cracking/popping noises when recording - Vista Ultimate 64 and Audigy 2

[bsr6gn]

I have one for you fellas. If someone can help with this I will be very grateful. I have a new Dell Precision T7500 that has 2 (two) 2Ghz quad core processors in it. It's supposed to be Dell's higher end machines designed as a work horse so to speak for things like graphic design, digital video editing and audio editing/creation. The board came with integrated sound...which is fine because I had a Creative Audigy 2 Platinum that I wanted to put in it. I chose that card because I'm also a musician, and it has some great features....like the fiber connections....all the other inputs.....and I can plug my guitar straight in the front of it and record. I like it.......well.....I did in my old XP machine......because it worked. Hahaha!! Now....none of my software will record properly.......not even the recorders that come built in Windows. When you choose an recording input.....you can hear the music or whatever it is you're recording, but it has the worst cracking-popping-pulsing in it.......it's unbareable and you can't listen to it. I have tried everything. I updated the Creative drivers......I reinstalled any and all recording software I have.......with no luck. I use the Sony Suite of software like Soundforge and Acid and Vegas Video as well as Adobe, and it does the same thing on all of those and anything else that the system uses to record.........so it's definitely a system problem somehow. There are tons and tons of audio settings on the Sony software, and I've tried everything. I don't get it........and I'm dying to record some stuff........but I can't. Oh......the last thing I did was totally disable the onboard sound card in the bios thinking that it was interfering with the Creative card somehow.........but no luck.


So, I have posted this sample mp3 titled "this sucks" so you guys can hear it. If anyone has any idea what could be causing this......or even if you have any suggestions to try.....that I haven't already tried, please feel free to let me know what you think. I'll try anything. I miss recording.


Thanks


Charles

 

[InsaneNutter]

It sounds like you could have a hardware conflict, what other PCI devices do you have in your computer?

Wireless network card? TV card? if you have anything else just remove them for now and see if you still have the problem.

Also have a look in your BIOS for PCI latency or PCI delay and set it as low as possible.

What OS do you run? Windows 7?

 

[bsr6gn]

Hey

Yeah man.......I guess I could have given you that info huh? It would have probably helped. Haha!! Okay.....it a brand new Dell......well........it's a year old cause I got it may of 2009. It's a killer machine. It came with Vista Ultimate 64 bit. I have nothing else in it but the sound blaster audigy 2.....which of course is two pieces.....the piece that fits in one of the drive bays, and the actual card that fits the PCI slot. That's it my friend..........well........I added a terabyte hard drive......but I wouldn't think that would do it. I'll check the bios like you suggeted......see what happens. I have been up all night messing about with this thing. I see you're in England.....so you are 5 hours ahead. I lonly know that because I may be moving to Cwmbran, Wales soon.

Hey......the weirdest thing happened tonight. I had youtube up......playing videos while at the same time I had sound forge open trying to record the audio from youtube..........and even at the same time I had the record settings open changing things there just to see if I could run across anything that made a difference.........but no luck. At one point in sorted itself and recorded correctly for about 2 minutes......but I couldn't attribute it to anything...........then not long after that.......I couldn't get it to record at all. It's like it has a mind of its own.

I'm going to take it outside today.....open the case and blow the dust out of it......and while I got it open......I will check to make sure that sound card is seated properly and everything is connected right.

I will surely let you know if I find anything.

Thanks Nutter.

Charles...............soon to be in Wales.

 

[Titcher]

I'll see if I can help at all with this. Try to eliminate EMI, move the computer far away from AC current, with the only AC being the power cable to the computer, and keep all the other computers connectors away from that wire too. See if you get similar results.

 

[elvesbrew]

I have found that moving my Audigy 2 ZS to a location/slot with better ventilation or installing a fan to blow across it will all but eliminate the dread snap crackle and pop. I believe that the surface mount caps they use are very sensitive to heat and that if your PC is located in a warm room you will get more static the warmer the room gets, especially if your Audigy is located in a slot down at the bottom of the PC where there is little to no airflow/ventillation. It's a bit of a dilema as if you locate up high next to the video card you get RF noise but if you move it to the bottom slot to get away from the RF you get static as the board heats up. If you are lucky enough to not have a problem with RF from other cards them simply place the soundcard up high enough to get airflow from the chassis fans. If not then place it down at the bottom but add a small fan to your side cover to blow air across it. You should test it first before drilling hole in your side cover. You can test it by just laying the fan down on the bottom of the case pointing the airflow across the soundcard. You could also try freeze spray if you have any around or a can of dust off will do in a pinch. On my system I completely eliminated all the static using an 8 inch whisper fan mounted to the side cover of my case. I just took some masking tape and completely covered a ten inch area on my side cover with tape then marked out a pattern on the tape with a pencil and drilled about 36 holes with a 1/8th inch drill bit. I center punched each of the holes first so that the bit didn't wander and when I removed the tape it looked like a factory job. Just be creative with the hole pattern and use a rule so it looks professional. If you don't have a fan laying about Radio Shack or any computer shop will have some for sale that plug right into one of your power supply 4pin plugs. Hope this helps.

EB