[Pirate]

Hey guys, This is a bit of a cry for help.

I just bought a new headset, not particularly expensive but far as I can tell of quite good quality... it uses 2 headphone jacks instead of being USB as my old one was - this is the start of my problem.

If I don't mute the mic channel I get loads of nasty digital sounding distortion through my headphones, now this isn't caused by the microphone on the headset, as I get the exact same noise wether or not the Mic is plugged in - and this is without any audio playing. There there is no problem using them on another system (they sound great) So it seems obvious it is something in my PC causing the problem. I hoped it might be something shorting out in the case, so I dismantled the entire thing and cleaned it out... reassembled it, the problem is still there.

I've been troubleshooting this for just over 5 hours now, and I'm now no closer to a solution, though having written this out the only conclusion I can come up with is that part of the onboard sound card isn't working properly... unless anyone here has experienced similar problems and can offer a solution (I can hope!!!) It is a 6 channel Ac '97. I've tried all the obvious solutions, including reinstalling drivers, noise cancellation, mic boost on and off (sound quality is slightly better without boost, but not good) also different sound configurations in TS etc. And an unhealthy amount of time googling it.

I'm essentially left at the moment with the option of taking them back, hoping for a refund/swap for a USB headset, which will have its own sonud card - though I'll have to get imaginative with my story, given it appears my system is the problem, not the set.... Or to buy a proper sound card, hoping that solves the problem. If I'm left with that as my solution, does anyone have a suggestion for a good but cheap sound card? it doesn't need to be anthing better than 2 channel stereo.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Nicholaiovitch]

I have had this exact problem and it also took a lot of experimentation to fix.
Same sort of mic as you (twin leads), and also Realtek onboard sound.

In the end, I muted everything except the "mic record" as shown in the picture below, and then released mutes one by one until the noise came back.

I also disbled the "auto jack detection" feature as I leave my headset permanently plugged in through the front sockets.

No two systems are going to react the same way, but you can try muting everything like I did and perhaps get success.

Good luck
Nicholaiovitch

[Pirate]

Many thanks for trying to help Nicholaiovitch.

Unfortunately after trying your suggestion I am still stuck. Muting the microphone output is the only thing which has any effect at all. It stops the distortion from coming out of the line out ( either headphones or stereo) but when recording using windows sound recorder the distortion is still there - as it is in teamspeak, it is not even just the voice which is distorted - without saying anything I still get in. This is the case wether I use the Mic input on the case or motherboard.

I have a friend who is going to bring over a sound card to test in my system to see if that solves the issue, If it does I will buy one myself. Until then any suggestions anyone has I would really appreciate.

Here is a .wav recording of the noise, if that is of any help whatsoever....

http://www.mediafire.com/file/nhmjzmfm1 ... ortion.wav

[stansdds]

That's not a good sign, something is way wrong and I kind of feel that it is a hardware failure.

[Pirate]

Thanks stansdds, that is what I'm thinking too - I've ordered a proper sound card, If that doesn't solve the problem... I'll just cry and see if that helps.

[panzerkeil]

My sounds were suddenly messed up last week as well..
I don't know why (it wasn't me... purposely) , but the digital output was enabled.
disabling it made my sounds go back to normal.
I have read quite a few comments now about messed up \ cracking sounds; I wonder if maybe one of the Windows updates enabled it?

[Pirate]

Thanks Panzerkeil, my sound card doesn't have the option for digital output as such:



Sorry about the size of the image :/ its at my desktops native res and I cant be bothered to reduce it right now... but that is all the options I have for the sound card... it does sound like digital output if you listen to the wav I uploaded, and by changing between 'no. of speakers' (bottom right page) I can get several different versions of the nasty noise... but no cure. I've pretty much given up on fixing it, and just waiting for my new sound card to arrive.

[Pirate]

:? :oops: :roll: :lol:

Its fixed.... For now it seems that Gremlins are the only explanation which really fits. Because as soon as I received an email saying my new card had been dispatched the