Audio Distortion. Again

[BuntzenB]

the music sounds fine when i am running aida 64.

I have disabled intel speedstep and i am going to test again because what i found was when i am running aida64, the CPU Frequency pretty much locks at 4.2 GHz and that is when the DPC Latency checker shows green, but just idling in windows it goes up and down between 4.0 and 4.4

 

 

Yeah i was thinking something like that (the cpu isnt running its hardest). So here is my idea. Open Task Manager and go to the proceess of whatever you want to play music from. right click and set the priority to high.

 

 

EDIT: BTW congrats on 1000 posts!

[TDP_Equinox]

Yeah i was thinking something like that (the cpu isnt running its hardest). So here is my idea. Open Task Manager and go to the proceess of whatever you want to play music from. right click and set the priority to high.

 

 

EDIT: BTW congrats on 1000 posts!

Doing that has made it better, but still not fixed. 

It hits just under 16000us, and pops and crackles a bit, but in borderlands 2, the distortion was mostly gone. 

And thanks, lol

[BuntzenB]

Doing that has made it better, but still not fixed. 

It hits just under 16000us, and pops and crackles a bit, but in borderlands 2, the distortion was mostly gone. 

And thanks, lol

 

so do you have both asio4all and this running?

also what happens when you close the realtek manager thingy?

Lol np

[TDP_Equinox]

so do you have both asio4all and this running?

also what happens when you close the realtek manager thingy?

Lol np

At the time of testing, no i did not have both open. 

And when i last rebooted i disabled the realtek manager and a bunch of other things on startup, so all i have starting is the logitech software, corsair link, and the bluetooth manager. 

I am now going to set my OC to 4.2 Ghz, and disable speedstep to see if that helps. 

[BuntzenB]

At the time of testing, no i did not have both open. 

And when i last rebooted i disabled the realtek manager and a bunch of other things on startup, so all i have starting is the logitech software, corsair link, and the bluetooth manager. 

I am now going to set my OC to 4.2 Ghz, and disable speedstep to see if that helps. 

 

Alright tell me how testing goes!

Good luck to you sir!

[TDP_Equinox]

Alright tell me how testing goes!

Good luck to you sir!

Well it seems to have helped a bit, as the average level of us is lower, but gaming still makes it spike like crazy.

I'm going to run to work and grab a sound card for testing, and we'll see how that goes. 

[TDP_Equinox]

Ahh. There was only a PCI sound card there, but a coworking is going to bring in a PCIe sound card of his own tomorrow.
So the testing shall wait until tomorrow, when i go pick it up.
Thanks for all your help!

[BuntzenB]

Ahh. There was only a PCI sound card there, but a coworking is going to bring in a PCIe sound card of his own tomorrow.

So the testing shall wait until tomorrow, when i go pick it up.

Thanks for all your help!

Well that's nice of him/her!

I look forward to how the testing goes.

[TDP_Equinox]

Well that's nice of him/her!

I look forward to how the testing goes.

*sigh* it turns out it was another PCI Card, and not a PCIe card. 

i'm going to look around in the BIOS to see if there are any settings that i can change, but other than that i am fresh out of ideas other than re installing windows (might do that on a separate drive) or RMAing the motherboard. 

Come up with any ideas overnight?

[BuntzenB]

*sigh* it turns out it was another PCI Card, and not a PCIe card. 

i'm going to look around in the BIOS to see if there are any settings that i can change, but other than that i am fresh out of ideas other than re installing windows (might do that on a separate drive) or RMAing the motherboard. 

Come up with any ideas overnight?

 

Oh well

Unfortunately not.. but what happens when you unplug your current setup and instead listen with headphones in the front audio?

[TDP_Equinox]

Oh well

Unfortunately not.. but what happens when you unplug your current setup and instead listen with headphones in the front audio?

I actually unplugged all audio devices, closed ALL aplications, except for the DPC LAtency checker and nothing changed. 

When using just my front audio, the same thing happens. 

I am going to backup all my stuff and *shudder* re install windows.

This is the first time i have ever had to re install windows on my personal machine due to issues i am having, i just hope it works...

Oh shite, i'm going to lose progress in AC Black flag because i refuse to have uplay on my system.

I'll see if i have another drive i could install to. 

[TDP_Equinox]

Oh well

Unfortunately not.. but what happens when you unplug your current setup and instead listen with headphones in the front audio?

Okay so i re installed windows on to a different partition, and looking at DPC Latency Checker it is a solid yellow bar at 1000us, and the giant spike is no longer there. 

So that is good news, and bad. 

Good because my hardware is fine, but bad because i literally have 400 programs installed on my other install...

I think i am going to finish AC Black flag on my old install, and then nuke that SOB. 

