I have the same problem with an old mobo Epox 8RDA3+. Tried several
drivers, with no luck. What i've read is to disable any sounds enhancement like Dolby or equalizer. That didn't make the trick for me, but it may that works for some other mobo.
What i've tried is software related: mean tried MediaPlayerClassic, WMP and VLC. The less cracking/distorded sound comes from VLC. Maybe a codec issue?
My soundcard is "Realtek ALC655 @ nVIDIA MCP2 - Audio Codec Interface" and it may I roll back to XPpro if this issus still annoying me so much...