Speaker "Cracks"

[UVAJim]

Hey All,

I posted a few weeks ago about some speaker questions, and ended up getting the logitech z680s. I love the speakers, but sometimes get a "crack" or "pop" noise while listening. I have checked the connections and am confident that the noise is not from the speakers themselves, but rather from signal from the computer. I think this is true because when I turn on the visualization in iTunes or WMP, I get lots of cracking and popping, but next to none if I stop the visualization. Basically it seems like the more the CPU is being used, the more cracking and popping I get.

Any Ideas?
Jim

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

what's your motherboar and\or soundcard?

 

[Soulkeeper]

yeah sometimes a poor soundcard can cause that problem

 

[UVAJim]

I have an Audigy2 Soundcard

I doubt that's the problem.

Does it make sense that its not the speakers? I don't think it can be, because if I just let music play through the soundcard and don't touch the computer, there are no "cracks". When I turn on the visualization, it starts cracking automatically.

Thanks
Jim

 

[PrinceXizor]

What is your audio source? CD in CD-RW? Passing in audio through the analog ins? etc? That information is critical to deducing your signal path and thus also what would be affecting said signal path.

P-X

 

[cbuchach]

Huh, I have been noticing similar issues recently. I also have an Audigy 2 soundcard. For example, right now I am encoding a movie which is using a majority of my CPU resources and also watching Seinfeld (which I recorded). Every now and again I get little pops and cracks coming from the speakers. It is not continual, but it is annoying and I would expect more from my Audigy 2. I also have noticed problems when playing Neverwinter Nights which again eats a bunch of CPU resources.

You may want to ensure that all of your various volumes are muted if you are not using them. I know in the past that I had more problems when my line-in was not muted.

 

[PrinceXizor]

When you are recording audio and you run out of CPU resources, you get pops and cracks on your recording. I would presume that the same thing would be happening in reverse when converting digital audio back into analog during high CPU usage time. This has less to do with your card's physical chips, and more to do with driver latencies and the fact that your CPU resources are low.

P-X

 

[UVAJim]

Cool, so what do I do to fix it?

And why didn't it happen a few weeks ago?

Thanks
Jim

 

[PrinceXizor]

Ah...you didn't say that it just cropped up. Honestly, I don't know. Audio troubleshooting is tricky. Pops and cracks are usually either interference with the signal between your card and speakers or a hiccup in the I/O stream as it runs through the DAC's.

For a "new" problem, have you installed any new hardware or software recently? Did you change any settings recently? Have you tried the basic component swap yet, such as swapping your Audigy2 for something else, then seeing if you get the pops and hisses. I'd swap the sound card and the PSU, and see if you can isolate the problem.

P-X

 

[UVAJim]

Bingo, I think it's fixed.

I have reformatted twice in the last few months. The first time I installed the new Audigy2 drivers. This time I forgot to (used ones about a year old). Now it works MUCH better, with almost no popping or cracking. (Although I haven't listened to a ton of music yet.) If there are more problems, I may resurrect this thread, but as of now, things are good.

Thanks for the help
Jim