X-Fi Prelude Crackling When Gaming...?

I've found other stuff online related to Preludes crackling/popping, and the one major piece of advice seems to be to increase PCI latency in BIOS... so I did.

First, I raised it from 32 to 64 and noticed a definite improvement but the cracking was still noticeable, if faint (I should add that I only ever hear it from the two right speakers in my 5.1 setup). So I went back into BIOS and bumped the latency up to 128. At first, I thought the problem was solved. My music was playing with absolutely no crackling at all. BUT if I play a game, it comes back... slowly.

While playing a game everything seems fine for about 20 minutes, then the crackling gradually starts creeping back into the right front and rear channels... but once it starts, it gets worse faster and faster until it's just as bad as before. Once the crackling starts, it stays there until I restart the computer. This doesn't seem to happen when just listening to music or watching movies or any other "light" use, it only seems to happen in games.

Could possibly this be some kind of heat-related issue with the card? I find it odd that the crackling creeps back in with extended gaming like that, and that's the only thing I can think of that might cause this kind of behavior.

lol crackling. it will never go away until you leave creative entirely. hell, I have no soundcard. just usb software sound ftw.

Thanks, that was very helpful.

So an update... my headphones seem to work smashingly, even while the buzz-popping continues on my 5.1... which is interesting. At the moment, I'm using optical out to a home theatre grade Sony receiver. I've ruled out the decoder since everything else I plug into it works great. It also supports analogue and digital din, so I'm now going to try different connections as well as the other outputs on the card itself.

Update 2: I've confirmed that only the digital outputs are affected by the clicking/popping/buzzing problem. Regardless of whether I'm using coaxial or optical, the buzzing is there. The analogue outputs on the card are all working normally (tested by plugging my headphones into each jack while playing a 5.1-compatible movie). That really sucks, since it means I cant wire my PC straight into the receiver.

I dont have the crackling problems at all with my Logitech Z5500, if your using vista try using the 16bit/48khz in the sound options in the control panel.

Veraxus said:

Thanks, that was very helpful.

So an update... my headphones seem to work smashingly, even while the buzz-popping continues on my 5.1... which is interesting. At the moment, I'm using optical out to a home theatre grade Sony receiver. I've ruled out the decoder since everything else I plug into it works great. It also supports analogue and digital din, so I'm now going to try different connections as well as the other outputs on the card itself.

Update 2: I've confirmed that only the digital outputs are affected by the clicking/popping/buzzing problem. Regardless of whether I'm using coaxial or optical, the buzzing is there. The analogue outputs on the card are all working normally (tested by plugging my headphones into each jack while playing a 5.1-compatible movie). That really sucks, since it means I cant wire my PC straight into the receiver.

Click to expand...

Want helpful? Do what I did and ditch the Prelude.

I got a Trends Audio TD-10 USB to coax/optical/bnc converter. That, a Panasonic Xr-57, 6 Mirage audio nano sats that all have 360 dispersion tweets and a 12" powered sub = MUCH better now ahhhhhhh! Now my ears don't hurt. Soundcards are just a pain in the ass mate. Bypass the hassle and go usb.

AdmiralFlameberg said:

I dont have the crackling problems at all with my Logitech Z5500, if your using vista try using the 16bit/48khz in the sound options in the control panel.

Click to expand...

That did the trick! I set 16bit/48khz in both the speaker and spdif areas (speakers alone didn't work), then restart my computer (crackling didnt go away immediately after changing the settings), but it works perfectly now. Thanks.

Veraxus, will keep my fingers crossed for you that that is the answer and no more SCP! Keep us posted!

Maybe a "sticky" is needed on problems like this and possible fixes?

Spaceman, your solution sounds wonderful. Unfortunately, not all of us can afford or want such a setup. Depends on each person's needs. For many of us a soundcard (internal) is still the most viable answer.