One thing fixed,

[Kaworu]

...another thing breaks! Hello every body!

I've got a bit of a problem! My sound is quite screwed up! It sounds weird. It cracks, and sounds a little corrupted. You can hear the music (or other sound, including FS) fine, it just crackles sometimes! I have just installed a second hard drive (see sig). I have tested both my rear and forward sound jacks, using multiple headphones and my Creative 2.1 sound system. I have tryed many different mp3 and wav files (from AC-DC too Weird Al!) as well as fs9, all with same results. I tested all music in Windows Media Player 11. Thanks!

[Kaworu]

I have just notice, all 3d-apps suffer from the sound problems, as well as system confirm sounds (Ding!-It's done copy!). 3d apps are very prone to freezing and low frame rates.

[Chris_F]

When I was using on-board sound (the sound from my motherboard) I had a similar problem.  I got a stand alone sound card and it went away.  Are you using a stand alone card or sound on the mobo?  Is Creative 2.1 a board or a set of speakers?

[Kaworu]

I'm using onboard sound. The Creative 2.1=2.1 stereo speaker set in my head!

I've got a feeling you're correct. I'll look into a sound card. Any suggestions?

[Chris_F]

I'm an audio nut, I've dabbled in recording, and have spent too much money on stereo equipment in my day.  But even I think it's a waste of cash to get a top end sound card.  As long as the card will do 16 bit stereo audio (they all will) then you'll be fine.  I recommend going with a name brand (like Creative) simply because you'll probably have fewer problems with the drivers.  But there's no sense in going with their big top of the line card, which features audio processing stuff that you'll never use.  I have an Audiology card with EAX and a 5.1 surround system on my PC.  Few games use the 5.1 (those that do are wicked cool though) and even fewer use the EAX (which is basically an echo processor to make it sound like you're in a big room or small room, or cathedral, or closet, etc).  And after playing with the cool audio processors for 10 minutes the quickly get boring and you never use them again.

So check out newegg.com and find a decent card for about $20.  I see my card is sold there for $26.99 and even though it's 5.1 it can be configured for stereo and should do just fine for you.  There's a 2 channel Creative for $19 as well, which would be fine.  These are older pieces of hardware though so make sure they'll work with your OS.

If you want really REALLY good sound just hook up a pair of quality headphones.  I recommend Shure and Sennheiser as good brands.  When it comes to PCs good sound is a result of good speakers or headphones.  My Sennheiser HD580's ROCK and my Sennheiser E2Cs are a god-send when I need to shut out outside noise (like on airplanes).

[ozzy72]

If it is only intermittent then it is probably either the cable to your speakers or the connector where the speakers plug in that is the problem. A sound card and a set of half-decent speakers should sort the problem. I'm a Creative user and very happy with it

[Mictheslik]

Also use Creative;

SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio [A400]

with 7.1 surround...soooo nice :D:D

.mic

[Chris_F]

If it is only intermittent then it is probably either the cable to your speakers or the connector where the speakers plug in that is the problem. A sound card and a set of half-decent speakers should sort the problem. I'm a Creative user and very happy with it

I've had his same problem and although it's tempting to describe it as "static" it really doesn't sound at all like a loose plug.  It's a very definate crackle, pop that's very digital in nature and sometimes the sound turns in to something resembling low bit-rate MP3 for a fraction of a second.  It's definately hardware/software related and not a bad plug.  That's assuming it's the same symptom I had.