HELP! With M-AUDIO Audiophile 2496

[beatmaker]

Hello,

I recently purchased an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 soundcard. Ever since installed it, the sound contains static and is kind of choppy (Windows/ Media Player/ Reason 3).

What is also wierd is that lets say I start playing a song in Media Player, it'll start off with the static and choppyness but will gradually start sounding better and better. I also noticed that my PC starts slowing down considerably. Same thing in Reason, if I play one of my beats, it sounds choppy for first few seconds but then plays perfectly for the rest of the file.
If I start moving my mouse and opening other windows while playing music, the system slows down excessively.

I mean i can still fully use it but the beginning of every song sounds really bad and it gets really annoying. Plus it slows down my pc drastically which makes it barely usable at times.

Here is my current setup:

Hardware:
- AMD Atlhon 1.4 GHz
- ASUS A7A266 with ALI chipset (updated drivers for ALI)
- 1 GB DDR
- 160 GB 7200(Primary) with over 120gigs available
- 30 GB (Secondary) with about 10 gigs left
- GeForce 2 GTS 64MB
- M-Audio Audiophile 2496 (with latest drivers)

Software:
- Windows XP SP2 with updates
- Updated drivers
- Reason 3.04
- Nero 6
- WinRar 3.61



I searched the web and could not find anything specific to my problem.
Any help is much appreciated!

Thank you!!! ;)

[tech1]

Try following the PC optimization Guide we have, located in the Resource Center link at the top of this page.

[beatmaker]

I also forgot to mention that I've tried installing the card in a different slot.

[beatmaker]

Try following the PC optimization Guide we have, located in the Resource Center link at the top of this page.

Thanks I'll have a look!

[AndyH]

I’ve seem comments about driver updates for Vista. Maybe you don’t want the latest driver. Even without a new OS around, the latest release isn’t always best.

[beatmaker]

I’ve seem comments about driver updates for Vista. Maybe you don’t want the latest driver. Even without a new OS around, the latest release isn’t always best.


Does this apply to me if I have WinXP SP2?

I also forgot to mention that my WinXP is a fresh install and i performed MOST windows updates.

Thanks again.

[AndyH]

The possibility of some problem or conflict with the latest, or any particular version of a device driver, is independent of OS. Sometimes only a few people have troubles with the "latest driver" because there is some quirk of their (total) system that wasn't anticipated by the driver programmers.

If the latest drivers include Vista support, but are not exclusively for Vista, then something in them could cause problems for your XP system.

[beatmaker]

Hello,

I followed the steps of the PC Optimization Guide for Windows XP and it helped a little bit but the problem is still there.

Should I post this thread in the M-Audio support thread?

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[TechKnowledgy]

Have you checked to see if the Audiophile is sharing an IRQ with something like your video card, wireless, or built-in audio? Have you tried all PCI slots?

[beatmaker]

Have you checked to see if the Audiophile is sharing an IRQ with something like your video card, wireless, or built-in audio? Have you tried all PCI slots?

I haven't tried all slots. I've only tried swapping slots once.

I dont have wireless, and built-in audio is disabled in BIOS.

Must I uninstall the drivers before trying another slot?

Thanks!

[byrdsworth]

Hi
have you tried downloading the latest drivers from m-audio ...
cheers
Byrds

[ecc83]

Hi Beatmaker,

I have a 2496 in both my pc's (XP pro and WMCE) no problems from day one for a year now. Bit of a trial but I would try this...

Remove the card, cleanout all M-A drivers using CCleaner or a registry cleaner. Re- instal OBS. Run pc to see if that works, it should, OBS is limited but it does work in my experience. Kill OBS again. Re install 2496.

The card is just about the most pc tolerant and rugged on the market, if you cannot get it working, I would begin to suspect some other pc related problem. Just a thought, you say it "improves" with time, maybe it warms up? Get it going nicely then cool it with a hair dryer,ON COLD! If you can prove the card faulty you can get a replacement.
Dave.

[beatmaker]

Hi
have you tried downloading the latest drivers from m-audio ...
cheers
Byrds

Yes I do have the latest M-Audio drivers installed.

Hi Beatmaker,

I have a 2496 in both my pc's (XP pro and WMCE) no problems from day one for a year now. Bit of a trial but I would try this...

Remove the card, cleanout all M-A drivers using CCleaner or a registry cleaner. Re- instal OBS. Run pc to see if that works, it should, OBS is limited but it does work in my experience. Kill OBS again. Re install 2496.

The card is just about the most pc tolerant and rugged on the market, if you cannot get it working, I would begin to suspect some other pc related problem. Just a thought, you say it "improves" with time, maybe it warms up? Get it going nicely then cool it with a hair dryer,ON COLD! If you can prove the card faulty you can get a replacement.
Dave.

Thanks for your reply! What I meant by ''improves with time'' is that let's say I start playing a song, the very beginning is choppy and a few seconds later, the song plays correctly. It's only the first few seconds where the pc seems to slow down and the sound is choppy.

I'll try cleaning out the drivers. I'll also look up OBS.. not familiar with it.

Cheers!

[ecc83]

My apologies, On Board Sound. You know, that $1.00 ***t they give you with the computer.

Dave.

[beatmaker]

My apologies, On Board Sound. You know, that $1.00 ***t they give you with the computer.

Dave.


OOhh!! LOL .. ok yeah thats disabled!

[TechKnowledgy]

If you're just swapping PCI slots, you don't need to re-install the driver. The hardware wizard will probably pop back up to relocate the drivers for the new slot, but it should be able to find them automatically.