Crackling, static w/ Realtek onboard after switching to Win 7

I recently upgraded my computer and moved all the components to a new case and later switched to windows 7.

While I was on my old OS, vista, with same hardware as I have today, I had no issues with my sound.

Then I upgraded to windows 7 (clean install). I downloaded the latest Realtek drivers, R249 (ALC883), for my on-board sound (Gigabyte G31M ES2L Mobo) and I noticed that my iTunes music made a crackling/static sound that was previously not there. Since I thought the problem was only with iTunes music I looked for a solution regarding iTunes and found that there were some issues with purchased music and a crackling sound on iTunes 9 but I am hearing it on imported music as well.

I also hear this crackling sound on skype and sometimes when I watch online videos from you tube and the like. I have heard it a little during gaming. I have not really heard the sounds while watching DVDs which is weird.

I don't think the problem is my speakers because I am not hearing the crackling sound all the time with every application (i.e. watching DVDs) as I have stated above and I tried a pair of headphones and I get the same results.

My specs:
Mobo: Gigabyte G31M ES2L
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4
GPU: Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 5770
Ram: 4 GB DDR2 800
PSU: Seasonic M12II 620 W
Case: Cooler Master 335 Elite
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
Speakers: Creative SBS 2.1 350

Please help me.

Thanks.

If you look around you will find hundreds of posts on here and other forums with this problem. Some of the problems are related to wireless devices (especially a wireless wi-fi), some can be related to video card/driver issues and since you have some type of SoundBlaster sound card there have been issues with more than 3GB of RAM and some models of SoundBlaster sound cards.

Having worked OK in XP and not in Vista/Win 7 can also be related to the SoundCard as there are some sound functions that are handled differently in Vista and Win 7. Also many SoundBlaster sound cards, that are Win 7 compatible must have Windows 7 specific drivers, not Vista drivers.

Thank you for your response.

Just a few responses to your response.

1) I do not have a sound card, only the onboard (as in my motherboards) sound device.

2)I have never had XP on this machine. I had Windows Vista 32 bit home Premium and the sound worked fine, just dandy. Then when I upgraded to Windows 7 32 bit home Premium I started experiencing the static/crackling problems.

3) A lot of the posts with this issue that I have seen, have most probably correctly stated, that this must be a driver issue since it worked flawlessly (for me at least) with windows vistas.

4) I have no wireless devices on, in or working with my computer and even if I did and I was unaware then WHY DID IT WORK WHEN I HAD VISTAS?

PS: I noticed in the file I downloaded for the ALC883 driver from the realtek website that is says the drivers are for windows 7, the file is marked: "Vista_Win7_R249" BUT when you look at the files in the download there are only folders are marked "Vista" and "Vistax64" no "Win7" folder.

Nope, no new devices. I know the sound your talking about but this is not it.

I misread the Creative speakers as a Creative (SoundBlaster) sound card. The rest I'm just noting from past user posts that I've seen here and on the Dell users forum.

There is no "1 fix" for the problem, each one has to be handled individually to try and isolate what is actually causing the problem. The fix for one may not be the fix for another. And, the popping and crackling has been around at least since Windows XP so it's not just a "Windows 7 only problem".

So, since it worked fine until I made the switch from vista to win7 what should be my first course of action?

Thanks.

Disable your onboard network adapters (if you don't use them!)
reboot
TEST

Otherwise,

Download latest (June 2010) DirectX Redist from Msoft!
reboot
Test

Wireless (USB)/cards are a major problem.
Get latest drivers
Test
Take card/USB drivers out of Win7 system
reboot
Test

Making sure you have all the latest Graphic card eg ATI 10.6's /onboard soundcard drivers (from Realtec?)

Unload them and reload them in different combinations.
reboot
test

Also, make sure you have all the latest updated drivers for Win 7 for your motherboard PCI bus etc
- as these are known causes of sound problems.

At some point it will all just work.

Faune said:

So, since it worked fine until I made the switch from vista to win7 what should be my first course of action?

Thanks.

One of the things that made a noticable improvement on my system, (also a Gigabyte board) was to update the BIOS.

Careful, if you haven't done it before you might want to get an experienced user to help, also make sure you have the correct BIOS for your board, The Gigabyte site is well laid out, shouldn't be a problem.

Besides the the other advice given, open task manager and select show processes for all users. Do you show any process using a big chunk of CPU?
Are you running a peer to peer network?

Ap

I had the same problem, but the cause can greatly vary.
Check to make sure your CPU isn't maxed out, and if it is, or rather high read this thread. Having CPU usage problems? Read...