• Old PC, cracking noise on headset
    11 replies, posted
I've had this PC for a while now so I won't be surprised if it's just a case of old age finally catching up to it and there's no solution as there's already quite a bit of issues with it alongside this one. But the issue has been bothering me quite a bit as I can't do anything that makes use of sound, so I want to try fixing it as this one has a habit of appearing and disappearing on seemingly its own. What happens is that any time my cpu is under any load (youtube, games, just fullscreen steam window, messaging people) my headset starts freaking out and something like a cracking or popping noise starts happening on the right ear of my headset while on any heavier load it happens on my left ear too. Initially I assumed that it's a problem with my headset or something so I tried plugging it into a different computer (although a laptop) and there was no such problem. On different headsets it still happens on my computer. (Although the headsets are rather cheap. :v:) I'm using onboard sound so I'm assuming something on my motherboard is causing interference but I'm not too sure what exactly. Alongside that, if the issue stops happening, it doesn't come back until my PC is moved for various reason. At that point it usually returns with varying severity, sometimes something like typing can cause major noise and sometimes its just barely audible. Any attempts to fix it and find out what the cause might be usually makes it more or less severe. I also initially assumed its a driver issue but upon uninstalling the audio driver that windows automatically found, I lost my sound whereas the issue persisted. The issue also stuck around after I cleaned my pc of dust. Any ideas what the cause might be? I can't seem to figure out a solution that isn't "buy a sound card" which is not an option I currently have. I don't think there's any that are being sold that would be compatible with this PC either. The times it usually fixes itself is when there's some problems with my GPU that need fixing so it's likely I just fix it on accident while messing with the GPU.
From what you described, I almost get the feeling it's the CPU bogging down under load and clipping the audio decoding as a result. Only solution in that case would be to get a new audio device, I believe. I'm not expert, though, so definitely get a second opinion.
Do you have multiple jacks? Because on my computer the sound crackles in the rear jack but not the front jack.
Can you post your specs if you have those available? It could be a whole lot of things, like you said an overload of the cpu, bad mobo audio, etc.
Might wanna get a extra soundcard for sound processing something like this [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102054&cm_re=soundblaster-_-29-102-054-_-Product[/url]
[QUOTE=ScottyWired;47144806]Do you have multiple jacks? Because on my computer the sound crackles in the rear jack but not the front jack.[/QUOTE] No front jacks only rear ones, unfortunately. [QUOTE=Da Big Man;47144813]Can you post your specs if you have those available? It could be a whole lot of things, like you said an overload of the cpu, bad mobo audio, etc.[/QUOTE] Used Speccy for this : [img]http://i.imgur.com/RcxKEML.png[/img] Since it doesn't say the CPU speed, it is 2,66 GHz although for some reason it runs at 2,67 GHz. Ignore the no optical device thing, I unplugged it at one point and never bothered to plug it back in. Is there anything else you might need to know? [sp]I wasn't kidding when I said it's old.[/sp] [QUOTE=MrWhite;47144791]From what you described, I almost get the feeling it's the CPU bogging down under load and clipping the audio decoding as a result. Only solution in that case would be to get a new audio device, I believe. I'm not expert, though, so definitely get a second opinion.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=cNova;47144843]Might wanna get a extra soundcard for sound processing something like this [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102054&cm_re=soundblaster-_-29-102-054-_-Product[/url][/QUOTE] Seems that a soundcard is the most likely solution. Am hoping that there'll be a different solution besides the soundcard. The thing that makes me think there might be a different solution is that usually it goes away and works fine until my pc is moved for reasons at which point it starts happening again. If there's not going to be any other solution I guess I'll just have to either buy a soundcard or just save up for a proper pc build when it'll be possible. Thanks anyway though.
[QUOTE=MrWhite;47144791]From what you described, I almost get the feeling it's the CPU bogging down under load and clipping the audio decoding as a result. Only solution in that case would be to get a new audio device, I believe. I'm not expert, though, so definitely get a second opinion.[/QUOTE] Considering that it also happened when he didn't have drivers, I don't think it's a software issue. [QUOTE=WaRRioRTF;47145105]No front jacks only rear ones, unfortunately. Used Speccy for this : [img]http://i.imgur.com/RcxKEML.png[/img] [/QUOTE] The cracking sound may be caused by a leaking/blown capacitor. Capacitors are used to smooth out voltages, but if one goes broken its possible that voltages on the motherboard aren't stable under load and cause a cracking sound in the audio outputs, even when you have no drivers installed. I looked up your motherboard and it seems that it has tons of them. You should check if there are any leaking capacitors. Here I highlighter some so you know what to look for: [img_thumb]https://maurits.tv/data/img/February%202015/2015-02-15_15-49-48.jpg[/img_thumb] And this is what a leaking capacitor looks like: [img_thumb]http://www.thenakedpc.com/dan/Bulging_Capacitors/close-up.jpg[/img_thumb]
[QUOTE=Satane;47145296]This is a total shot in the dark but check if mobo screws are loose and tighten them.[/QUOTE] Checked the screws, at least to me they seem fine. [QUOTE=maurits150;47145338]Considering that it also happened when he didn't have drivers, I don't think it's a software issue. The cracking sound may be caused by a leaking/blown capacitor. Capacitors are used to smooth out voltages, but if one goes broken its possible that voltages on the motherboard aren't stable under load and cause a cracking sound in the audio outputs, even when you have no drivers installed. I looked up your motherboard and it seems that it has tons of them. You should check if there are any leaking capacitors. Here I highlighter some so you know what to look for: [img_thumb]https://maurits.tv/data/img/February%202015/2015-02-15_15-49-48.jpg[/img_thumb] And this is what a leaking capacitor looks like: [img_thumb]http://www.thenakedpc.com/dan/Bulging_Capacitors/close-up.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] Thank you, this is rather helpful. I'll check through them later on and respond here again. Though, if a capacitor is leaking there's not much I can do short of replacing the motherboard I guess?
I've looked through the capacitors and I didn't see any leaking ones, with the exception that some of them are kind of angled slightly rather than pointing straight up but I don't think that's a problem. [editline]yes[/editline] Does H&S not have automerge?
It's cross talk, nothing to do with age or "overloading the cpu". My ivy bridge desktop does it when it uses onboard audio. Pretty much all that can be done is use the front audio ports or turn off onboard and get a PCI sound card in there. Something like an old soundblaster live will tide you over until you get a new machine. They are really cheap second hand.
well then I guess I'll just have to look into getting a sound card asap. Thank you all for responding with some advice on this. [editline]16th February 2015[/editline] Okay so, some nonsense with my gpu popped up and upon figuring that out, after starting up the PC the audio cracking nonsense is gone. Let's hope it stays, as once again it's gone for no reason or a reason I can't figure out. Once again, thank you everyone who posted.
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