Audio Problem(Win7) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Champion Seri

[So1dier]

Hi everyone, so I just purchased the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Sound Card. I'm having issues with audio(even before I bought the card) and I'm not sure how to fix them. I'll describe the main issues.

Sound Issues:

-Odd popping noise at the beginning and end of audio(usually not noticeable except when in Ventrilo because no other audio is playing.
-Static buzz sound (usually unnoticeable but more amplified in certain applications like the menu of Starcraft 2).
-Tons of feedback through my mic (clicks from my mouse, my own voice is amplified through my headset).


I bought a Sound Card so I could hopefully fix some of the problems (odd popping noise), and just make audio better in general but I must be doing something wrong because it's just gotten worse.

I'm using the Sennheiser PC 350 headset, and an Antec 902 case. I used another headset before I bought the sound card and it did not fix the audio popping issue, but have not tried using it after I got the new sound card.

One thing I noticed is if I unplug the mic the annoying buzzing seems to go away. And the mic feedback(of course). I don't know if this is a common issue that might be related to my case or if there is a way I can fix this through Windows 7 settings or the Creative software. I've tried messing around with the settings but nothing seems to work.


If anyone thinks they can help me out that would be awesome.

These are my system specs, also located in my profile.

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System Manufacturer/Model Number N/A
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4
Memory G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 1280)
Graphics Card(s) ASUS 5870
Sound Card Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion SerieMonitor(s)
Displays Acer P235Hbmid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
Screen Resolution 1920x1080
Hard Drives SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
PSU Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W
Case Antec Nine Hundred Two
Cooling 4 case fans
Keyboard Razer Arctosa
Mouse Razer Imperator
Internet Speed Cable 10Gbs
Other Info N/A
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[stormy13]

Connecting to the card or using the front panel jacks?

Also you don't say which setting you messed around with, but in the Windows playback settings (Speakers-Properties-Levels tab) mute any and all input options. That should get rid of the mouse clicks and feedback; also you should only hear your own voice if you have it set to What U hear instead of microphone.

 

[So1dier]

Connecting to the card or using the front panel jacks?

Also you don't say which setting you messed around with, but in the Windows playback settings (Speakers-Properties-Levels tab) mute any and all input options. That should get rid of the mouse clicks and feedback; also you should only hear your own voice if you have it set to What U hear instead of microphone.

There is like 5 options in the Speakers-Properties-Levels tab.

Play control(39), Microphone FP(50), Digital-In(Already Muted) MIDI Synth(50), Line-In(Already Muted)

I muted the Microphone FP one and I think that fixed the feedback issue from my mic. I'm connecting to the card that came with this product through the front panel jacks, and I forgot to try the jacks in the back(I'll try it when I get home).

Thanks for the help so far, I think you already fixed one of my issues, but I'm late for work so I'll test the rest out when I get home.

ttyl
-Josh

 

[So1dier]

Ya it seems like that fixed 2 of the issues. Do you have any idea what the audio popping noise might be from?

 

[fireberd]

I have a Fatal1ty Champion sound card. I'm not hearing any noise with mine.

If you disconnect the separate I/O panel from the sound card do you get the noise? Depending on how the cables to the front mounted I/O panel are routed that could cause some noise problems. Dell users (with standard Integrated audio not this SoundBlaster model) were having "noise" problems from their front panel headphone jack in one model and the problem turned out to be the routing of the headphone jack cable (it was routed close to a hard drive) and rerouting the cable away from the hard drive cured the noise problem.

Other potential sources of noise are wi-fi links, cordless or cell phones located near the PC.

 

[So1dier]

Any idea what the audio popping issue might be? I've tested with a different headset, and I was having that issue before I bought the sound card.

 

[fireberd]

There is no "one fix" for popping and crackling audio. Some potential issues are (1) Audio Enhancements (if you have this option disable any audio enhancements), wireless (wi-fi) cards and connections, as mentioned a cell phone placed close to the PC, a cordless phone. One case I saw, the video card was causing it. Drivers are another potential area.

There are lots of posts on this forum on this and lots of posts on the Dell users forum. It's not one specific sound chip manufacturer or one specific PC vendor.