Creative Sound Card Problem Thread

[LePoilu]

Limiting RAM is known to be a viable workaround only for motherboards based on the nVidia nForce4 chipset - so apparently your motherboard uses another chipset.

You right, got a Intel 45 Express chipset

One known root cause of crackling and popping on Creative X-Fi sound cards is excessive latency on PCI bus requests (see reference in one of my earlier posts). One thing that you can do to troubleshoot your issue is to check Device Manager to see if there is any resource sharing going on between your sound and video cards.

I'll check that

 

[dsopocy]

nVidia Beta Drivers Don't Help X-Fi Crackling & Popping

FYI, I just installed the updated 64-bit Win 7 beta drivers for the nVidia GeoForce video cards. I was hoping that they might clear up the PCI bus contention that is likely at the root of the subject problem with nVidia nForce4 motherboards. No such luck. The crackling and hissing still exist - maybe marginally less (probably wishful thinking on my part) - with my full 6GB RAM enabled, and disappears when I limit RAM to 2048MB.

Dale

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[bloke]

FYI, I just installed the updated 64-bit Win 7 beta drivers for the nVidia GeoForce video cards. I was hoping that they might clear up the PCI bus contention that is likely at the root of the subject problem with nVidia nForce4 motherboards. No such luck. The crackling and hissing still exist - maybe marginally less (probably wishful thinking on my part) - with my full 6GB RAM enabled, and disappears when I limit RAM to 2048MB.

Dale

this d/l states it is wddm1.1, doesnt that mean its that the same as the win update driver?

would the pci latency timer setting make any difference (default is 32)? havnt tried it myself. just a thought.

on another note, my new (1 wk old) asus HDAV1.3 deluxe card also has crackling issues, i already posted a thread but with no luck.

http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/4675-hdav1-3-deluxe-windows-7-sound-problems.html

the thread shows the problems i had but sounds very similar to you creative owners are having, could just be an issue with windows 7 openAL or something?

 

[Stabgotham]

Hi everyone! Am I the first AMD based motherboard owner to have an issue on here?

I have the following:

OS: Windows 7 x64 (Build 7048)
MB: MSI K9A2 Platinum
Proc: AMD X2 5000+ BE
Mem: 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2 x 2GB)
Audio: Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
Drivers: SBXF_W7DRVBETA_US_2_18_0008.exe

My issue is this. I'll use Youtube as an example. I can click on one video and have flawless sound. Click on another video and all I can hear through my headphones is a bass-y, booming sound that is both faint and sporadic. It's not a carckle or a pop like other people state they are having. Mine is almost like having a subwoofer in my ears, but a subwoofer that is light, weak, powerless, and inconsistent.

I do see that Creative release updated beta drivers on 3-4-09 for the XtremeAudio. Can I use these drivers with my XtremeMusic? Anyone know?

Also, I wish I could get on the Creative forums to read what Daniel_K is saying. I got IP banned with all the other upset peeps last year when Creative slapped Daniel_K for creating modded drivers for Vista. Sucks that they don't allow you to ever come back or even view the forums.

 

[dsopocy]

this d/l states it is wddm1.1, doesnt that mean its that the same as the win update driver?

Not in my case. Before installing the download referenced in my previous post, Device Manager still showed a driver date (after Windows Update) corresponding to the beta released in January. After installing the referenced updated beta driver, my driver date is 2/26/2009.

would the pci latency timer setting make any difference (default is 32)? havnt tried it myself. just a thought.

Very possibly. Creative recommends experimenting with different settings, starting at 32. (I don't have that option with my Phoenix BIOS and nForce4 motherboard.) However, Creative identifies a variety of other possible culprits re X-Fi crackling and popping (see links in my previous posts). Of course, these are pertinent to the Creative X-Fi cards. I would research the site of your video and sound card providers for other possibilities.

on another note, my new (1 wk old) asus HDAV1.3 deluxe card also has crackling issues, i already posted a thread but with no luck.

http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/4675-hdav1-3-deluxe-windows-7-sound-problems.html

the thread shows the problems i had but sounds very similar to you creative owners are having, could just be an issue with windows 7 openAL or something?