I have not tested games on this install, but considering there are no spikes in the line, i think it is good. 

[BuntzenB]

Okay so i re installed windows on to a different partition, and looking at DPC Latency Checker it is a solid yellow bar at 1000us, and the giant spike is no longer there. 

So that is good news, and bad. 

Good because my hardware is fine, but bad because i literally have 400 programs installed on my other install...

I think i am going to finish AC Black flag on my old install, and then nuke that SOB. 

I have not tested games on this install, but considering there are no spikes in the line, i think it is good. 

 

Alright that is good news!

I recently had to redo windows because i got SSDs (last week). I still have my HDD connected but transferring all my programs and stuff is gonna be hell. 

[TDP_Equinox]

Alright that is good news!

I recently had to redo windows because i got SSDs (last week). I still have my HDD connected but transferring all my programs and stuff is gonna be hell. 

Windows is a very personal experience, and when you have 400 programs, some hundred settings, and your way of things of doing something, it is very jarring to "start over".

This is the first time i have ever had to re install windows because it messed up, but to be fair, it switched from AMD to Intel on a single install, i was surprised it even booted ( i was also surprised to see that my product code didn't scream used when i installed it on my hard drive).

Thanks for all your help

[BuntzenB]

Windows is a very personal experience, and when you have 400 programs, some hundred settings, and your way of things of doing something, it is very jarring to "start over".

This is the first time i have ever had to re install windows because it messed up, but to be fair, it switched from AMD to Intel on a single install, i was surprised it even booted ( i was also surprised to see that my product code didn't scream used when i installed it on my hard drive).

Thanks for all your help

 

No probs im glad i could help u

also i definitely agree. OS's are so personal and customized by the user...its unnerving to have to redo everything. Its like having my "home" destroyed lol. (Its not as funny considering the amnt of time i spend on my comp)

[TDP_Equinox]

No probs im glad i could help u

also i definitely agree. OS's are so personal and customized by the user...its unnerving to have to redo everything. Its like having my "home" destroyed lol. (Its not as funny considering the amnt of time i spend on my comp)

UHG. 

http://gyazo.com/9a8bd3ee6970aaa71e69c929edac47e7

It's back. 

I finally got around to testing a game, and it still happens. 

There is an MSI Gaming 7 at my shop right now waiting on parts for another custom build, i am going to have to bring my 50 pound system in and test that board.........

So i get to go into work on a day off and swap a motherboard... Yay.

 

Not to happy with MSI about this.

[BuntzenB]

UHG. 

http://gyazo.com/9a8bd3ee6970aaa71e69c929edac47e7

It's back. 

I finally got around to testing a game, and it still happens. 

There is an MSI Gaming 7 at my shop right now waiting on parts for another custom build, i am going to have to bring my 50 pound system in and test that board.........

So i get to go into work on a day off and swap a motherboard... Yay.

 

Not to happy with MSI about this.

 

Noooo!

Poopy

Alright good luck with that. And see if you can get your hands on one of those junky USB audio "cards" and see what happens with that.

EDIT: http://www.ebay.com/itm/External-USB-2-0-5-1-CH-3D-Sound-Card-Audio-Adapter-/190978963492?pt=US_Sound_Card_External&hash=item2c773bb824 There are ones that go for cheaper but they are from china and will take forever to arrive.

[TDP_Equinox]

Noooo!

Poopy

Alright good luck with that. And see if you can get your hands on one of those junky USB audio "cards" and see what happens with that.

EDIT: http://www.ebay.com/itm/External-USB-2-0-5-1-CH-3D-Sound-Card-Audio-Adapter-/190978963492?pt=US_Sound_Card_External&hash=item2c773bb824 There are ones that go for cheaper but they are from china and will take forever to arrive.

I will order one or two of those things tomorrow when i deposit my cheque, but i have a feeling the new motherboard will fix my issue. 

Luckily i still have my old mobo and CPU so if i HAVE to RMA the mobo, i wont be without a system. 

D:

[BuntzenB]

I will order one or two of those things tomorrow when i deposit my cheque, but i have a feeling the new motherboard will fix my issue. 

Luckily i still have my old mobo and CPU so if i HAVE to RMA the mobo, i wont be without a system. 

D:

 

yeah i would hope so. Non-working parts really does suck (thankfully the only thing ive had to RMA is a broken DVD RW drive lol)

[TDP_Equinox]

yeah i would hope so. Non-working parts really does suck (thankfully the only thing ive had to RMA is a broken DVD RW drive lol)

This will be the first thing i have ever RMA'd.

I will be letting the stores purchasing guy take care of it; so the store covers shipping and dealing with MSI for me.

