Windows 7: Sound Cracking (Z77-D3H)

Ah i see.



At the moment, when i turn on my PC, it starts with a persistent crackling which does not stop, or show up on the DPC Latency Checker at all (Absolute Maxiumum 245 us). It's just like it was when i first launched the PC, with persistent crackling all the time, so i must have done something to change it.

EDIT: May be closer to the fix. There is NO Bass whatsoever, in any music, just a super mario like static-beep

When you first start, enter the BIOS, with the PC's speakers powered on, and see if you get crackling or whatever through the PC speakers. If you do, the problem inherent on the motherboard or sound chip, assuming its not a speaker or speaker cable problem, and not caused by Windows or device drivers.

Hey,

Unfortunately i haven't found any way to test my audio in my BIOS. However, i did discover something that may help very much.

I had inserted my spare headphones (Skullcandy Audio Jack [NON USB]), and disabled + uninstalled my USB Headphone drivers (I had not uninstalled the drivers when i tested my speakers and headphones before), and after an hour and half of testing, i have noticed no audio crackling whatsoever. I'm not completely sure, because the sound quality of these headphones is not up to par with my USB ones, but again, i didn't notice any crackling.

What do you think this means? Could it be a problem with my motherboard, the USB Connectors, or my USB Headset itself (Keyboard + Mouse are USB, work fine)?

I know you can't test the headphones (or sound) in the BIOS but if you got noise with just the BIOS that says the sound itself is OK and something else, such as what you've discovered is the problem.

Have you tried different USB ports? e.g. front and rear ports. Also, have you tried the USB 3.0 ports (I think I saw that board has USB 3.0). Could be a USB port problem. But, then again it could be the headphones. Do you have another PC you can try the headphones on?

USB ports are on hubs (more than one port) and thus if something else happens to be on that port and it causing some type of interruptions that can also account for the noise you are getting.

But, it appears you have isolated the problem. Good job.

Now to put the "lid" on what the problem is.

Hey fireberd

I have tried many different USB Ports, including USB 2 and 3. It's currently in USB 2.0. I have tested the headphones briefly on another pc, with no problems. I'll test again soon.

After my session with no crackling with the audio jack headphones, i reconnected my USB Headphones, after letting windows re-configure the device, and there has been no crackling since then (not to speak too soon), however, i have not installed my headphone drivers (7.1 Dolby Surround, Plantronics), so it seems very clear to me that they are the problem!

This is not a permanent fix, temporary, but it will have to do for now. I'm not completely sure the crackling sound is gone, but it has been a good 3 hours now and nothing has popped or crackled.

Thanks very much for your assistance in this matter fireberd, + rep and i'll keep this thread open for a maximum of one week, if the problem is gone within that time period, i shall mark this thread as solved.

Once again, thanks very much

Great, I hope this will put the problem to bed. Good Luck and I'll keep this thread in my watch list until you close it.

Jack

Hi,

I have concluded that it is the headset (Plantronics GameCom 780), as i have found that uninstalling the drivers is a temporary fix (does not work for long), and a few other users have this problem (Gamecom 780 Buzzing + Microphone Not Working | Sounding Board Exact same problems as me).

Thanks very much for the help, i'll try and fix my problem and post it back here if i do find a fix.

Should i leave the thread open, or Solved?

Up to you. But, I'd leave it open for a week and then close if if you can't find a permanent fix. At least whoever reads this will see what the problem is.

Its been a week. Any change or resoultion of problem? I've still got this on my watch list.

hey question for op/anyone with the issue does it sound more like a POP rather then a crackle when sounds are played? like if you were to spam a sound test you can hear it? i have a simular issue that persists ion Windows 7/8 that sounds similar on the same hardware. Its surely not related to DPC latency since most people have under 200us with everything disabled.