Audio problem with optical drive

[merlion]

I recently did a new build with an ASUS P8Z68-V LX and 2500K. Up until today I had only ever used the optical drive to install the OS and other software. There were no issues with the drive doing this.

Today, I was going to start ripping my CD collection, and the audio was garbling and stuttering with the first CD. Thinking it was the disk, I switched to another, but still had the same problem. I switched to another identical optical drive, and had the same problem. Then I switched the SATA cable. Same problem. Switched to different SATA ports on the motherboard. Same problem.

The next step was to remove the ASUS Xonar DG sound card, and try the on board audio. Still the same problem.

I can stream audio from the Internet with no problems, and play music through Foobar or iTunes with no problems.

Is this a motherboard issue? Am I missing any troubleshooting steps with the current hardware?

 

[janas19]

I'd go into the UEFI and try tweaking the device or controller settings. It doesn't seem like your hardware is bad, probably just needs a configuration. Also what software do you use for ripping? Try different ones.

 

[merlion]

I was just going to use Windows Media Player to do the ripping. Never really got started though when I heard the garbled audio when the CD started playing.

 

[SonicIce]

can you play tracks right from a disc in foobar or wmp? if it works then try a different ripping software

 

[merlion]

No, it will not play the tracks from WMP. That is when the sound is garbled. I never started to try and rip after I discovered the issue with the sound.

 

[merlion]

Well, tried playing a disk through iTunes and Foobar. Same problem in iTunes, but not Foobar. Checked to make sure the firmware was the latest on the drive, and it was.

Next, checked that I had the latest versions of WMP, iTunes, and Foobar. There was a newer version of Foobar, so I updated, and then the problem disappeared.

It's ironic though, because it seems that the only program that played the disk without problems before may have indeed been the problem. Now, all three will play a disk perfectly.

At least I can start ripping!

 

[SonicIce]

that doesn't make any sense but cool :thumbsup:
maybe some junk randomly running in the background

 

[sm625]

Have you tried listening to the mp3 rips? Do they sound ok? If the rips sound good then who cares how the cd plays? I havent "listened" to a cd in my cd drive in probably 12 years. Nowadays I just rip straight from the get. The last cd i ripped took like 3 minutes. If you're in a real hurry you can start playing mp3 track 1 while it is ripping track 2.

 

[corkyg]

BTW, did you install the separate audio cable from the optical drive to the mobo's audio input?

 

[merlion]

@SonicIce, Yeah, I know, it certainly doesn't make sense.

@sm625, I agree about listening to CD's, and I might not have ever known if the disk didn't start with auto-play after I inserted it, and went to grab something from a cabinet on the other side of the room. I heard the garbling, and I was like WTF?

I did try ripping (w/ WMP) before I got the problem corrected, and it was SLOOOOOOW. I'd say it was only up to 30% on the first track after three minutes. I cancelled that real quick, LOL.

@corkyg, I do/did not have a separate audio cable connected from the ODD to the mobo. These Samsung drives don't even have that provision.

 

[oynaz]

BTW, did you install the separate audio cable from the optical drive to the mobo's audio input?

Now, that's a blast from the past!

And that wouldn't have done a thing anyway. You cannot rip through an audio cable, only sample.

 

[corkyg]

Now, that's a blast from the past! And that wouldn't have done a thing anyway. You cannot rip through an audio cable, only sample.

That's true. Ripping, however, is data extraction and copying, not listening. When I rip a CD, I use Audio Grabber (w/LAME), and it puts the resulting MP3 files in a created HDD cache. Then I copy that set of tunes to a permanent location or locations. Then I listen to the final product.

 

[oynaz]

Yes, but where does the audio cable come into this?

 

[corkyg]

For playing the optical disks for listening. That bypasses a lot of the drivers. Anyway - problem is solved - seems to have been a driver problem. Anyway, you are right - a blast from the past. My old optical drive is a Pioneer slot feed, and it has never failed.