Xfi pop/crackle

mrk

mrk

mrk

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
104,016
Location
South Coast
Hi, recently I moved to a new pc case (P182) and of course the xfi gamer sits on the bottom most PCI slot on my a8n32 sli deluxe, the first PCI slot is pwnt by the 8800GTS and 2nd slot used by my wifi card.

In the old case (Tt Aguila) the XFI was in the same slot but had some air going from the front intake but on the P182 the front intake blows air over the drive cage and the airflow gets pulled over the cpu area and pulled in by the 8800 cooler so little airflow goes over the soundcard area.

What I want to know is does the XFI exhibit popping/crackling that lasts a split second at a random interval of say every few mins ? like when watching a movie or playing music a quick snap or pop will be heard then it does *** same several mins later?

I assume this was the reason a heatsink was applied to the Gamer card dueto its small profile size heat would generate faster on this card it seems?

I have touched the card's heatsink after a few hours usage and indeed it does get very hot...
I have uninstalled the driver, used driver sweeper and installed a fresh driver but *** same problem exists. I am on Vista too but never had the issue in the old case (due to the above airflow reasons I'd assume).

I'm seriously considering getting a Auzentec HDA X-Plosion now as I prefer superior music / movie sound quality over superior game sound via EAX (I only use 2 speakers via an amp and never will change this) but still don't understand the performance benefits of EAX in games over a non EAX3/4/5/HD cards - is the difference large? I do have an 8800GTS and will have a 9800GTS when they're out so I'd have though the performance difference would be small at best?

I could also pick up an Xtreme Music OEM from a local store for £63 if anyone can confirm no nforce4 compatibility issues ?
 
If youre having problems with the xtreme gamer then id imagine you'd have problems with the exteme music as well.

The heatsink was applied to the later models as creative changed the way they made the chips, which made then run hotter.

Theres a huge thread over on the creative forums about the nforce4 problems plus the snap crackle and pop issues :)
 
Arse!

Well looks like I'll be selling the Gamer and buying a Auzentech X-Plosion.

Thanks for your reply anyway though mate, expect a review of the HDA sometime this week :D

edit*

Just seen the X-Fi Prelude from Auzentech on pre-order shipping on 31st of this month, reckon it may be better to wait for that? it is double the price of the X-Plosion and I did get by just fine on a Santa Cruz up until getting the Gamer couple months back!
 
Last edited:
MeatLoaf said:
Why :confused:
Click to expand...
Because it's better than it not working at all. :p

i guess i'm pretty fortunate, since mine only really crackles when loading maps in Battlefield 2142, so i know not to have the volume up too loud. I did have a problem before where it crackled loads upon loading Windows, however after a reformat it seems to be working relatively fine.
 
Well I have changed pci slot, reinstalled the driver etc and still get the odd pop when playing anything with audio.

LOL.

I think it's now quite funny, the driver installs fast and fine and uninstalls fast and fine, everything just works (I love Vista!) it's just the damn popping every moment or so! - A normal user may not notice it but I've grown used to noticing even the smallest difference in sound output.

HDA X-Plosion here I come!
 
i get a VERY faint buzzing noise all the time when playing games and when active on desktop and sometimes a crackle when in games randomly with my xfi elite pro... ive just got used to it, tons of people have the same problem, just creative are too lazy and crap to do anything about it

ags
 
don't quote me on this but i believe its very hard to rectify because its to do with creatives poor shielding on the current sound card range, cards suffer badly from interference from other components that's what causes the snap crackle and pop, i get it all the time and sometimes it will go away then come back again

very annoying
 
Well I've just started a bid round on an X-Plosion with upgraded OpAmps :D

Happy days!
 
agnes said:
i get a VERY faint buzzing noise all the time when playing games and when active on desktop and sometimes a crackle when in games randomly with my xfi elite pro... ive just got used to it, tons of people have the same problem, just creative are too lazy and crap to do anything about it

ags
Click to expand...

I get a faint buzzing also, but i also got it with my old audigy and with the onboard sound so i assume its my speakers.
 
Ok Today I ordered the HDA Splosion with 6 Burr Brown OPA2134PA OpAmps, The OpAmps were £1.50 each and the card £61 inc vat (free del)

Should be here tomorrow.

Exciting stuff!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom