I don't know where else to turn

[requ13m]

Basically I think I've reached my breaking point and I'm completely stumped as to how to fix this or what is going on.

I did a rebuild of my water cooling setup and threw in more ram specifically 4GB(2x2GB) of OCZ reaper into my setup which i'll detail below. I'd did a fresh reinstall of Vista 32bit and started to get that crackling issue that everyone seems to have with creative x-fi cards. So after trying everything I uninstalled the card and switched to onboard sound which gave me the same thing.

So this morning I did another fresh install with only 2 gigs of ram and without the x-fi and got the crackling with the onboard sound again!! I have no idea how to solve the problem or could it be the case that my onboard sound has the same problem as the X-Fi?

does anybody know a way I can fix this?? I've tried everything:(:shrug:

Setup: Asus P5B deluxe, e6600(Not overclocked right now), 2 150GB raptors in RAID, 8800gts, and cpu and gpu are watercooled

[ExodusC]

Are you sure it's not your headphones/speakers causing the crackling? It's strange that both a sound card and onboard sound would cause this.

[requ13m]

Are you sure it's not your headphones/speakers causing the crackling? It's strange that both a sound card and onboard sound would cause this.

well it happens with both my headphones and my speakers in both the on board sound and the x-fi thats why I'm completely lost as to what the problem is:shrug:

[ExodusC]

well it happens with both my headphones and my speakers in both the on board sound and the x-fi thats why I'm completely lost as to what the problem is:shrug:
That is strange... Perhaps it is Vista? I have no idea what would be causing that.

[requ13m]

I'm nearly leaning towards the RAID cause I didn't have one before and i think the driver could be setting it off??

[hoax]

this may sound very idiotic, so apologies for even mentioning it, but I had a similar issue recently and the solution was so simple..

I opened the creative x-fi volume panel on the tray, and my 'mic playback' had volume turned up, and I heard cracking/hd noise. once I turned it down, the noise was gone.

probably not the same, just an idea :)

[requ13m]

Thanks hoax had a look but that wasn't the issue I started playing music with media player instead and there's no crackling for some reason but there is when I use Itunes so uninstalled Itunes and reinstalled but still the same issue and its the same on vlc, could the codecs on itunes be knocking it off?

[Peakr]

Eliminate software as the issue. Remove all codecs maybe use a fresh install. Try removing all cards, raid, x-fi, use only what you need, install them one at a time to eliminate hardware issue. Also you might check for grounding of the motherboard, loose wires etc...

[ExodusC]

I suggest you install XP (assuming you have a copy) and then see if you get the same issue under XP. That way we can see if Vista is causing the problem, or if it's something else.

[saint-francis]

I have had this problem several times in the past and it's always been due to problems in my directshow environment. Things like K-Lite mega codec pack were always responsible. The thing is that VLC doesn't use direct show so I don't know what to tell you. As far as the codecs in itunes interfering, I doubt it. Again since VLC is entirely self contained there is no way other decoders could interfere with it. Are you using SPDIF?

[requ13m]

I have had this problem several times in the past and it's always been due to problems in my directshow environment. Things like K-Lite mega codec pack were always responsible. The thing is that VLC doesn't use direct show so I don't know what to tell you. As far as the codecs in itunes interfering, I doubt it. Again since VLC is entirely self contained there is no way other decoders could interfere with it. Are you using SPDIF?

No i'm not using spdif at all and i was thinking that maybe itunes had corrupted something to do with vlc but I'm starting to doubt it now myself

I suggest you install XP (assuming you have a copy) and then see if you get the same issue under XP. That way we can see if Vista is causing the problem, or if it's something else.

Thats going to be my project for next weekend if I can't get this issue resolved

Eliminate software as the issue. Remove all codecs maybe use a fresh install. Try removing all cards, raid, x-fi, use only what you need, install them one at a time to eliminate hardware issue. Also you might check for grounding of the motherboard, loose wires etc...

I already tried a fresh install and i've reseated and reinstalled all of my cards the only thing I haven't tried yet is the raid and I'm thinking of trying to install vista on just one raptor and seeing if the issue is resolved. Wouldn't the system not start if it wasn't properly grounded?

Thanks for the replys guys cause I'm still completely at a loss and I'm wasting far too much time trying to resolve this