My best guess is that there have been one or more changes in how Win 7 interfaces with these devices and memory that is exposing device interface issues that either did not exist or were effectively masked in XP and Vista.

Dale

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[Hellfight]

Hi guys!

Same problem here. Spontaneous crackling and distortion. Flawless operation in Vista, only shows up in 7. I have observed some interesting points. It seems like Spotify plays back it's music in a way that makes the distortion problem disappear by itself in less than a second after it starts (maybe due to how its using the buffers or smth) Usually, when the sound distorts in media player or Fallout 3, i can only reset it by going to the control panel and set the sample rate to something else.

Relevant specs:
Asus A8N SLI Premium, latest BIOS
AMD Athlon X2 4600+
2GB Corsair XMS3500
Creative Audigy 2 ZS
GeForce 8800GTS G92

Drivers from WU, except latest nvidia drivers from website.

It is really a shame that creative cannot get around to firing whoever is responsible in their driver team and coming up with some new strategies. The Vista drivers were horrendous for quite some time, and when they finally get around to fixing those, they are almost obsolete.

 

[thunder2008]

Hmm, some interesting points Hellfight. Perhaps the guys at Creative will get the w7 drivers updated faster this time around.

 

[bloke]

can ppl that are having problems try this: set your speakers in creative sound panel to 7.1, my setup cuts out when scrolling in 5.1 but if i enable 7.1 it crackles but doesnt cut out. also if i enable headphones it wont crackle or cut out at all.

see if you guys get the same results?

i tried changing the PCI Latency settings in bios but no change. which leads me to assume it is either driver or o/s issues. (more than likely drivers)

 

[dsopocy]

can ppl that are having problems try this: set your speakers in creative sound panel to 7.1, my setup cuts out when scrolling in 5.1 but if i enable 7.1 it crackles but doesnt cut out. also if i enable headphones it wont crackle or cut out at all.

see if you guys get the same results?

i tried changing the PCI Latency settings in bios but no change. which leads me to assume it is either driver or o/s issues. (more than likely drivers)

I'm only using 2.1 speakers and the problem remains severe under all conditions (even system sounds) at RAM > 3GB with either 2 or 2.1 speaker configurations. My SB0460 (X-Fi Extreme Music) does not support 5.1 or 7.1.

Dale

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[dsopocy]

Build 7057 Doesn't Fix the Problem

FYI. I just finished an upgrade install of the 64-bit Build 7057. The new build looks great, but unfortunately the Creative X-Fi crackling and popping problem remains unresolved. There wasn't even a slight attenuation of the problem with the drivers installed with the upgrade. Build 7057 includes neither the latest beta Windows 7 nVidia GeoForce video drivers nor the latest X-Fi drivers. Installing the latest beta Windows 7 nVidia video drivers did not affect the problem; neither did installing the more lastest drivers from Creative.

Once I have backed up my current install, I will try a clean install just to cover all the bases, but I'm not optimistic. Our only hope appears to be in Creative's hands at this point.

Dale

P.S.
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[thunder2008]

Seems like the difference in drivers that microsoft chose to use in W7 are so different from those in Vista that the included compatibility wizard has become quite useful in sending the various error messages back to MS.

It is hoped that the up in coming W7 RC edition will have resolved the audio driver issues that are present in the W7-7000build.

While W7 is slimmed down and faster as a result of trimming the bulk from Vista; there must be a compromise in providing an actual " working " set of audio drivers for the W7 os that are compatible with Vista as Windows 7 has so vaunted up W7 to be.

Other than the audio driver problems with distortion as well as unrecognizable hardware from non-compatible drivers like Asus Creative Cards plus other brands Windows 7 also has issues with Cad programs like Solidworks in that it won't open files from the cad programs interface.

