Sound skips snaps crackle and pop

rosthorn

New Member
Problem - Sound skips, crackles and pops on
Creative
On board sound
USB headphones

Any ideas?

Asus P5n-D
4 gig ram
Vista 64 Ultimate
Nvidia 8800gt
Quad core
Creatice XFi
2 SATA drives as mirror raid
third SATA drive as OS drive
 

My Computer

Hello Rosthorn and welcome to the site,


Vista has had this issue for some selected devices since the first alpha releases over 3 years ago, while they have fixed the issue for nearly everyone sometimes some users will still get the same problem...

Unfortunately for you at this time there are only three ways to solve the glitch either try another sound device and see if its just your on-board sound or find the manufacturers certified vista driver, otherwise your only last option is a clean re-install of Vista.

dmex
 

My Computer

Im sorry to hear that rosthorn, If two sound cards are having the same problem your going to have todo a clean reinstall of Vista to fix the problem now...

That bug has been there a long time and is almost impossible to fix, unfortunately you where one in a million who gets the error and a clean reinstall is the only way I know will permanently fix the problem.

dmex
 

My Computer

Go into Vista's Control Panel and open the Sound applet
Select your output device in the list that appears
NOTE: the default output device is commonly labeled Speakers
Right click on the device and from the context menu click Properties.
Click on the Enhancements TAB.
Then CHECK the box [x] for Disable all enhancements.
 

My Computer

Remove 2GB of RAM and see if you still have a problem. This is a well known problem with the Creative X-Fi, nvidia chipsets and Vista or XP (x64 versions) with 4GB of RAM. I would have hoped this was fixed since it has existed since the nForce 4 chipsets 3 years ago. Just pull 2GB and check it out.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9450 SLAWR
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    8GB OCZ SLI 5-4-4-12@800
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX 8800 GTX 768MB (2)
    Sound Card
    Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster 214T
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    300GB VelociRaptor / 750GB / 500GB / 750GB
    PSU
    Antec 1000W TPQ
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    4 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 8000
    Mouse
    Logitech G7, Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    3Mb
I had the exact same problem and tried every possible solution for my x-fi extreme, it worked fine under xp32 with 4gigs of ram but as soon as i moved to vista 64 the problem occured. I was not willing to loose 2 gigs of ram so decided to put my old audigy2 zs in which works but i cant get surround sound it all comes through the front speakers, in the creative software for selecting speaker set up it is blank :(. So i am now looking for an alternative to creative. Any ideas?

here is my set up
Dell 710 xps
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
4 Gigs DDR2-SDRAM PC2-5300
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS x2 Dual
AGEIA PhysX 100 Series PCI Card
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (X-FI removed after vista install)
NVIDIA RAID Stripe 500 Gig (Dual HDD config)
Creative Inspire T7900 7:1 Speaker system.
Logitech G15 (Blue) Gamers keyboard.
Logitech MX518 Gamers Mouse.
Saitek Cyborg Evo.
Vista Home Premium SP1 x64
 

My Computer

So i am now looking for an alternative to creative. Any ideas?

here is my set up
Dell 710 xps
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
4 Gigs DDR2-SDRAM PC2-5300
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS x2 Dual
AGEIA PhysX 100 Series PCI Card
Creative SB Audigy 2 ZS (X-FI removed after vista install)
NVIDIA RAID Stripe 500 Gig (Dual HDD config)
Creative Inspire T7900 7:1 Speaker system.
Logitech G15 (Blue) Gamers keyboard.
Logitech MX518 Gamers Mouse.
Saitek Cyborg Evo.
Vista Home Premium SP1 x64

Auzen X-Fi Prelude 7.1. Works perfectly with my setup (although I only have 5.1).

Q6600 / XFX 780i - BIOS P04
8GB OCZ SLI PC2-6400
2x XFX 8800GTX
Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Klipsch ProMedia 5.1
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9450 SLAWR
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    8GB OCZ SLI 5-4-4-12@800
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX 8800 GTX 768MB (2)
    Sound Card
    Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster 214T
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    300GB VelociRaptor / 750GB / 500GB / 750GB
    PSU
    Antec 1000W TPQ
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    4 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 8000
    Mouse
    Logitech G7, Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    3Mb
Ok will need to safe up for that its £120 over here and i am gonna replace my graphic cards first.
Thanks for help.

You're welcome.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9450 SLAWR
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    8GB OCZ SLI 5-4-4-12@800
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX 8800 GTX 768MB (2)
    Sound Card
    Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster 214T
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    300GB VelociRaptor / 750GB / 500GB / 750GB
    PSU
    Antec 1000W TPQ
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    4 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 8000
    Mouse
    Logitech G7, Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    3Mb
Has anyone tried going up to 8bg as a cure? As I have 2 banks of 2GB, thus 2 banks free I would rather spend the money on more ram then yet another graphics card. Just a thought.
 

My Computer

Has anyone tried going up to 8bg as a cure? As I have 2 banks of 2GB, thus 2 banks free I would rather spend the money on more ram then yet another graphics card. Just a thought.

I believe the problem exists when the device buffers are place in an address higher than 4GB. I know there have been a few problems with Creative and their X-Fi drivers. There is an accusation out there that they are not doing all they can to get the X-Fi fully working with Vista and x64 OS's. But I don't really know and it's all internet speculation.

