Rather odd onboar sound problem

[Branoic]

Hi everyone,

Here's hoping you can help me. I've just invested in a brand spanking new system:

--Shuttle SB81P Barebone S-775
I915G,16x PCI-E,S-ATA, GbLAN, 350W

--NEC DVD recorder ND-3520A IDE Black
Bulk,DVD+R/+RW/DVD-R/-RW (Dual layer)

--Sapphire Radeon X700PRO 256MB GDDR3
PCI Express,Tv-Out, DVI-I

--Intel Pentium 4 550 3.4 GHz
Socket LGA775, 1MB cache

--Corsair TWINX1024-4000PRO DDR-DIMM 1024M
Kit w/two matched CMX512-4000PRO DIMMs

--Maxtor DiamondMax 10 200GB S-ATA
8MB cache 7200RPM NCQ

--Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2
English OEM

--Creative Inspire T-3000 Speakers

The motherboard has an oboard 7.1 surround sound Realtek High Definition sound card.

The problem is, basically, crackling noises. The volume levels are set properly, I've got DirectX 9c, I've got the latest drivers from Realtek, i've tried reducing my sound hardwear acceleration to "Basic". I've ensured that the problem is not the speakers by trying out headphones. I've checked that there are no resource conflicts. Nothing has worked. There's crackling/popping noises during the "chime" on Windows start up and with the other various standard Windows sounds. Also on games there is constant background crackling/distortion.

BUT: When I test the sound, either through "dxdiag", through the audio setup in Control Panel, or through the Realtek interface, everything is crystal clear. Likewise, audio CDs play perfectly!

I don't understand. Help!

 

[smileygladhands]

Re: Onboard sound problem

I would check out this thread regarding your speakers.

click here for thread

This was my theory after reading your issue anyways.

Since it doesn't sound like it is your speaker wiring, you should be able to bypass onboard and use a PCI sound card. Hopefully, that should resolve the problem.


Good luck

 

[digitaloracle]

I beleive it might be a generic onboard sound problem. I get those sorts of sounds on my machine as well, not wile playing music (yet!), but durning games. Additionally, whenever my computer has not made a sound since winodws booted, or whenever it hasn't made a sound ofr a while, it will pop as it "wakes up."

 

[Crysalis]

It is your onboard sound. I'm 90% sure of it. I dont know why so many people rely on onboard! Invest a little more money in a halfway decent sound card and it will do better than onboard by far. No one seems to like to listen, but its true!

I'm not trying to show off by saying i have a better sound card either. I got fed up with onboard and then cheap sound cards so I bought a worthwhile soundcard. My computer sounds awesome because of it. NO crackling, NO static, NO hiss, NO hum, NOTHING but AUDIO.

I can't say it enough - ONBOARD SUCKS

 

[smileygladhands]

Crysalis makes a good point. No one wants to spend extra money when they've just dumped a huge amount on a new system.
But, even with a decent $20/$30 sound card, you will notice a huuuge difference. I know I have since I switched from my onboard audio. Not to mention the burden you take off of your cpu.
Okay, I guess I just mentioned it.. nevermind.. SHUT UP!

 

[digitaloracle]

I agree as well. If I had the money, I would galdly pay $30 simply to get rid of the pops and crackles I get in some games. I unfortunaly don't have the speakers to be able to tell the diff between clean sound signals.