The opening of files is only accomplished from the user file directly. Moreover saving files is also not able to work at all whether a user is running SW08 or SW09 with any service packs, they are all not working properly.

 

[dsopocy]

thunder2008 -

Please add my info to your list:

dsopocy......Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic (OEM SB0467)....nVidia nForce4 SLIx16

 

[bloke]

there's a list? what list? can i be on the list? what do i have to do to be on the list? hello?

oh the sound issue is with all w7 builds. unfortunate.

 

[LePoilu]

there's a list? what list? can i be on the list? what do i have to do to be on the list? hello?

First post of the topic

 

[thunder2008]

thunder2008 -

Please add my info to your list:

dsopocy......Creative SB X-Fi Extreme Music (OEM SB0467)....nVidia nForce4 SLIx16

Done

 

[thunder2008]

there's a list? what list? can i be on the list? what do i have to do to be on the list? hello?

oh the sound issue is with all w7 builds. unfortunate.

Nice keyboard bloke...it's the same as mine.

Noticed from your sig that you have Asus Xonar 1.3 are you having issues with it or ?

Before adding you to list want to first make sure that i'm not listing dis-information?

 

[bloke]

Nice keyboard bloke...it's the same as mine.

Noticed from your sig that you have Asus Xonar 1.3 are you having issues with it or ?

Before adding you to list want to first make sure that i'm not listing dis-information?

yeh i love this k/b, the only thing i dont like is no embedded numb pad, which i bought a wireless one separate. occasionally i get interference and have to turn the k/b off and back on, but i aint gettin rid of it.

yeh i have certain probs that are very similar to the creative issues, so chins up creative owners, your not on your own.lol i had a xf-i platinum once (its sitting in my cupboard)

check this link out, it explains in detail.

http://www.sevenforums.com/sound-audio/4675-hdav1-3-deluxe-windows-7-sound-problems.html

does this mean im on the list?

 

[thunder2008]

Yep your added

 

[bloke]

i think it could have something to do with the pci or pci-e bus. when i used my onboard sound while i was waiting for my hdav to arrive i had no issues with crackling. i also have no issues with my hdav1.3 when using headphones (2 channel). its hard to pinpoint this issue. some ppl with 2 channel creative cards are having issues, where i only get issues with 5.1 and above? my xf-i platinum was pci which i thought was starting to fail as it was crackling constantly in games under vista x64, maybe there is nothing wrong with it? and my hdav is pci-e which has issues??

 

[dsopocy]

i think it could have something to do with the pci or pci-e bus. when i used my onboard sound while i was waiting for my hdav to arrive i had no issues with crackling. i also have no issues with my hdav1.3 when using headphones (2 channel). its hard to pinpoint this issue. some ppl with 2 channel creative cards are having issues, where i only get issues with 5.1 and above? my xf-i platinum was pci which i thought was starting to fail as it was crackling constantly in games under vista x64, maybe there is nothing wrong with it? and my hdav is pci-e which has issues??

G'day Bloke -

See my earlier post on this subject and the posts in the referenced thread. There are two Creative white papers on the subject of crackling and popping (referenced in my earlier posts) which identify issues with PCI bus latency (particularly with nVidia nForce4 motherboards), but both were written pre-Windows 7 and were dealing with the appearance of the problem when the system is under heavy load, particularly with high end games. Now, with Windows 7 the problem, at least for systems with certain (e.g., nForce4) motherboards and more than 3GB RAM, is present under all conditions, even for the system sound at the beginning of Windows startup. The key clue, IMO, is the RAM dependency: limit your RAM to less than 3GB and the problem disappears. Since my system hasn't changed since running Vista Ultimate 64-bit with nary a sound problem, the implication is that there has been some change in Windows memory management that has exposed a fundamental problem with Creative drivers for certain SB card models (mine is an OEM X-Fi XtremeMusic). Since the problem is limited to Creative sound cards, it's much more likely that the problem resolution lies with Creative, not Microsoft or nVidia.

Dale

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