (like rocket explosion sounds), are ALL DISTORTION. This sounds really
lousy on my speakers. I recently upgraded from a Sounblaster PCI128, and had
never had this problem with that card. I currently have the SB-Live 5.1 MP3+,
and ......

SB-LIVE MP3+ 5.1 sound card
Cambridge Acoustics satellites(2) w/ a subwoofer.
Asus CUSL-2 Motherboard Rev. 1002 BIOS
Pentium III-550E
256 MB of PC133

I've tried disabling the Creative SB16 emulation in the Device Manager, and this
did not help at all. After searching for help on the internet and on Creative's
Online Troubleshooting area, I decided to call Creative Tech Support. I was on
hold for quite some time for this toll call. Once connected with a technical
support agent at Creative, he told me (and I quote) "it's a Microsoft Windows
problem, not a Soundblaster Live problem"....(he went on to say)...."not to have
a big head, but creative cards are so superior to other sound cards that they
use alot of system resources, and the Windows o/s just can't handle it." I told
him that I felt that this statement was completely ridiculous and unacceptable!
I told him that there are plenty of competitive sound cards to date that are as
good or better that Creative cards, (ie, the Phillips Acoustic Edge, or Hercules
Game Theater XP, etc.), and that Creative Labs claims to be creating sound cards
to operate within the Windows Operating Systems. This IS how they market their
cards anyway, to operate under Windows. If anything, they should be catering to
Windows, not the other way around. This tech support guy would have me believe
that Creative cards are just "too good" for windows. He refused to help me and
made no suggestions at all. Keep in mind that I NEVER once raised my voice, but
simply was honest and straight forward with him.

I've tried countless technical support forums over the last month, including
creative labs' FAQ section, but it proved worthless on the topic. Now I've tried
calling creative tech support, and that proved a waste of MY time and MY money
for the toll call. Many, many people are having this problem. I've seen it on
tons of tech support forums. Why can't I get a straight answer? Soundblaster
Live cards are the most popular cards around! Why is this problem being ignored?

I have my SB card in PCI slot #3 with IRQ #5 reserved in the BIOS. Under the
Device Manager IRQ settings, IRQ #5 is still sharing:
1) ACPI IRQ holder for PCI IRQ Steering
2) Intel USB universal host controller 2444

I've also tried disabling "ACPI", and "Plug and Play O/S." This fix was proposed
on the 3D Sound Surge Forum for Creative Labs Soundblaster Live Cards.

http://www.3dsoundsurge.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000053.html

I am at a loss for how to get my Soundblaster Live working correctly. I really
hope that my e-mail is not ignored, but properly addressed. Creative Labs should
not ignore such a huge problem.

----------------------------------------------------

We'll see if they respond, or continue to ignore.

MB


*************************************************
masterblaster03-17-2001, 01:33 PM
It seems like too much trouble to screw with anymore. If Creative Labs doesn't
put out new drivers with a fix, then screw it. I'll just get rid of my
SoundBlaster, and get a different sound card, not a Creative product.

MB

*****************************************************

FuNkY03-22-2001, 07:24 PM
Hey Klesk2000...this is the exact same problem I had under Win2k, and it was
poor creative drivers and IRQ sharing with the Live card. This is what actually
pushed me to try the Philips Card which would blue screen instead of cause
distortion.

I spent many hours on this problem and lets just say I escalated it as far as I
can go without utilizing an official channel to do so. I spent several hours
with a debugger and found most of it being caused by a very poorly written
EMU10K1F.SYS file (which is Creative's driver). Most are caused by stressing
their 3D sound functions...even without EAX turned on.

As for why it only happens in games...it's the only place you push EMU10K1F.SYS
to it's limits. You can actually reproduce it under Windows fairly easy by
repeating a CD quality sound very rapidly.

I will be happy to go through a repro on my machine with you, although some off
my components are a little different. Feel free to check out
http://www.funderburks.com/dan/ under Hardware to compare hardware if
interested.

A big caution I would give you is you need to pay very close attention to which
version of drivers you need to use (not always the latest). It will take some
time to get everything done, but I'm sure we can get it fixed for you.

FuNkY
***********************************************

Klesk200004-08-2001, 05:30 PM
I suggest to all the people getting this poping/clicking sound problem to call
Creative Labs tech support at 1-405-742-6655 and let them know you are getting
it because that is the only way they will get the problem worked on. Right now,
whenever I call, I ask how many other people call about these poping sound
issues. They said quote "next to none". What that means is that they are not
getting enough people calling about this problem which means they are seeing it
as a "isolated" incident. If they think it is isolated, and they can't reproduce
the problem in their labs, they will not fix it because they don't think it is a
"big" enough problem. I know at least 30 other people with popping/clicking
sound problems on a variety of motherboard/CPU/speaker combinations. I have
tried the ASUSTeK K7V, Intel D815EP, and the ASUSTeK CUSL2-C motherboards. I get
the poping sounds with all of them. Personally, I think this is a power supply
issue. I got a question for you guys who are getting this problem, what EXACT
power supply manufacturer and model do you guys have? Also, what hard drive and
memory are you guys using?

