Music is sounding bad

[gladwarez]

First some specs:

Windows XP
Avance AC97 (sound card)
Realtek AC97 Audio 3.78a (sound driver, dated 10-4-05)
Intel 82801DB ICH4 AC97 Audio Controller (PCI Device)

For some odd reason, a month or so ago my computer started producing some type of crackling sound when playing any type of audio. It isn't a problem with the headphones - I've plugged in another pair with no luck. It also isn't the media player I use (I've played the same track in Winamp and WMP with the same results). This seemed to happen quite randomly, I'm not sure as to what actually caused this. I've tried updating the sound drivers and that hasn't worked. I know it isn't a problem with the sound card because it worked just fine before.

Could it be my system volume settings? (Attached is a screenshot of it)

Please help me out, this crackling is driving me insane! :(

[itsplayed]

Have you tried updating the drivers? Did you add or change anything on the system?

[gladwarez]

Yeah I've updated the drivers, and I've not changed the system in any dramatic way, or anyway that would warrent this happening

[itsplayed]

Did the problem occur after you updated the drivers? or did you update the drivers after the problem appeared?

[gladwarez]

Afterwards. Did you see anything funny with my volume config? Sometimes I'm suspicious that's causing it. Also I've read at the winamp forum that sometimes if the SPDIF output is set too low the music "splats" as it hits the boundry, could this be the problem? If so, could anyone tell me how to fix it?

[itsplayed]

Crackling usually denotes bad or wrong drivers or a conflict, but you could try a few things to see if it makes a difference. First, mute the SW synth unless your using this for a midi keyboard. second, mute the 3D Depth, it's an effect you don't need. Next, unmute CD player and lower the volume to about half-way. I would also run a virus scan on your system to make sure nothing has gotten in.
There are a couple of other things you can try but we'll do that first. You can also look in the control panel to make sure the soundcard shown is correct.
Do you know what motherboard your running with? If not what make/model is the system?
You also need to make sure your running with Direct X 8.0 or greater. there are multiple drivers that allow this soundcard to function properly.
Where did you download those drivers? Go here and try installing these:
http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?qt=Realtek+AC97+&tg=dl-20&search.x=13&search.y=9

I also looked on Intels site, are you sure of the name of that audio controller chipset? Couldn't find it.

[gladwarez]

Motherboard: TriGem eMachines Imperial

I'm running DirectX8 currently, also I downloaded the drivers from realtek's site. It's the same type as that, only i have 3.78.

Also, I did a virus scan, it found a few things, I deleted them, and I've rebooted to find no driver is installed, so hopefully this is a good sign, and I'm now redownloading the sound driver I used before.

[itsplayed]

That does sound like good news, I thought it might be some type of bug attacking your soundcards drivers from the symptoms/circumstances you described. Hope it works out well for you..... Cheers!
~Steve

[gladwarez]

Hm, so far nothing has changed. It may be something I can't find. I did find something in my scan called Win32/ProcKill which I couldn't remove. I'll post up a HijackThis! log on another website, unless someone here could analyze it for me. Thanks for your help! More is always appreciated.

[jmail]

Do you have 2 sound cards active? What driver are you using (WDM or MM) for the "preferred device"? Click on "Start", "Run", and type in "msinfo32", click on "OK" and that will run Microsoft System Information utility. Click on the "plus" sign next to "Hardware Resources" in the left pane, and then select "IRQs". In the right pane then you should see what everything is assigned to on your computer, IRQ-wise. See if you don't have a conflict there between your audio "card" and something else...

[gladwarez]

I've done what you said, jmail, and I think it's best if you take a look at it since I have no idea if there is a conflict: