Realtek, Windows 7 64RTM Crackle/static/popping

[DarrylGittins]

PowerMiser is specific to laptops, if I'm not mistaken. I'm having this problem on a desktop system.

 

[hybridfan]

Weird I tried cpuid as I'm getting a new motherboard soon and a phenom II 940 processor and wanted to check my memory, I got awful sound problems with this installed crackling and crunching you know the deal, so I uninstalled and now my sound works fine.

 

[bbbwex]

HI ya all,

I've finally solved my crackling/popping noise problem..

I got this link from somewhere else on this forum 5898_PG281_VISTA_TurnOff_PullMode_Upd.zip and it works fine for me.

Realtek 662alc is now giving me brilliant 5.1 sound. after installing the driver from this site had to make no adjustments at all. I'm happy now playing away TR underworld which was the worst for giving me sound problems.

hope this link will help more people out.

GL to ya

 

[DarrylGittins]

What is it? The site says nothing. I wouldn't want to install something without any knowledge about what it was.

 

[Bootis]

Realtek Snap, Crackle and Pop

I just built myself a new High Performance PC based upon Windows 7 64Bit and was enjoying it until I discovered today that I too had the Snap, Crackle and Pop Disease as described here and elsewhere.

First let me say thanks to everyone for all the noble attempts you made at attempting to resolve this issue and this nasty problem. One of my primary motivations for building a new PC was based upon getting a new machine for audio video work etc. Like you, I am greatly disappointed.

If I have read and followed this thread correctly, it appears that this issue is still outstanding and has not been diagnosed or resolved yet.

I did read the entire thread and all of the Posts contained within. It appears that those of us who are afflicted with this problem are running several different Name Brand PC's, different hardware configurations, utility applications, drivers, etc. and in some cases different Sound Cards, both Integrated to the Motherboard and stand-alone types so it does not appear to be any of those.

There does not seem to be any one commonality in our systems that we all share here, except one. That is:

Windows 7 (either 32Bit or 64 Bit)

I am running Win 7 Ultimate, 64 Bit and I have a Gigabyte GA-MA790GPT-UD3H Motherboard with an integrated Realtek Sound Card. I would like to be able to say this is a Realtek problem, but It does not appear that we can definitely make that claim especially in-lieu of people using other different Sound-Card Hardware and related Drivers.

Again, after looking at all the possible cause and effect data here it appears to me that this may be a Microsoft/Windows 7 Issue. Feel free to disagree, but after reading all your Posts and varied unsuccessful attempts to resolve this that appears to be the only common link here. It could be that Win 7 and something else may not be getting along at this early stage of its life, but what?

Some folks claimed that that they resolved their problem, but did they really, or was that just a temporary fix until the issue came back again like it did for many here?

After doing a Google on this issue this thread appears to be the best most comprehnsive out there on this issue, so we cannot let this die.

Any other ideas or comments?

Thanks!

 

[Aphelion]

What is it? The site says nothing. I wouldn't want to install something without any knowledge about what it was.

It's actually a good, solid driver except it doesn't have the built-in equalizer enhancement that the newer drivers do.

Ap

 

[Aphelion]

I just built myself a new High Performance PC based upon Windows 7 64Bit and was enjoying it until I discovered today that I too had the Snap, Crackle and Pop Disease as described here and elsewhere.

First let me say thanks to everyone for all the noble attempts you made at attempting to resolve this issue and this nasty problem. One of my primary motivations for building a new PC was based upon getting a new machine for audio video work etc. Like you, I am greatly disappointed.

If I have read and followed this thread correctly, it appears that this issue is still outstanding and has not been diagnosed or resolved yet.

<snip-snip>

Any other ideas or comments?

Thanks!

I have it resolved, but largely undiagnosed.

The single caveat being, sleep mode must be disabled. When the PC wakes from sleep there's popping and crackling anytime I play audio, and especially with video + audio.

When I first installed Win_7 I had a lot of problems but traced it down to the $^#* active hardware jacks. The Realtek drivers were erroneously seeing my inputs/outpus as changing, causing the drivers to initialize. I had to use contact cleaner spray and clean the speaker/mic/line-in jacks, I don't know if the contacts we're oxidized or what the problem was. I also disabled some of the auto sensing features of the driver.

Also have a M-Audio AudioPhile 24/96 PCI card for recording, this works fine as well.

I've built several systems used commercially for pro-audio recording using Win-XP, this is my first attempt at using Win-7. These machines are carfully optimized keeping background services and programs to a minimum, I realize that's not everyone's cup of tea but it is a good way to diagnose a problem. I've had zero problems with the last two Realtek drivers, both working very well.

One tweak I haven't seen mentioned:

Audio drivers are considered a background processes.

Go to:

Control Panel/System and select "Advanced System Settings".

Select the Advanced Tab, then under Performance, click on "Settings".

Click the (yet another) Advanced Tab and set processor scheduling to "Background services".

I've never noticed a difference in normal day to day use but this does give audio drivers a few more cpu cycles.

Ap

 

[bbbwex]

What is it? The site says nothing. I wouldn't want to install something without any knowledge about what it was.

The site is a filehosting site. I could down this, but I'm not a member there so I couldn't find out the background of it.

As I said in my previous post I found this link on this forum and all I can say about it is it works for me!!!

 

[bbbwex]

Partial qoute

Some folks claimed that that they resolved their problem, but did they really, or was that just a temporary fix until the issue came back again like it did for many here?

The update I found still works for me 100% 5.1 surround without any static/crackle/pops/badly tuned radio sounds or any other hickups mentioned here or anywhere I've found related to this

Posting the link again: 5898_PG281_VISTA_TurnOff_PullMode_Upd.zip

 

[Bootis]

Snap, Crackle and Pop

AP,

Glad that works for you. Hope that is your fix.

I must say, however, that your solution is not a universal fix for the community.

1. My Machine is new (days old) and there are no oxidation issues with Audio Jacks.

2. I do not have any Power Managment or Sleep Mode enabled.


Many people here and elsewhere have reported things that apparently have helped or resolved the issue fro them, but only to report back later that the "Fix" was not permanent or effective.

The main point of my reply is to point out that a common link among us all who report this issue has not yet been identified except for one. Windows 7!

Windows 7 is the only commonality ID'd so far.

Your hardware, your drivers, your configuration is not the same as mine, or for many other here and your suggested solution which is good for you (I hope) will not work for me or others, so this problem still exists and remains undiagnosed and elusive.

This does not appear to be a Driver problem or not just one Sound Card (Realtek) manufacturer at fault. Something else, either by itself, or in conjunction with another factor is apparently causing this problem.

FYI: I am also running a 64 Bit Vista Ultimate Machine (relatively new) with Nvidia configuration (Drivers/hardware) and I have no problems with sound, yet other people here and elsewhere are running Nvidia Drivers and hardware with Windows 7 and they are having a problem.

I have also tried several sets of the Realtek Specific Drivers and Microsoft Standard Drivers that have been mentioned here and implementing these Drivers did not resolve the problem. Other people have reported swapping out different Sound Cards and that did not work.

So,

I, like all of you cannot offer a a relevant diagnosis and a universal fix at this time, but let me humbly suggest what I think this problem is specifically not.

1. Vista or XP OS (32 or 64 bit) related
2. Motherboard related
3. Sound Card Drivers related
4. Sound Card hardware related
5. Power Management Configuration related
6. Bios or Bios Rev. related
7. Sound Card Settings/Configuration related
8. AMD Intel Brand CPU specific related

Comments Please!

Thanks

 

[Freddie]

I agree 100% with you Bootis!!

The problem is annoying and frustrating to say the very least. More than ever, people are using their PC's in sound / audio related applications. Having this issue is a serious concern. I would have thought that in the months since the release of Windows 7 that the Mircosoft people would have addressed this.

 

[DarrylGittins]

I found that by using the DPC Latency Checker V1.2.o, I can see that after system startup, latency is good (in the green levels), but after running a day or so, it's perpetually spiking (running in the red). This is when I hear the horrible crackles and stutters in my sound card.

If I then disable the network adapter (NIC), latency immediately drops to green levels and sound is good. However, if I then enable the network adapter, it immediately spikes perpetually into the red and I hear the crackles and stutters.

I have to reboot to reset the condition so that it's running in the green (so that I can listen to music without horrible crackles and stutters).

I tried swapping the network adapter but I have exactly the same issue with both network adapters. I've also swapped several sound cards, video cards and such, updated the BIOS and all drivers and every other imaginable troubleshooting step.

