Sound problems Windows 10

[Red King]

Hey guys, I've got a bunch of nasty sound issues that are driving me crazy, I will list them below as well as other details, any help would be very much appreciated.

 

Sound problems

 

- Crackling

- Popping

- Channel switching (for example sounds that belong in the center speaker will randomly switch to rear right or left when they shouldn't)

 

Solutions I tried

 

Letting windows update the drivers itself

Uninstalling drivers

Downloading drivers from the manufacturer website (realtek, creative, asus, Nvidia)

Disabling HDMI sound

Disabling on-board sound in windows and in the bios

Buying a sound card

 

My specs

 

Asus Z170-A (latest bios)

Core i7 6700k

16GB 2x8 Dual channel G.Skill @3200MHZ

Creative Sound Blaster Z

 

All the parts below were also used in my previous build without problems

 

Windows 10 pro (legit copy clean install)

Corsair H100i V2

GTX 1060

1 SSD 120GB (Windows is here)

1 SSD 500GB

1 HDD 1.5TB

1 HDD 1TB

Nox Hummer 550W 

Speakers Logitech Z906

 

P.S. Please don't assume the speakers aren't connected correctly, I know they are, the issues persist using a digital optical cable as well and the problems seem to get even worse with it.

[MaxBunny]

3 minutes ago, Red King said:

Hey guys, I've got a bunch of nasty sound issues that are driving me crazy, I will list them below as well as other details, any help would be very much appreciated.

 

Sound problems

 

- Crackling

- Popping

- Channel switching (for example sounds that belong in the center speaker will randomly switch to rear right or left when they shouldn't)

 

P.S. Please don't assume the speakers aren't connected correctly, I know they are, the issues persist using a digital optical cable as well and the problems seem to get even worse with it.

Sounds like it's that electrical disturbance problem thingy. Have you tried your equipment (including sound card) on another computer to check that it's not the motherboard?

[Red King]

1 minute ago, MaxBunny said:

Sounds like it's that electrical disturbance problem thingy. Have you tried your equipment (including sound card) on another computer to check that it's not the motherboard?

No, unfortunately I don't have access to any other computer at the moment so I can't try the sound card on another motherboard, but I also think that's the safest assumption either the motherboard or some problem with windows, it couldn't be the sound card otherwise the motherboard wouldn't have the problem before I bought the sound card.

[MaxBunny]

1 minute ago, Red King said:

No, unfortunately I don't have access to any other computer at the moment so I can't try the sound card on another motherboard, but I also think that's the safest assumption either the motherboard or some problem with windows, it couldn't be the sound card otherwise the motherboard wouldn't have the problem before I bought the sound card.

So then RMA might be an option if all else fails and it's still within warranty. Or befriending a local computer person with extra PCs to test on.

[Red King]

46 minutes ago, MaxBunny said:

So then RMA might be an option if all else fails and it's still within warranty. Or befriending a local computer person with extra PCs to test on.

I guess so  I just got this board/cpu/ram a few days ago. So you think the board could be causing the problem even through the sound card?

[MaxBunny]

8 minutes ago, Red King said:

I guess so  I just got this board/cpu/ram a few days ago. So you think the board could be causing the problem even through the sound card?

Well, you have to diagnose everything one at a time to be certain. But it does sound like it if onboard sound was having the same problem and your new sound card has it too.

[Red King]

13 minutes ago, MaxBunny said:

Well, you have to diagnose everything one at a time to be certain. But it does sound like it if onboard sound was having the same problem and your new sound card has it too.

I'll just return it, it's within the first 14 days so I can do it no questions asked. Have no way to test it anyway.

[Red King]

Update: I will keep posting as I figure out the problem as it may be of use for someone else, so far I figured out the ram speedis related to it. I've lowered the clock from 3200 to the mobo's default speed just above 2000 and the problem was gone. Will try to narrow it down further when I get home. Any ideas?

[Red King]

Update #2 Got another Z170-A so far it seems problem solved.