Sound issue

[Comdrpopnfresh]

I've all but given up on my x-fi for use in my new system. The damned thing never had any issues on my nf4 board- a notorious incompatibility. Now I go to use it in my new system, (nf7?) and all I get is crackling, cutting out, or that screech of death people complained of w/ nf4... In short, I've removed additional card, reseated the x-fi, put in a different pci slot to assure irq's stay in line, and tweaked latencies. From the few EE courses I've taken, it sounds like a combination of signals being out of range for the op-amp, or a buffer underrun, or both. I'd think the buffer issue, if it is there, would have cleared up w/ my changes. The odd thing is the x-fi card works fine for a bit after startup if I use wmp, but itunes makes it crap all over. Interestingly, this is kind of like a problem I now have w/ my onboard realtek.

There are some tracks that I listen to a lot, so I can tell if something is off- the tempo or the pitch. I've noticed the pitch on the onboard sound is sometimes off by a bit. When it happens, usually in itunes, the music sounds like there is water in my speakers, and the tone is just plain off. I'd say it is on the higher-pitched end of things, but 'off' is more accurate.
Is this indicative of something? Or is this a typical thing only sensitive individuals notice? I will say this, if I listen to the same song through the same speakers connected to my ipod- there is no issue, so i've taken speaker issues out of the equation.
ideas?
OR- anyone know how to get my x-fi working? would it be worthwhile, if i don't know the issue exactly to do that op-amp mod most usually do for better quality?

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
I've all but given up on my x-fi for use in my new system. The damned thing never had any issues on my nf4 board- a notorious incompatibility. Now I go to use it in my new system, (nf7?) and all I get is crackling, cutting out, or that screech of death people complained of w/ nf4... In short, I've removed additional card, reseated the x-fi, put in a different pci slot to assure irq's stay in line, and tweaked latencies. From the few EE courses I've taken, it sounds like a combination of signals being out of range for the op-amp, or a buffer underrun, or both. I'd think the buffer issue, if it is there, would have cleared up w/ my changes. The odd thing is the x-fi card works fine for a bit after startup if I use wmp, but itunes makes it crap all over. Interestingly, this is kind of like a problem I now have w/ my onboard realtek.

There are some tracks that I listen to a lot, so I can tell if something is off- the tempo or the pitch. I've noticed the pitch on the onboard sound is sometimes off by a bit. When it happens, usually in itunes, the music sounds like there is water in my speakers, and the tone is just plain off. I'd say it is on the higher-pitched end of things, but 'off' is more accurate.
Is this indicative of something? Or is this a typical thing only sensitive individuals notice? I will say this, if I listen to the same song through the same speakers connected to my ipod- there is no issue, so i've taken speaker issues out of the equation.
ideas?
OR- anyone know how to get my x-fi working? would it be worthwhile, if i don't know the issue exactly to do that op-amp mod most usually do for better quality?

The only time I ever had issues with an X-fi is because I was running my memory timings too tight. Relax your memory timings to the defaults and maybe your problem will go away.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

hmmm- I hadn't thought of that. My memory is temporary- a gig of 667 oc'd to 800. I left cas @ 5- the spd rating at the stock 667, and everything else at auto. When I get my ddr2-800, I might leave it at stock settings- should I see the issue go away if this context is the case?

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: Comdrpopnfresh
hmmm- I hadn't thought of that. My memory is temporary- a gig of 667 oc'd to 800. I left cas @ 5- the spd rating at the stock 667, and everything else at auto. When I get my ddr2-800, I might leave it at stock settings- should I see the issue go away if this context is the case?

I would believe so.
Have you run a memory test on yoursetup?