This is driving me nuts!

Thanks bundles for any suggestions!!

 

[Aphelion]

AP,

Glad that works for you. Hope that is your fix.

I must say, however, that your solution is not a universal fix for the community.

Agreed and did not mean to imply it was, but nevertheless, audio is working correctly here. So at least in this single case, Win-7 is not a problem, with either of the audio devices I'm using.

Ap

 

[Bootis]

AP,

Understand and hope your Fix remains.

Curious, are you listening though speakers or headphones?

In looking at your system specs the only thing you and I have in common system wise is Windows 7. I am running ultimate 64Bit. We also have Gigabyte MB's and an ATI Card but different models of each.

If there was any other obvious common demoninator other than Win 7 we should have seen it here already in some 26 pages of posts within this thread.

AP,

Glad that works for you. Hope that is your fix.

I must say, however, that your solution is not a universal fix for the community.

Agreed and did not mean to imply it was, but nevertheless, audio is working correctly here. So at least in this single case, Win-7 is not a problem, with either of the audio devices I'm using.

Ap

 

[Cixoos]

found this thread after researching pop\crack sound with music- video files, but not with ac3\dts.
After trying many things, one solution is to set minimum processor state to 100% or performance. Seems there are many with this issue.

 

[Aphelion]

AP,

Understand and hope your Fix remains.

Curious, are you listening though speakers or headphones?

In looking at your system specs the only thing you and I have in common system wise is Windows 7. I am running ultimate 64Bit. We also have Gigabyte MB's and an ATI Card but different models of each.

If there was any other obvious common demoninator other than Win 7 we should have seen it here already in some 26 pages of posts within this thread.

I have the Realtek output going into a 24 track mixing board, the output of the board goes to a set of powered studio monitors w/sub.

There are a couple of things I changed, mainly because I'm using this system to test different audio interfaces.

While I'm using the ATI drivers for the video card, I'm not using the ATI control panel.

Some have mentioned the Vista pull_down drivers.... they were actually the first ones that worked well on my system, I uninstalled them mainly because they didn't have the EQ section under enhancements, perhaps they changed a registry setting and it was left in place after the latest Realtek drivers were installed?

Have you tried the processor scheduling tweak I posted?

I pretty much agree it must be a Windows 7 problem, there's too many here with the same complaint, could even be the manner in which Win-7 handles interrupts on different motherboards. Using system information I see that both my M-Audio and the HD Audio Controller are on unique IRQs.

Ap

 

[Bootis]

As the Song Goes: "But Not For Me"

Tried it!

Thanks!

Bootis

found this thread after researching pop\crack sound with music- video files, but not with ac3\dts.
After trying many things, one solution is to set minimum processor state to 100% or performance. Seems there are many with this issue.

 

[Aphelion]

As the Song Goes: "But Not For Me"

Tried it!

Thanks!

Bootis

You've just been musically profiled! heh...

There's a possibility you and I are the only ones on this board who know that song, unless there's a bunch of old coots hangin' round here.

I've even played it on a gig!

Good luck on your problem, is there a place to post Win-7 feedback the MS will take notice of?

Ap

 

[AaronDude]

Anybody have any idea what I should do? Should I just try selling this machine on ebay and take what I can get? Acer won't fix the problem and the store won't take it back. I'm fed up, I've never had problems like this with a computer before.

Maybe I should buy Vista 64 bit and install that? I'm worried about the drivers though. Doesn't doing a fresh install of an OS purge the drivers? So it makes your computer useless right? I've never installed an OS from a disc. I always bought a computer with it pre loaded and only use the full system restore feature provided by the manufacturer such as acer, hp and IBM.

 

[Frostmourne]

Anybody have any idea what I should do? Should I just try selling this machine on ebay and take what I can get? Acer won't fix the problem and the store won't take it back. I'm fed up, I've never had problems like this with a computer before.

Maybe I should buy Vista 64 bit and install that? I'm worried about the drivers though. Doesn't doing a fresh install of an OS purge the drivers? So it makes your computer useless right? I've never installed an OS from a disc. I always bought a computer with it pre loaded and only use the full system restore feature provided by the manufacturer such as acer, hp and IBM.

If the PC is faulty, why doesn't the store agree to return it?