Distorted sound at analog Audio CD playback

by **jacktheripper** on Thu Jan 03, 2008 2:09 pm

No software on Creative? Thats odd....you have which X-Fi?

by **Han** on Thu Jan 03, 2008 2:12 pm

Check my second post...

by **jacktheripper** on Sat Jan 05, 2008 3:50 am

My bad

But there is drivers...released as recent as Oct 07.

1. Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio Pack 1.04.0078 (40.71 MB) 4 Oct 07

I went to Soundblaster.com and went through support...then dug my way through there to get the drivers.

by **Han** on Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:32 am

I've spotted that driver pack, too, but I think it's not for PCIe model... It wouldn't help anyway, because I can hear pops even when not in Windows - before I install any driver for it...

I'm making some final tests today. If I won't get rid of pops, I'll remove SB X-Fi out of my case and install SB Live!, which might work well with the old SCSI card...

by **Han** on Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:39 am

SCSI is back in, as is SB Live! (just above the SCSI), and... well... after a while (two hours) I heard a few quiet pops. I'm beginning to wonder whether there's an issue with the motherboard. :-k

Now I just don't know what to do. X-Fi sounds is sooo much better! Will check the onboard's HD audio one more time without PCI cards...

by **jacktheripper** on Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:24 pm

I'd be looking into your motherboard...as you said. Clicks and pops beyond windows would be sure fire of something far worse since your X-fi will need drivers to run and operate where static and ugly noise would just leak through no matter what.

I think that driver pack isn't specific to your slot of choice. PCI-X or PCI I think the drivers would work just the same.

by **Han** on Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:42 pm

Well, on Creative's site it says that these new drivers are specifically for SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio... that is for older PCI, not for PCI Express. I've downloaded it anyway but the setup stops since it can't detect the card...

I've been listening to onboard's audio for an hour thru speakers and earphones. To my surprise I haven't heard any pops. The only PCI card left in the system is now the firewire card, which I believe doesn't cause any additional EMI while not in use.

That encouraged me to put SB X-Fi back for one more test. [-o<

by **Han** on Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:26 pm

Looking good... no pops on X-Fi for now.

I've spotted a fix for HD Audio support in Windows XP SP3 (RC v3264).

by **Han** on Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:04 pm

Going to bed now. Heard a couple of minor pops, though. I'll leave it that way for a week. In the meantime Creative Tech support should post a reply to my message. Maybe they've contacted Gigabyte for any motherboard/BIOS issues... I really hope to solve this in the close future.

by **jacktheripper** on Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:18 pm

Whoa! SP3!

I'm behind the times it seems...

Have you scoped the Gigabyte forums regarding your board for EMI issues? Or perhaps your model of Mobo w/ X-Fi X-Press? Might be worth a look.

by **Han** on Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:57 am

It's a Release Candidate (RC) SP3 for WinXP... not a final build! :wink:

Haven't found an official Gigabyte forum. And there's nothing about PCI Express X-Fi cards yet...

Creative tech support replied I should try the card in another PC, which is not possible at the moment as I don't have a spare PC with PCI Express slot. Otherwise I should send the card for RMA. It's interesting, though, that I heard some really nasty pops on X-Fi while playing a typewriter sound repeatedly. When I did that thru the Realtek onboard audio I didn't hear any sound distortion!

Hmm, perhaps it would be worth to try a setup without PCI Express graphics. I have an old Matrox Mystique 4 MB PCI graphic card, which should work fine for some basic tests in WinXP. That way I could make sure whether ATI Radeon HD 3850 causes any excessive EMI...

Distorted sound at analog Audio CD playback

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