old VIA chipset sound pops and crackles

[divxdude]

i know its been an issue for years on these chipsets..
I once asked what soundcard would not have that problem and was told one of the
Phillips edge cards ..

Anyone recomend others? I really just wanted a $10 card but the CMedia
card is the one that sounds like a campfire in my living room.

 

[Aries64]

Originally posted by: divxdude
i know its been an issue for years on these chipsets..
I once asked what soundcard would not have that problem and was told one of the
Phillips edge cards ..

Anyone recomend others? I really just wanted a $10 card but the CMedia
card is the one that sounds like a campfire in my living room.

I know you wanted a cheap card but you get what you pay for. And even though onboard sound has come a long way they still don't sound as good as current add-in cards. For this reason I never use onboard sound. Get an Audigy2 and kiss pops and crackling good-bye.

Try an Audigy2 Value <=$50.00 online. The next set up is the Audigy2 ZS, but if I remember correctly the only difference between the two is that the ZS has better connectors (14K gold-plated) and has a FireWire port. I've owned an Audigy2 Value but now have a Audigy2 ZS.

You might be able to buy a used Audigy2 ZS here (Anandtech For Sale/Trade) pretty cheap (same price as a new Audigy2 Value). I've seen them before.

 

[Valkerie]

Originally posted by: Aries64

Originally posted by: divxdude
i know its been an issue for years on these chipsets..
I once asked what soundcard would not have that problem and was told one of the
Phillips edge cards ..

Anyone recomend others? I really just wanted a $10 card but the CMedia
card is the one that sounds like a campfire in my living room.

I know you wanted a cheap card but you get what you pay for. And even though onboard sound has come a long way they still don't sound as good as current add-in cards. For this reason I never use onboard sound. Get an Audigy2 and kiss pops and crackling good-bye.

Try an Audigy2 Value <=$50.00 online. The next set up is the Audigy2 ZS, but if I remember correctly the only difference between the two is that the ZS has better connectors (14K gold-plated) and has a FireWire port. I've owned an Audigy2 Value but now have a Audigy2 ZS.

You might be able to buy a used Audigy2 ZS here (Anandtech For Sale/Trade) pretty cheap (same price as a new Audigy2 Value). I've seen them before.

CPU Magazine did test runs on various high-end computers. Among them was an nForce 2, they claim that it was "theater worthy" of sounding excellent with its onboard sound. Ofcourse, I must say, that they used an amp with very expensive speakers. Otherwise, onboard sound does not match up with daughter cards, even if the onboard's software is very sleek.
I like Dell's Soundmax onboard, however. Still, even weaker daughter cards are cheap. If you spend over 50 bucks on a card, you'll get something worthwhile.

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: divxdude
i know its been an issue for years on these chipsets..
I once asked what soundcard would not have that problem and was told one of the
Phillips edge cards ..

Anyone recomend others? I really just wanted a $10 card but the CMedia
card is the one that sounds like a campfire in my living room.

It's not so much a chipset issue but more a chipset setup issue - lazy BIOS not setting up the PCI bus arbiter for good performance.

But mind, any of those old chipsets WILL show limitations when stressed with today's fast hard disks or other high bandwidth equipment. This is because they run the southbridge as a client on the same PCI bus as the slots. No matter who made the chipset.

There _should_ be a BIOS update for the board that remedies it, and if not, VIA's driver packages might still contain the necessary corrective action.