Weird sound issue with nforce2 onboard SC

iNeLuKi · 8th December 2003, 10:12 PM

Only just noticed this,

When I have the volume up pretty high there is a background noise that sounds like a pommy police siren, its pretty quiet even with the sound cranked but its still annoying. Anyone know what might be causing it? I've tried the latest drivers with no effect.

Its barely noticeable on my speakers but its really obvious when I use the headphones.

TIA - iNeLuKi

phreeky82 · 8th December 2003, 11:12 PM

i know you're into fairly high quality (and sensitive) speakers etc like me. i notice it with my speakers and it shits me off, and if you do a bit of a search you'll see some posts of mine complaining about it.

basically 99.9% of people use crappy computer speakers etc, and so praise it whenever they can. unfortunately the nforce2 onboard sound pretty much sux i've found.

i threw my old sblive in and it actually has a lot less noise (and once it's playing there is no noticable difference in quality)

Tommy2toes · 8th December 2003, 11:28 PM

You guys talking bout teh soundstorm ? All i get is this really crunchyness to the sound, I havent noticed the siren sound, but tomorow when people arnt asleep ill see if i can hear it. My fort3 in my old computer is so much better :\

phreeky82 · 8th December 2003, 11:37 PM

yeah i get that too, but i tend to only get one at a time. also can hear when i move the mouse sometimes.

different actual boards will be different obviously due to their board layout, as well as other interference from video cards etc. but generally i've found it to be crap.

Tommy2toes · 8th December 2003, 11:45 PM

The crunchyness for me is on all the time, you cant actually hear it if your not playing anything, but when you play something, it just doesnt sound right. Just sounds slightly distorted compared to a descent soundcard.

Ellroy80 · 9th December 2003, 12:56 AM

Try going back to the older drivers, such as the 2.03's or the 2.41/2.43's/whatever the number was in that release. Think I read about this being a problem with newer drivers. You could also try checking out the forums at http://www.nforcershq.com. You might be able to find more info there. Hope mine doesn't sound like this when I get my speakers

.

iNeLuKi · 9th December 2003, 3:52 PM

I was using older drivers and tried several newer versions. The mobo is an Abit NF7-S. I havent experienced the "crunchy" sound but my friend has an asus nforce2 board and he gets a static kinda noise at high volume when moving the mouse.

I was going to order a new SC for the HTPC I'm setting up (M-Audio or Terratec) so I guess I'll just get two.

elephantman · 8th January 2004, 11:09 AM

try muting line in in volume control

chisholm · 8th January 2004, 12:12 PM

While i wasn't very happpy with the SQ of the nforce2 audio i didnt't have any "noise". I think Abit nf7's tend to have problems with soundstorm.

NforSa · 13th January 2004, 12:41 PM

i had the noise you describe on my 8rda+ board, but not at all on my NF7-S 2.0 - it was awhile ago so I cant remember if I ever fixed it, but i had an idea it wasnt present on the digital out, only analogue (got into the signal from the reatek dac probably).

try muting everything your not using also

psynapse · 15th January 2004, 7:11 PM

this noise you speak of is crosstalk coming from the system bus and the ide controllers.

mute all mixer channels you're not using, make sure you have mic +20dB boost turned off, and i'm almost certain the problem will go away.

alternately, you may be the unfortunate owners of a mobo with the realtek, and not the c-media chipset for audio

iNeLuKi · 15th January 2004, 8:12 PM

Muting stuff makes no difference.

flip · 18th January 2004, 2:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by phreeky82
i know you're into fairly high quality (and sensitive) speakers etc like me. i notice it with my speakers and it shits me off, and if you do a bit of a search you'll see some posts of mine complaining about it.

basically 99.9% of people use crappy computer speakers etc, and so praise it whenever they can. unfortunately the nforce2 onboard sound pretty much sux i've found.

i threw my old sblive in and it actually has a lot less noise (and once it's playing there is no noticable difference in quality)

Actually, a lot of the praise for the soundstorm comes from the digital side of things, which is very good.

The issues with nforce2 sound tend to not effect every board, drivers can help (i recommend trying the newest 4.09 audio drivers with the 4.08 control panel, check out the drivers forum at www.nforcershq.com). Muting inputs helps a lot on some boards with particularly lousy sound (Asus A7N8X for one), southbridge overheating can also cause crackling.

Overall the nforce2 onboard sound is excellent. Look at the price and tell me that's not great value for 95%+ ofpeople who buy an nforce2 board, anybody with really good speakers would be running them through a reciever and using digital connections and wouldn't be effected by the issues, and most people use pretty crappy speakers where they won't notice anyway. It only really effects the middle.

almightybmw · 21st January 2004, 7:56 PM

All onboard audio I've ever heard picks up bus crosstalk, using little or no filters to clean the sound up. And most high end (not $5 6 channel soundcards) have decent filters on the cards, so you won't hear the background system noise.
So for those of us who would use the Sounstorm's digital out, which is what it's good for, the static issue doesn't exist?
I'm one of those people who buys a receiver and builds speakers to match, so a computer with good digital out means something.

StratosFear · 22nd January 2004, 10:38 PM

i got the same thing on my 8rda with my beyer dt231's. Wasn't noticeable (that much) with speakers but was very annoying with headphones.

