Audigy SE Crackling...

Jamxx

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I just purchased a SoundBlaster Audigy SE (cheap, and old, I know, but it was only 30 bucks and was better than onboard audio) and I'm having a very annoying problem with it. I've tried everything I know (older/newer drivers, searching on the Internet, etc.) to try to stop this annoying crackling noise that happens in a few songs that I listen to... Does anyone know how to get rid of them? I've tried installing the drivers only and installing Creative's programs as well, to no avail. It isn't a constant noise, but it comes off and on depending on what part of the song (it's always the same parts).

If you need any more information, I'll try to get it for you. This is just so frustrating!

Thanks for your help!
 
Have you tried reseeding it? maybe it's just the song that is corrupted, what song is it? and is it only in a few select songs this happenes?
 
I have tried that, and it isn't the song because when I used onboard sound it did not happen.
 
Uh, such as? I don't know exactly what you're talking about... The only other PCI card I'm using is a firewire card (IEEE 1394) and I took my fan controller out which I thought might have something to do with it.
 
Okay, so, big update. I took the card back to OfficeDepot (where I got it) and they had the X-Fi XtremeMusic for 80 bucks. Needless to say, I purchased that, thinking all of my problems would be solved. Not the case... It sounds a LOT better, granted, but the static still happens in the same place in that song... I've noticed it happening in a few other songs too. Volume settings have nothing to do with it either. I have the most recent drivers from the Creative website.

Anyone have any ideas? I forgot I had a Firewire card installed (PCI) as well, and I took that out, but it didn't change anything. Right now, my X-Fi is the only card I have installed except the video card.

EDIT: Would reformatting be a good option? It is a pain, but I'm willing to try it if anyone thinks that is a good idea. I'm an audiophile and this is driving me absolutely insane!
 
It could be a corrupt music file if you downloaded it. If it was from a CD it should be even better than Lossless, so that wouldn't be the case.
 
Jamxx said:
Okay, so, big update. I took the card back to OfficeDepot (where I got it) and they had the X-Fi XtremeMusic for 80 bucks. Needless to say, I purchased that, thinking all of my problems would be solved. Not the case... It sounds a LOT better, granted, but the static still happens in the same place in that song... I've noticed it happening in a few other songs too. Volume settings have nothing to do with it either. I have the most recent drivers from the Creative website.

Anyone have any ideas? I forgot I had a Firewire card installed (PCI) as well, and I took that out, but it didn't change anything. Right now, my X-Fi is the only card I have installed except the video card.

EDIT: Would reformatting be a good option? It is a pain, but I'm willing to try it if anyone thinks that is a good idea. I'm an audiophile and this is driving me absolutely insane!

This problem can be caused by noise across the PCI bus, and this PCI bus noise can frequently caused by a bad power supply.
 
No, it's not a corrupt music file. I have it on my laptop and it doesn't do it at all. With onboard sound, it doesn't do it either.

I'm pretty sure my PSU is fine; it has never failed on me before.

Looking on Google for near 2 hours turned up that it is a very common problem with the NForce 4 chipset. Apparently, there is some conflict between it and the onboard memory on the X-Fi. The strange thing is is that my Audigy SE did the exact same thing, which doesn't have the memory or even the same audio chipset. That's what puzzles me. I need to reformat anyway, so that's a possible option as I said if anyone thinks that will help it.
 
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