Subject:M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Posted by: Midas

Date:9/23/2002 9:03:14 AM

Is anyone else experiencing pops, crackles and sound dropout when using their M-Audio soundcard? I just purchased the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 last week and I have not been able to make it work yet under Windows XP without pops, crackling and sound dropout. This happens when running Acid as well as when I am just navigating around Windows. I have installed the lastest drivers from the Midiman site and I also downloaded the lastest service patch from Microsoft and I increased my buffer size in the soundcard control panel. Nothing has worked thus far. Has anyone been able to get their Delta soundcard to work with Windows XP? If so, how is your system configured?
Thanks

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Vocalpoint

Date:9/23/2002 9:14:52 AM

Midas,

We need much more detail than this to help out. Practically every possible "pops, crackles" scenario has been played out in these forums over the months. Maybe do a search first and see what you come up with.

Of prime concern when this occurs is:

1) OS type and how you installed it.
2) Your hardware config. (I can tell you right now if you have only one hard disk - that's probably a big contributor to said problem)
3. Driver settings.

So update when you can and We will try and figure out what's going on.

Tip - Search all forums when looking for details on this (Not just the Acid forum)

Cheers,

Cuzin B

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: SonicBorr

Date:9/23/2002 9:57:03 AM

M-audio's faq section has some info related to pops and clicks. It's for the delta series cards but might be helpful nonetheless:

http://www.midiman.net/support/FAQ/delta_popsnclicks.php

Also, check your irq settings. My network card and delta44 card try to share the same irq (11) and I end up getting pops and clicks as well during network activity. Go to Control Panel>System>Hardware tab>Device Manager and pick "Resources by type" from the view menu. Check to make sure you don't have conflicting irq's.

Brian

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Sroznik2

Date:9/23/2002 11:49:29 AM

There are a couple of reasons you could pop and crackle. The first is that, well, at least for the Delta series you need to be on IRQ 9 or lower. (An awfully difficult feat considering plug n pray). I've pulled it off on two machines so far--one running Win 98 and one running XP pro. It took like a week for the XP machine. If you can force an IRQ in the BIOS, that's fantastic. Unfortunately, we didn't have that option. You can try pulling the card in and out until it falls into the right IRQ, turning off PCI steering (didn't work for me) and turning your computer into a standard HAL (see Microsoft).

But the thing that worked best for me was to disable the few peripheral devices that were changeable in the BIOS which opened up a new IRQ and shuffled the IRQs again.

Another reason for crackles can be if you have it set to SPDIF and you are using the internal crystal oscillators instead of the external sync. There is some helpful stuff in the manual, you can also call the people at M-Audio as well.

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Sroznik2

Date:9/23/2002 11:50:37 AM

Oh yeah--if you can (no easy feat), try to get the card alone, on it's one IRQ.

Good luck :-)

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Sroznik2

Date:9/23/2002 11:51:06 AM

on its "OWN" irq.

(having problems typing--sorry)

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Sroznik2

Date:9/23/2002 11:52:56 AM

When I say, pulling the card in and out--I mean try switching to different PCI slots with the hopes that you will end up on a lower IRQ without sharing.

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:9/23/2002 12:30:26 PM

In addition to what everyone's said, you can easily free up some IRQ's by disabling devices such as your serial ports, your printer port, or your PS/2 mouse port (if you're using a USB mouse, there's no point in keeping the PS/2 port enabled) in your system's BIOS. Usually, these options are found under the "Advanced" menu in the BIOS.

Note that if you do decide to reserve IRQ's for certain slots per Sroznik2's suggestion, be sure to consult your motherboard's manual. It should have a diagram telling you which slot is which. The function for reserving IRQ's should be under "PCI Configuration" in the BIOS.

Be careful. If you don't know what a BIOS setting does, read the manual or back out.

You might also have an easier time if you check out MusicXP.net. Lots of great tips there for using XP as your OS for a DAW. Pay particular attention to the section, "Installing XP".

If you do ever get your Audiophile working properly, you will be happy with its quality. I have one myself. (It's on IRQ 5 in my system with Windows XP Home.) Email me if you have any questions on its functions.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Vocalpoint

Date:9/23/2002 1:17:40 PM

mD,

Care to comment on this: I just built a new DAW with an ASUS P4B533-V, 2.53P4 etc etc...this mobo is massively flexible but...after disabling a number of serial ports etc....when I installed my Delta 66, it continued to want to share at least one IRQ with one of 6 friggin' USB ports on this box. This mobo also features APIC which allows a number of virtual IRQ's (up to 24, I think) to be available. Currently, my Delta shares IRQ 18 with a USB controller...no problems yet but read on...

Oddest thing is that all of those IRQ's that I disabled do not show up at all when I choose View By Connection in the XP Device Manager. So I will have devices on IRQ 2 and 3, then 4, 5 and 6 will be missing...and then some device will on 7 etc etc...What I would like to know is - If I disable a few devices in the BIOS, why won't the remaining devices spread themselves out to use those available IRQ's? I mean if 4, 5 and 6 are open on my machine, I would love the Delta to say grab IRQ 5 for it's exclusive use.

Any tips on this would be great. I spent probably a week on it and finally gave up. Like I said - no performance issues to speak of but the fact that my main sound card is still sharing an IRQ is bugging the crap outa me.

Cheers,

Cuzin B

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:9/23/2002 1:47:36 PM

If your mobo supports APIC (which, if anyone is noting, is different from ACPI; gotta love those acronyms), then it's recommended you let XP handle it all and install the OS with ACPI enabled.

If you're not having any problems thus far (especially with that kind of system; that is sweet), I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Iacobus

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: Vocalpoint

Date:9/23/2002 2:25:08 PM

mD,

Yep - I am not going to let it throw me. I have really been cranking out the product lately with this new DAW and it just keeps plowing through everything no matter how big or small...without a sound (or a crackle or a pop). I guess that's all I can ask for.

Cheers,

Cuzin B

Subject:RE: M-Audio soundcard pops, crackles...anyone else?

Reply by: JazzFrets

Date:9/24/2002 8:27:20 AM

After I installed an M-Audio Delta 1010-LT card, I started having pops and crackles. The problem seemed worse when using Vegas Pro than it did with other programs (i.e. SF 6). I assumed it was setup related, so I did all the usual setup stuff (IRQs, new drivers, etc.) to make sure resources were OK. Turned out that I had missed a rather simple solution; I noticed that the problem only occured when using a mic, and having it too close to the computer keyboard. I should have looked there first (duh), but having just installed the new Delta card (co-existing with a Yamaha SW1000XG card), I naturally assumed it was related to the install of the new card. A bit of experimenting with mic and cable routing cleared things right up. Good luck.