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Ok, I disabled the onboard sound in Device Manager. Problem is still
there.

I suppose I could try to disable it at the BIOS level since it is
onboard, but I don't really see any sense in it.

The "sense in it" is that you've not yet exhausted all the obvious
choices.

If there's a BIOS entry where you can disable it, DO IT.

Otherwise, check the mainboard manual and see if there's a jumber
setting for disabling onboard sound.

 

[louie55]

I'm not sure if my problem is a Creative one since it did the same thin
with my onboard sound?? Unless it was a Creative product also?? I can'
find any specs on my motherboard because the manufacturer apparentl
went out of business because they are no where to be found.

Louie

 

[louie55]

Ok, I will try it, but I don't see how it will make any difference since
the onboard sound card had the same problem and it was the only sound
device in the PC at the time. I am sure the problem lies elsewhere.

Louie

 

[Heirloom]

Look at it this way, if the original onboard sound had the noise problem and
you add a new sound card without disabling the old onboard sound.....does it
not make sense that the problem will remain, in spite of the new card?
Heed Uncle Grumpy's advice, it is good.
Heirloom, old and makes sense to me

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

Look at it this way, if the original onboard sound had the noise problem and
you add a new sound card without disabling the old onboard sound.....does it
not make sense that the problem will remain, in spite of the new card?

YUP! If the onboard sound hasn't been disabled, then it's still
running. Thus the continuing problem.

Heed Uncle Grumpy's advice, it is good.

It is great, not good <smirk.

 

[Heirloom]

A severe understatement on my part, UG...........I can offer only the most
humble of apologies and a promise to do better in the future. Uncle Grumpy
rules.....
Heirloom, old and just a pawn
.....notice, nary a smirk.

 

[louie55]

Ok, first off. I don't want anybody here to think that I do not
appreciate their replies. I am by no means a computer expert, though I
do have experience. I appreciate VERY much all of your replies! I just
had a hard time seeing the logic in it. There may be something I don't
know about how sound controllers work, but why would the onboard sound
controller still being "on" effect the other external sound "card"??
Doesn't it use completely seperate controllers/drivers?? How could they
be linked??

I am just curious about this, but I am definitely going to listen to
you and try to disable it in the BIOS. I am not refusing that that is
the problem, I am just trying to see the logic in it for future
reference. Thanks again for your replies, and I will post again after I
disable it and let you know if anything changed.

Louie

 

[Heirloom]

Without a schematic, we will have to resort to similarities. Let's say you
had onboard video that went bad....even if you put in a new video card, you
would still have problems until the onboard video was out of the circuit
(disabled). With your current arrangement of onboard sound and a seperate
sound card, you are effectively operating them in parallel until you disable
the onboard circuit. I can't think of a simple way to put
this..........maybe I should just say, "trust us."
Heirloom, old and kill the onboard!

 

[louie55]

Yes, I see what you are saying. But, using your example, are you saying
that the new video card probably wouldn't work at all until you disable
the Onboard video? Or it just wouldn't work right?? I have done a LOT of
troubleshooting in a LOT of different areas (computers, electronics,
electrical, etc...) and one rule of thumb I have learned is that if
something isn't working right (or appears not to be working right) and
you replace that thing with a known working one and it still does the
same thing, that the problem is a little deeper.

But, we are not here to discuss troubleshooting methods, we are here to
discuss PC problems, and I very much agree that disabling it in the BIOS
was a VERY good idea. However, I have disabled it, and the problem still
remains. I guess back to the drawing board. Thanks again for all of your
replies, and I will appreciate any more input!

Louie

 

[Guest]

Yes, I see what you are saying. But, using your example, are you saying
that the new video card probably wouldn't work at all until you disable
the Onboard video? Or it just wouldn't work right?? I have done a LOT of
troubleshooting in a LOT of different areas (computers, electronics,
electrical, etc...) and one rule of thumb I have learned is that if
something isn't working right (or appears not to be working right) and
you replace that thing with a known working one and it still does the
same thing, that the problem is a little deeper.

But, we are not here to discuss troubleshooting methods, we are here to
discuss PC problems, and I very much agree that disabling it in the BIOS
was a VERY good idea. However, I have disabled it, and the problem still
remains. I guess back to the drawing board. Thanks again for all of your
replies, and I will appreciate any more input!

Louie

 

[Guest]

When I upgraded to XP Home I got the cracks and pops that weren't there with
Win98 and my Soundblaster card. I was using onboard Video but tried using my
old ATI 128 Rage video card instead and the problem went away! Maybe the
extra hardware and memory resources were all it took for my modest system.
Good luck. SoundBlaster does have a troubleshooting page for this kind of
problem, but I didn't try all of their suggestions before I stuck in the
video card.