Please help! Got Crackles/Pops from Optical out of soundcard??

[SledgeMCE]

New to this site normally use avforums, but after searching elsewhere regarding my problem found this site..

Can anyway help me with this problem i got my new sound card the sound blaster x-fi pci-e and have it hooked up to my onkyo tx 606 amp (via optical) but when i watch a film from the media center it crackles it even does it in the media center sounds when going through the options, but if i watch a dvd via the dvd-rom there seems to be no problems

has someone had this problem and managed to find out what it was.?.

i have tried using vlc player and the klm codec pack, and even the creative soudblaster software player

now i never had this problem when it was hooked up via analogue but i am new to toslink so dont know..

not sure if its in the setting of the sound card but from a quick look around there isnt much to change..

any suggestions?

[gil]

are you getting any sound at all apart from the crackles mate ???

i had a similar thing but i was using s/pdif coax and not optical and i had the wires crossed which gave me the crackles and no other audio at all

but if you are getting sound then some things to check

card plugged in fully ??? make sure its seated good and tight
make sure the backplate where the Toslink is connected does not have a loose wire or another wire touching it
always tricky but if at all possible , change the Optical cable or borrow one from a mate or another bit of kit , just to eliminate the cable being brocken somewhere or badly kinked
Drivers !!! i hear what you are saying about drivers but i`m no expert with that card or its drivers so couldnt advise i`m sure one of the other guys could help there though

hope you get it sorted mate , i hate probs like this , damn annoying not knowing the answer

just checking sledge , have you got the analogue stil connected as well as the Toslink ???

[SledgeMCE]

Firstly thanks for the reply, i do get sound and it is 5.1 but you get like glitches in it. i mean this might be a codec problem and the video is ever so slightly jumping causing this as when i play a dvd from the dvd-rom no problems at all (that i have heard flicking through s/private ryan)

i have never used optical (toslink) before so its a new world of problems to figure out

but i will check the backplate issues and will also try and re-sit the card just in case.

[gil]

i just edited my post sledge

is the analogue still connected as well or are you now solely connected Toslink ?? just wondering and also i`m guessing you have run the audio connection wizard in mce

you prolly have but always worth an ask

when you watch a DVD does it play fine in MCE or are you watching it outside MCE ??

just trying to figure out which bit is giving the probs ( wish my Mrs would turn the f+++in music down ) hardware or software

if all the hardware issues are eliminated then it realy does point towards driver issues or a settings issue

i assume that card does NOT have a cable going from the sound card to the mobo for s/pdif connection ??

and i`m also assuming that the DVD is connected via ribbon and NOT an internal audio cable , non are these days but its worth an ask again

and you have run VLC outside of MCE and played it via the amp and still got the crackles ?? if so that would eliminate anything to do with MCE and if no crackles running VLC outside MCE then that would point towards MCE or at least Media player

also because you are getting crackles from within MCE just by navigating around it would seem its not just a codec issue , i would agree on a codec issue if it was a select type of media file you were trying to play but its not , its everything

so i dont personaly think its a codec issue , driver maybe , hardware maybe

eliminate Hardware and you are left with a driver issue , you have installed all the drivers for the card that are relevant to your O/s i assume and updated them all as well ??

[SledgeMCE]

Okay..

Just Toslink connected.

when i watch a dvd it is in MCE (but when i stop the dvd and back out i get the sounds (some are not crackles/pops some are like an echo sound if that makes sense?).

There is no cable attached to the soundcard from within the case, not even a link direct to the dvd-rom.

the dvd-rom is only connected via the usual pc connections (power & ide).

I have tried VLC/Zoom and media player outside of MCE and it still sounds horrible. (although mp3s that i have noticed dont seem to crackle?)

all drivers for the sound card are up to date i even ran the creative driver update which did install something i think it was mediastudio or something.

Also i did a clean format for the install of this card to eliminate any conflict..

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

Checked back plate (even dragged HTPC out)
Took card out and checked it was seated okay..



Cheers for these suggestions, its nice to have different ideas to a problem..

[gil]

No worries mate , more heads the better even if the answers dont fix the fault , eventually one will

so
odd sounds from within MCE
odd sound or sounds outside MCE playing DVD
all hardware checked as best as possible
sounds found when navigating and not just playing a DVD

i conclude .......the Maid did it

i have a sneaky feeling it will be a driver issue , even though you have the latest , give me a sec to go check somewhere else

[SledgeMCE]

Edited..

Cheers

had a look around for some spurous drivers but nothing, its just madness that i would get it from the sounds from Mce..

Also it was the Maid with the Candlestick in the Study.

also this is the card http://us.creative.com/products/prod...&product=16770

[gil]

mmm... maid and candlest... no no stop , i`l forget what i just found

bad news my friend i`m afraid

read here
http://xfi.blogspot.com/2006/06/soun...kling-and.html

and you will at least see you are not alone

its a known fault , sorry to be the bearer of bad news

send it back if possible , if not ...Flee bay it

[SledgeMCE]

Okay, well thats that then.. i am one of the lucky few. (thats makes me smile )

there are 2 solutions to this predicament.

1 Flea-bay the card and buy another (seems to best)
2 Beat the c**p out of this one in anger and buy another (more fun but slightly more costly)

Can you recommend an optical card that is relativly in-expensive (max £40 really) and is pci-e??? what card do you have??

[gil]

Im defo not the one to answer that question mate , jeez i have only just got into this whole new revolution of SLi / PCI-e and quad core , the last time i upgraded was 4 years ago lol and non of it existed back then , my mobo has onboard sound so thats no help either

i`m sure one of the guys reading this could help better than me , infact my cat could help better than me on that score

i`l bog off now mate and leave the way open for one of the more experienced MCE users to give advice on whats good for that price

Good luck mate