Crackling in speakers

[meester]

I have a Soundblaster Xtreme Musics. I've had both for 6 years or more.

I'm running Win 8.1

I'm finding that there is a crackling/distortion in the audio when audio plays (silence when no audio), which does not occur immediately, but maybe sometime after the system is booted (rebooting fixes the problem).

Is my soundcard faulty? Time to replace?

Problem occurs both with speakers from back panel port, and with headphones from the front.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

In order of likelihood, cables (connectors), interference, drivers, sound card.

 

[ronbo613]

Maybe take the card out, clean the contacts with an eraser to remove corrosion and dirt, wipe with alcohol and reinstall the card. Plug and unplug the cables a couple times to get a good connection and check the connections. When you have the card out, give it a close visual inspection, look for popped capacitors, loose connector jacks(from wiggling cables around) or any other defects.

This may not solve your problem, but since it doesn't cost anything, it's worth a shot before you buy another card.