Sound Woes

from Sins Forums
So I recently started having cracking/popping issues post install of a new CL x-fi xtremegamer sound card.  I look around the forums and found a fix involving turning on "Use Hardware" in the user settings file.

Well, I did so.  General popping issues have been fixed but now the firing/striking sounds in combat are messed up.  Sounds like a popcorn maker is having a seizure.  Everything else is just fine, music etc. plays perfectly over the sound of popping.

I'm at a loss now.  Either I deal with general crackling or I have laughably absurd combat sound that, quite frankly, irritates me enough that I want to throw my monitor through a stained glass window.


And before you ask, yes i've updated drivers, reinstalled, updated everything blah blah blah.
technical
4,746 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Anybody?


As an update, it seems like the sounds are only partially playing then cutting out, creating that popping sound. It also seems related specifically to laser fire/strike sounds.

Additionally, I have tested it both with and without modded sound effects so it's not some sort of corruption or what have you in the files themselves.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
I've got an X-fi XtremeGamer card and I've noticed no problems. What driver are you using?
Sins of a Solar Empire II
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
tried 3 drivers, on that came with the card, newest full driver, and the new beta driver. Same issue with all three.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
You may need to run dxdiag and turn your "hardware acceleration" down to a level that makes the "popping" stop. This seems to be an issue with x-fi cards in many games these days...

the x-fi cards are a huge waste of money.....in my opinion :)
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
You may need to run dxdiag and turn your "hardware acceleration" down to a level that makes the "popping" stop. This seems to be an issue with x-fi cards in many games these days...the x-fi cards are a huge waste of money.....in my opinion


Its worth it to get true hardware accelerated sound and to give the CPU one less task to do. They aren't even as expensive anymore.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Its worth it to get true hardware accelerated sound and to give the CPU one less task to do. They aren't even as expensive anymore.


It *used* to be, but between modern multi-core CPUs and Creative's lately poor drivers, not so much.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
I've got the same problem. Adjusted the SoundUseHardware to TRUE and it helped a little, but I still get a some popping and crackling, especially when zoomed in on ships in phase space and such. Nothing else I've tried seems to alleviate the problem.

It's tolerable for me, but I was wondering if anybody else out there had any other fixes for this problem? Unfortunately, a new soundcard isn't an option since the one I have right now (an X-fi) is integrated. Yay, Dell. ;p

Oh, my video card is a GeForce 7300 LE. I've heard that sometimes the issue is tied to graphics. Might that be it?