Distorted sound

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by haplo, Jun 21, 2004.

  1. haplo

    haplo Private E-2

    hey you all!

    i have been getting this annoying problem whenever it comes to games, whether it's during installing or actual gameplay. The sound starts out fine and soon gets all distorted. I solved this sound problem during installing by switching from my cd-rom drive to my cd writer drive.

    but the distorted sound thingy reoccurs during gameplay after awhile (this was during Halo: Combat Evolved), exiting to the main menu and resuming the game doesn't cure it. so i had to exit the game and restart it only to go through the same thing again.

    what could it be? i've checked the sound settings in the control panel, looks alright. same thing at the device manager.

    for speaker setting, i chose surround speakers since i have a 2.1 system (if that's what you call two satellite speakers and a subwoofer), there was a selection for 5.1, but obviously i can't choose that, or can i?

    these are my specs:

    WinXP SP2
    Athlon XP 2200+
    MSI K7N2 Delta-L Motherboard with onboard sound (Realtek ALC650 6-channel audio)
    256 DDR

    what can i do about this?
     
  2. G.T.

    G.T. R.I.P February 4, 2007. You will be missed.

    Is the problem ONLY during games? Music etc. sounds OK?

    For a 2.1 system (right/left/sub), you should be choosing stereo, not surround. Surround is for 4 speaker (plus sub normally) where you have two rear speakers.

    If it's only during games, I'd suspect something with your sound card, it's drivers, and/or problems with DirectSound and/or EAX.

    1. What sound card are you using?

    2. Do you have the latestest drivers for it?

    3. What operating system are you using?

    4. What settings are you selecting for the games, other than the incorrect surround setting? EAX? EAX HD?

    5. If you set to stereo and disable EAX, is it still distorted?

    6. Is it distorted at all volume levels, or only when loud?
     
  3. Anon-118b9b6d23

    Anon-118b9b6d23 Anonymized

    I have this problem too i first noticed it when i bought evil genuis and the sound goes distorted and garbled other games have this problem too. im a running windows ME my sound card is a sound max intergrated digtal audio i have a geforce 2 a 1.3Ghz prossecer and 639mb of rambus ram i have desktop speakers i tried getting the latest drivers for my sound card but that didnt solve the problem :( :confused:
     
  4. Turcoloco

    Turcoloco MajorGeek

    Much like the integrated Video, integrated Audio chips(in in a top-notch mobo) are commonly produce inferior sound compared to high-end PCI sound cards. Also games require a certain version of DirectX, many people this application-system interpreter was meant only for video cards...wrong sound card do use and utilize DirectX and if the integrated sound card is not powerful enough or can not utilize the version of DirectX currently installed(which the game requires) then you are bound to get static, hsssing sounds and even lag in the game itself! Upgrading the device drivers should be a good starting point. Next is disabling or turning down the advanced sound features in the application/Game and also making sure the related configuration settings are correct.

    Before you get too technical with that, check your Volume control panel (in Control Panel > Sound and Audio Devices > Volume(tab) > Advanced > try muting all sections you don't use, especially "microphone" which could cause hssing sounds when enabled and not used. Others to check for and mute since they are normally not needed: CD Audio, Line In.
     
  5. Anon-118b9b6d23

    Anon-118b9b6d23 Anonymized

    it doesn't make hissing and strachy sounds, they sound garbled plus it only happerns on certain games
     
  6. Turcoloco

    Turcoloco MajorGeek

    What I mentioned below still applies....but I'd also check for updates on those games, not very common but game patches could be the cure...
     
  7. PC Jedi Master

    PC Jedi Master Private E-2

    I've had a similar problem w/ my Asus A7N8X Deluxe onboard sound. The problem is, onboard sound sucks. Getcha a new sound card, and it should stop that annoying racket. I had the problem on Halo, as well as other games, it just seemed that Halo took the shortest amount of time to start messing up.
     
  8. evilevets

    evilevets Sergeant Major

    Could be an IRQ conflict.



    Steve
     
  9. Anon-118b9b6d23

    Anon-118b9b6d23 Anonymized

    whats the cheapest sound card that will work properly cos im not paying £70 for a sound card
     
  10. Turcoloco

    Turcoloco MajorGeek

    Try Creative Labs' Sound Blaster Live. It is a hell of a card and not as expensive as the Audigy series. Most top make/model mobos (such as the mobo in my gaming PC: ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe) manufactured within the last year or so do come with very decent integrated 6-8 channel audio chips, still not quite as good as their PCI counterparts but adequate enough to handle most tasks including gaming.
    Don't get too cheap and treat yourself to a nice card if you really need it.
    Happy Holidays! ;)
     

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