Random Digital Static Crackling Noise while recording audio with Blue Snowball ICE

[Shinkachi]

Hey, I'm a youtube hobbyist and everytime I do a recording with any sort of voice over or commentaries with my mic it produces some random digital static noise now and then, in a 45-1 hour recording of a game it happens 3-4 times and it's really frustrating when it's at key points.

I've tried using other USB ports, I've tried updating drivers, I'm recording at the same KHz that the MIC uses. It's happening while I'm recording audio only as well. Is there anything that could be the cause of this, or is there a fix for this? So far I've read that changing USB ports/Cable or even getting an USB Hub would be the best fix, but before I spend more money on this I'd like to make sure there's nothing I can do without using money as I'm sort on cash!

Windows 10
8 GB DDR3 Ram
GTX 780
i7-860

Any help would be great.

 

 

[SSL]

Check the steps listed here:

Not really intended to address recording problems, but the causes could be related.

[Shinkachi]

14 minutes ago, SSL said:

Check the steps listed here:

Not really intended to address recording problems, but the causes could be related.

Nice - Trying it out, I never had this problem with prior mics or headphones at all, only with this one  Even when ONLY recording audio it happens, but my friend says that he never notices it during skype

[Shinkachi]

On 1/2/2016 at 7:41 PM, SSL said:

Check the steps listed here:

Not really intended to address recording problems, but the causes could be related.

Doesn't seem to work whatever I try to do  Might gotta try out a different cable then...

 

Disabled lotsa programs that could be causing it, tried different cable and still it persists

 

[Shinkachi]

On 1/2/2016 at 7:41 PM, SSL said:

Check the steps listed here:

Not really intended to address recording problems, but the causes could be related.

I've tried it on my laptop, NO issues at all, tried recording again on my desktop WITHOUT any USB plugged in, still an issue  can it be the MOBO?

[Aerroon]

I know that this is an old thread, and I do not have a solution to your problem. The reason why I'm posting here is that it is very likely that I am having the same problem OP is having and this is one of the first results that comes up on Google, so if people look for this problem they're less likely to fall into a few pitfalls I fell into.

 

I also have a Blue Snowball iCE and I also get a crackling sound effect. It sounds like this as an example. I also do NOT get this crackling sound effect while I use the microphone on my laptop (that has Windows 7). I tried various things to try to fix it to no avail and recently I decided to try using Ubuntu - same hardware, but just a different OS to see if the crackling still persists. And the result was that the crackling did not appear.

 

So I get crackling when I'm using this microphone + Windows 10 (even with various reinstalls and even a motherboard swap), but I do not get crackling when I used my laptop with Windows 7 + this microphone, and I do not get crackling when I used Ubuntu (same hardware) + this microphone. This leads me to believe that it's some kind of a driver issue that this microphone has with Windows 10 that causes the crackling.

 

That last sentence is the reason why I wanted to post here - to let others know, because I've done the following to try to fix this issue:

1. I've swapped PSUs,

2. I've swapped Motherboards (ASRock Z97 Extreme4 -> ASUS Z97-A),

3. I've reinstalled Windows 10 a couple of times with various configurations (motherboard swap also warranted it),

4. I've tried some different drivers for it,

5. I've obviously tried different recording programs,

6. I've checked latencies with LatencyMon

and I've done a bunch of other things which I can't just remember off the top of my head. None of these changed anything. Only changing the OS made a difference here. So I strongly believe that this is some kind of driver problem that this microphone has with Windows 10 (and possibly Windows 8 as well). I'm only posting so that people who google for this might end up being better informed.

 

Try recording on Ubuntu or Windows 7 before you go and buy a new motherboard - the new motherboard might not fix your crackling issue. (Or some other non-Windows 8/10 OS.)

[Shinkachi]

On 28/11/2016 at 1:43 PM, Aerroon said:

I know that this is an old thread, and I do not have a solution to your problem. The reason why I'm posting here is that it is very likely that I am having the same problem OP is having and this is one of the first results that comes up on Google, so if people look for this problem they're less likely to fall into a few pitfalls I fell into.

 

I also have a Blue Snowball iCE and I also get a crackling sound effect. It sounds like this as an example. I also do NOT get this crackling sound effect while I use the microphone on my laptop (that has Windows 7). I tried various things to try to fix it to no avail and recently I decided to try using Ubuntu - same hardware, but just a different OS to see if the crackling still persists. And the result was that the crackling did not appear.

 

So I get crackling when I'm using this microphone + Windows 10 (even with various reinstalls and even a motherboard swap), but I do not get crackling when I used my laptop with Windows 7 + this microphone, and I do not get crackling when I used Ubuntu (same hardware) + this microphone. This leads me to believe that it's some kind of a driver issue that this microphone has with Windows 10 that causes the crackling.

 

That last sentence is the reason why I wanted to post here - to let others know, because I've done the following to try to fix this issue:

1. I've swapped PSUs,

2. I've swapped Motherboards (ASRock Z97 Extreme4 -> ASUS Z97-A),

3. I've reinstalled Windows 10 a couple of times with various configurations (motherboard swap also warranted it),

4. I've tried some different drivers for it,

5. I've obviously tried different recording programs,

6. I've checked latencies with LatencyMon

and I've done a bunch of other things which I can't just remember off the top of my head. None of these changed anything. Only changing the OS made a difference here. So I strongly believe that this is some kind of driver problem that this microphone has with Windows 10 (and possibly Windows 8 as well). I'm only posting so that people who google for this might end up being better informed.

 

Try recording on Ubuntu or Windows 7 before you go and buy a new motherboard - the new motherboard might not fix your crackling issue. (Or some other non-Windows 8/10 OS.)

I had forgotten about this post and haven't been active on LTT forums for a LONG time, and recently decided to pick up this issue, AND THIS IS THE ANSWER

Thank you SO MUCH, the link you gave as an example is the EXACT thing I'm experiencing! Blue Snowball iCE is just incompatible with W10.

This is the answer I've been searching for, for ages. Now I can finally rest assured to invest in a new mic! Thank you!