Upgraded to the Audigy 2 zs for that reason alone. There is no longer any traces of static or noise with this card. Recommended

8th December 2003, 10:12 PM	#1
iNeLuKi Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 6,567	Weird sound issue with nforce2 onboard SC Only just noticed this, When I have the volume up pretty high there is a background noise that sounds like a pommy police siren, its pretty quiet even with the sound cranked but its still annoying. Anyone know what might be causing it? I've tried the latest drivers with no effect. Its barely noticeable on my speakers but its really obvious when I use the headphones. TIA - iNeLuKi

8th December 2003, 11:28 PM	#3
Tommy2toes Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sydney Posts: 699	You guys talking bout teh soundstorm ? All i get is this really crunchyness to the sound, I havent noticed the siren sound, but tomorow when people arnt asleep ill see if i can hear it. My fort3 in my old computer is so much better :\ __________________ Successful Trades With : archie, JeffK, NYJets112, chiku, aaleks, MeeCrob, James_B, neXis, Rickster x 2, p1ayer, the_nut_man, cmetom, Cozzmo, Matty_RJ45, butler_123, HSV GTS x 3, Fiery_isles, Squeezer, Subliminal, BigAl, Rogue, AMD2400, sericom, invader + more

8th December 2003, 11:45 PM	#5
Tommy2toes Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Sydney Posts: 699	The crunchyness for me is on all the time, you cant actually hear it if your not playing anything, but when you play something, it just doesnt sound right. Just sounds slightly distorted compared to a descent soundcard. __________________ Successful Trades With : archie, JeffK, NYJets112, chiku, aaleks, MeeCrob, James_B, neXis, Rickster x 2, p1ayer, the_nut_man, cmetom, Cozzmo, Matty_RJ45, butler_123, HSV GTS x 3, Fiery_isles, Squeezer, Subliminal, BigAl, Rogue, AMD2400, sericom, invader + more

9th December 2003, 12:56 AM	#6
Ellroy80 Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Perth, WA, 6022 Posts: 2,064	Try going back to the older drivers, such as the 2.03's or the 2.41/2.43's/whatever the number was in that release. Think I read about this being a problem with newer drivers. You could also try checking out the forums at http://www.nforcershq.com. You might be able to find more info there. Hope mine doesn't sound like this when I get my speakers . __________________ Fold for OCAU (Team 24) to help fight disease and the Yanks!! \| Want to take on F@H's big producers? Join TeamXFAU!! OCAU Aquarium Club Member #058 Over 80 successful trades!!!!

8th January 2004, 12:12 PM	#9
chisholm Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sydney Posts: 6,637	While i wasn't very happpy with the SQ of the nforce2 audio i didnt't have any "noise". I think Abit nf7's tend to have problems with soundstorm. __________________ Strength journal: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh....php?t=1048178 Project supercharged magna: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=626024

8th December 2003, 11:12 PM	#2
phreeky82 Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Townsville Posts: 9,100	i know you're into fairly high quality (and sensitive) speakers etc like me. i notice it with my speakers and it shits me off, and if you do a bit of a search you'll see some posts of mine complaining about it. basically 99.9% of people use crappy computer speakers etc, and so praise it whenever they can. unfortunately the nforce2 onboard sound pretty much sux i've found. i threw my old sblive in and it actually has a lot less noise (and once it's playing there is no noticable difference in quality)

8th December 2003, 11:37 PM	#4
phreeky82 Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Townsville Posts: 9,100	yeah i get that too, but i tend to only get one at a time. also can hear when i move the mouse sometimes. different actual boards will be different obviously due to their board layout, as well as other interference from video cards etc. but generally i've found it to be crap.

9th December 2003, 3:52 PM	#7
iNeLuKi Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 6,567	I was using older drivers and tried several newer versions. The mobo is an Abit NF7-S. I havent experienced the "crunchy" sound but my friend has an asus nforce2 board and he gets a static kinda noise at high volume when moving the mouse. I was going to order a new SC for the HTPC I'm setting up (M-Audio or Terratec) so I guess I'll just get two.

8th January 2004, 11:09 AM	#8
elephantman Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: 2111 Posts: 1,574	try muting line in in volume control

13th January 2004, 12:41 PM	#10
NforSa Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Melbourne Posts: 2,334	i had the noise you describe on my 8rda+ board, but not at all on my NF7-S 2.0 - it was awhile ago so I cant remember if I ever fixed it, but i had an idea it wasnt present on the digital out, only analogue (got into the signal from the reatek dac probably). try muting everything your not using also __________________ E3110 @ 4ghz /1.248v/ Noctua NH12 / Lian Li V1000B+ / 3.5tB / P5K-PRO / 4gb 1066DDRII / 8800GT ICQ: 39197814 / MSN: doogs40@hotmail.com

15th January 2004, 7:11 PM	#11
psynapse Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: 3095.au Posts: 728	this noise you speak of is crosstalk coming from the system bus and the ide controllers. mute all mixer channels you're not using, make sure you have mic +20dB boost turned off, and i'm almost certain the problem will go away. alternately, you may be the unfortunate owners of a mobo with the realtek, and not the c-media chipset for audio __________________ No, you don't. Last edited by psynapse; 15th January 2004 at 7:16 PM.

15th January 2004, 8:12 PM	#12
iNeLuKi Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 6,567	Muting stuff makes no difference.

21st January 2004, 7:56 PM	#14
almightybmw Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Montana Posts: 44	All onboard audio I've ever heard picks up bus crosstalk, using little or no filters to clean the sound up. And most high end (not $5 6 channel soundcards) have decent filters on the cards, so you won't hear the background system noise. So for those of us who would use the Sounstorm's digital out, which is what it's good for, the static issue doesn't exist? I'm one of those people who buys a receiver and builds speakers to match, so a computer with good digital out means something.

22nd January 2004, 10:38 PM	#15
StratosFear Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 7,686	i got the same thing on my 8rda with my beyer dt231's. Wasn't noticeable (that much) with speakers but was very annoying with headphones. Upgraded to the Audigy 2 zs for that reason alone. There is no longer any traces of static or noise with this card. Recommended