Anyway, I moved the Creative X-Fi Platinum to my kid's machine and installed an Auzen X-Fi Prelude on mine. For some reason, Auzen's X-Fi implementation works perfectly. I moved to 8GB AFTER I ditched the Creative X-Fi, so I haven't tested that config.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Q9450 SLAWR
    Motherboard
    XFX 780i
    Memory
    8GB OCZ SLI 5-4-4-12@800
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX 8800 GTX 768MB (2)
    Sound Card
    Auzen X-Fi Prelude / Logitech Z-5500 Digital 5.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster 214T
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    300GB VelociRaptor / 750GB / 500GB / 750GB
    PSU
    Antec 1000W TPQ
    Case
    Antec 900
    Cooling
    4 x 120mm, 1 x 200mm
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 8000
    Mouse
    Logitech G7, Razer Lachesis
    Internet Speed
    3Mb
I had this problem, when I had a P5N32-E SLI motherboard, and a year before that one of the hybrid AMD Crossfire boards. What ultimately fixed it was to dump Live OneCare which I used when I listened to WVXU, in Ohio over the net, not bother with Trend Micro Internet Security 2008, which causes this bug, starting with the 2006 version.

The bug I mentioned with Trend Micro Internet Security, still exists to this day and Trend Micro will not fix it, and all they do is blame everything else, just like Microsoft with their Live OneCare, and it's associated bugs and performance problems that I've ran in to lately. I've personally seen programs do weird things and end up affecting hardware.

I'm not saying this is the case every time, but it is something to think about, that if you have either of the two programs I mention installed get rid of it, and move on.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Core 2 Duo E6600
    Motherboard
    Intel 975XBX2
    Memory
    8GB's of DDR2 800
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon 3870X2
    Sound Card
    HT Omega Claro
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2030wm Widescreen LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    120GB
    200GB
    320GB
    PSU
    ThermalTake Toughpower 700
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    four 120mm fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Intellimous Explorer 2.0
    Internet Speed
    10MB
    Other Info
    16X LG DVDROM & LG Dual Layer DVD Burner
    Logitech X-540 speakers
I tried a fresh install with the system stripped to the bone.

Onboard sound card = sound fantastic.

Brought all main board drivers up to date

=Sound fantastic

added Promise raid controler

= Sound fantastic

Installeed Nvidia 64bit drivers for the 8800GT
> sound went to c**p

Looks like a culptit.

So windows VGA drivers for the 8800GT and great sound.
or
high perfomance graphics and terrible sound?

What a choice
 

My Computer

The new CL drivers were supposed to fix the snapping with >4GB of RAM. It did for some but not all. Try uninstalling the drivers and running a driver cleaner, rebooting and reinstalling the latest drivers.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    pair of Intel E5430 quad core 2.66 GHz Xeons
    Motherboard
    Supermicro X7DWA-N server board
    Memory
    16GB DDR667
    Graphics Card(s)
    eVGA 8800 GTS 640 MB video card
    Hard Drives
    SAS RAID
Its not the CL drivers - its the Nvidia graphics drivers doing it.

Today I did 2 furthur virgin istalls, it all heads south when I install Nvidia 8800 drivers. If I then roll back to Vista VGA driver in device manager it cures it, (but I loose the functions of Nvidia drivers.

4gb ram
Vista 64
 

My Computer

Its not the CL drivers - its the Nvidia graphics drivers doing it.

Today I did 2 furthur virgin istalls, it all heads south when I install Nvidia 8800 drivers. If I then roll back to Vista VGA driver in device manager it cures it, (but I loose the functions of Nvidia drivers.

4gb ram
Vista 64

Uh huh. THAT is why Creative admitted to sabotaging their sound cards by NOT creating VISTA compatible drivers and then threatening DanielK with legal action if he continued to make drivers that made Creative sound cards work with Vista. This is a well documented and world wide issue covered by many media outlets. It was admitted on Creatives' website on their forums by one of their SR. VP's. They told DanielK that if they CHOOSE to not make their current sound cards work with Vista so folks have to buy their new ones, that is a business decision that THEY will make. This is not hearsay, it's words out of the horses ass.

You MAY be able to get rid of the snap crackle pop from a creative sound card, but you will NOT be able to get it to perform like it did with XP or any other version of Windows, especially not in 5.1. Creative doesn't WANT it to perform, they want you to buy a new card when they decide to release one. There is a reason why a card that cost $150 a month ago is down to $90 as of Monday. Not everyone has gotten the word, but most have. Creative is screwing it's customers. It's sad, I have never bought a Sound card that wasn't from Creative, I'm 46 years old and have bought many. I won't buy another. Auzen looks like a good candidate to unseat the lost king Creative.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2Quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    nForce 790i Ultra SLI(evga)
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 e-GeForce 9800GX2(SLI mode)
    Hard Drives
    WD1500AHFD
    (Raptor 150 GB 10,000 RPM)
The issue I described was the on board sound on Nvidia P5N-D Mainboard.

I have already abandoned the creative card.

The Nvidia 8800 drivers conflict with all sound (and USB head phones / mikes (making voice recognition impossible)).

It only starts when 8800 drivers are loaded
 

My Computer

The issue I described was the on board sound on Nvidia P5N-D Mainboard.

I have already abandoned the creative card.

The Nvidia 8800 drivers conflict with all sound (and USB head phones / mikes (making voice recognition impossible)).

It only starts when 8800 drivers are loaded

LOL sorry about my diatribe then. I thought you were still trying to get the Creative card to work. i can't help you, I can't stand the weak sound I get from MY onboard nVidia card. Forgive me for asking again but I DID read that you have already updated your drivers, correct? But have you flashed your BIOS as well? I lack the knowledge to know if that would make a difference to your sound, but I can't see that it would hurt............

EDIT: Are you using nTune?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core2Quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    nForce 790i Ultra SLI(evga)
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    2 e-GeForce 9800GX2(SLI mode)
    Hard Drives
    WD1500AHFD
    (Raptor 150 GB 10,000 RPM)
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