Depending on timing, we may just stick my board in the new ones box and RMA it as DOA while i walk away with this one, but that would only happen if the customers parts are weeks out of store shipping wise. 

[BuntzenB]

This will be the first thing i have ever RMA'd.

I will be letting the stores purchasing guy take care of it; so the store covers shipping and dealing with MSI for me.

Depending on timing, we may just stick my board in the new ones box and RMA it as DOA while i walk away with this one, but that would only happen if the customers parts are weeks out of store shipping wise. 

 

Ah. So hopefully it will be relatively painless (from my one experiance it was a nightmare. they guy treated me like a total idiot and i had to call up newegg and then asus and then newegg again..it sucked) and you will be able to get your build up and running soon!

[TDP_Equinox]

Ah. So hopefully it will be relatively painless (from my one experiance it was a nightmare. they guy treated me like a total idiot and i had to call up newegg and then asus and then newegg again..it sucked) and you will be able to get your build up and running soon!

Here is hoping!

[TDP_Equinox]

UPDATE:
So today i went to the shop, cleared a third of the bench so i could work on it, and tore apart my system. 
I tore it to shreds. 
And i managed to determine it was not hardware.
First; i tested it inside the case as it was when i boxed it up and moved it; to make sure it wasn't the way i had it setup at home. It had the same issue as expected. 

So i tore it apart and put it on a mobo box and tested again. 
I tested the system as it was except out of the case and the same issue was there. 
So my next step was to remove the GPUs and see if the issue was still there: it was. 
Then i grabbed some Kingstone HyperX RAM and tried that in every slot config i could; the same issue was there. 
I left the RAM in, and grabbed a random AMD GPU and installed that; Same issue. 
I removed that GPU, incase it was a PCIe slot causing issues, and swapped the CPU with an i5 4440 and the issue was still there. 

So i grabbed another MSI Gaming 7 that was going to be used in a customers build, and threw together this system:
i5 4440, 8 GB of Kingston HyperX, integrated graphics, and my cooler master V850 PSU. 
I also used my same boot drive with the same install of windows. 

That also tanked. 
So i grabbed a Samsung 500 GB 840 EVO and installed windows 7 HP 64 bit on it.
The issue was GREATLY reduced. 
Rather than DPC latency checker showing a yellow line, and LatencyMon showing 1000us, it was showing a green line that was much farther down the scale, and latency mon showed 60-160us. 

By now we have ruled out my motherboard as being bad (unless by some BS stroke of bad luck, we got a board with the EXACT same issue, which i doubt.), we have ruled out the CPU, RAM , and GPU. 

In each case of testing i fired up BF4 and messed around in the area for a bit while listening to music through WMP or Clementine and the distortion was present in most, but the latency checkers were off the charts in all. So i have replaced EVERY part of my system, and the issue is still present through several installs of windows. 

Now, the issue was far worse in windows 8.1 Pro 64 bit, and when testing under windows 7 HP 64 bit, the latency was almost at the top of the charts, but the popping, and distortion was not present. 

Now my head hurts, and i just want to throw my system in the trash and buy all new parts all together, but that is not an option. 

I am going to be looking around for some external sound cards online, for -$10 including shipping that wont take 6 months to arrive. 
If i HAVE to, i will get a PCIe sound card, but lets consider that a last ditch effort.

From my findings, we can say that it is software. Now i spent roughly 2 hours reading online about others with this issue, and it seems to be a windows 8 issue. 
Now despite this being common, NO ONE has been able to find a fix for it. 
Most people just give up and deal with it, which i will not do. 

Sadly, in the process of testing, my data drive went and failed on me. 
So i stabbed it with a screwdriver and smashed the platters, and bought a new one. 
Unfortunately, the drive simply would not power on the motor (the head was moving but the disc would not spin). 
Fortunately, the entire drive was backed up to dropbox, so it is simply a matter of downloading 300 gigs (off lan) to the new hard drive i had to buy. 
I saw this drive failing a mile ahead, and filled my 500 GB toshiba drive with the non dropbox data from the 750 GB one. 

SO. My head hurts, and the only progress i made in the last ~10 hours was figuring out that it is 99% surely not hardware.
And i re did my cable management. 
Any ideas?

EDIT: Holy balls that is a wall of text. 
This needs a TL;DR...
TL;DR I got nowhere. 

[vlkn´]

just lower the bitrate in realtek drivers, or try overclocking your cpu if you can

[TDP_Equinox]

just lower the bitrate in realtek drivers, or try overclocking your cpu if you can

lowering the bitrate makes it sound like poopoo and i have an i7 4790K in what world would i need to OC it to get some stable sound?

This is a a problem that should not require me to downgrade my experience for any reason.