Audio static/popping

[Overmind]

I've had this annoying static/popping sound happening for the last couple weeks on my desktop. I get random popping sounds in Modern Warfare 2 and insane distortion and static in Bad Company 2. I also get the popping sound in skype when chatting. What makes this strange is that I also started experiencing the same sounds on my laptop around the same time. I have tried different headsets and speakers and they all experience it. At first I thought it was something to do with my internet but I still get the sounds offline. I just did a clean install of windows 7 and I purchased an Asus Xonar DG neither of which did anything to help the issue.

 

[stahlhart]

Need a hardware list from you before anyone can get started on this.

You're getting the identical symptoms on a laptop and a desktop?

 

[Overmind]

Phenom II X2 550
ASRock 890GX Pro3
4GB DDR3 1333
Sentey 650 Watt
HIS 5750 1GB
Asus Xonar DG
Razer Carcharias

Yes, I am experiencing the same sound on my laptop as well as my desktop regardless of what type of speaker/headset I use.

 

[stahlhart]

You're playing MW2 and BC2 on both the desktop and the laptop?

Does the laptop have internal speakers, and does the problem occur when you are using those?

 

[mfenn]

If you get the same sound on two different machines, I would suspect an issue with your power. That or you're going crazy :awe:

 

[Overmind]

I only game on my desktop but I use skype and experience the problem on both machines. I had thought it was a power issue but my laptop does it while on battery. I honestly don't care about fixing the laptop, i just found it odd that i experience some of the same sounds on desktop and laptop. I'm not crazy what I'm experiencing is not normal and it has just started occurring recently. I thought my carcharias was going out but i have tried my laptop speakers and a usb headset all of which experience the same sounds. A clean install of windows did nothing and a new sound card did nothing. I'm typically a very good troubleshooter and can fix most issues with my computer but I am stumped on this one. Could it be a virus? If so wouldn't a clean install get rid of it?

 

[stahlhart]

You've honestly got me completely stumped, as I can't find what's common to both of your PCs that is capable of causing the trouble you're experiencing.

If it were me, yeah, I'd probably start by restaging one of the two completely, just a fresh OS installation with the barest minimum of driver support to bring all of the hardware up... then try one of the games or Skype to see if the issue is still there.

It it will probably end up taking less time to just drop back five and punt now, rather than drive yourself insane trying to locate the problem, if you still don't have anything to go on at this point (as I don't).

I was initially thinking something like PCI latency could cause what you're seeing (you can use something like DCP Latency Checker to verify this), but what are the chances of having an identical latency issue on two separate sets of hardware? It's just mind-boggling.

 

[mfenn]

I'm not crazy what I'm experiencing is not normal and it has just started occurring recently

It's called a joke.

Anyway, try booting a Linux liveCD and installing Skype there. If the same problem manifests, it's not a problem with your OS.

 

[Overmind]

You've honestly got me completely stumped, as I can't find what's common to both of your PCs that is capable of causing the trouble you're experiencing.

If it were me, yeah, I'd probably start by restaging one of the two completely, just a fresh OS installation with the barest minimum of driver support to bring all of the hardware up... then try one of the games or Skype to see if the issue is still there.

It it will probably end up taking less time to just drop back five and punt now, rather than drive yourself insane trying to locate the problem, if you still don't have anything to go on at this point (as I don't).

I was initially thinking something like PCI latency could cause what you're seeing (you can use something like DCP Latency Checker to verify this), but what are the chances of having an identical latency issue on two separate sets of hardware? It's just mind-boggling.

I actually just did a clean install on my desktop a few days ago and the problem was there immediately after the installation. I've been kind of bummed out that nothing seems to be wrong with anything yet their is obviously something going on.

 

[Absolution75]

Its likely an issue with the power.