Onboard Sound on P4S8X mobo

Hello,

I recently purchased the components to build a desktop, and two of my friends built it for me. Everything works great, except for one small problem. Currently, when any sound comes out of my speakers, it sounds very crackly and staticy (if those are words). I can hear what I intended to hear, but the other noise is very annoying. It gets worse when I turn the volume up. I am currently using my mobo's onboard sound, while I am expecting a friend to give me his Audigy after he gets an Audigy2. My question is this: is the onboard sound causing my problem because of its non-real-soundcard nature, or is there another piece of hardware or software to blame?

I have ruled out that my speakers are the problem, as I have tested them on my laptop computer and they sound fine (it seems that the laptop's integrated sound is better than the desktop's!). I have also tested my other, less quality speakers on my desktop, and they sound fine. That struck me as odd.

System specs:
Asus P4S8X motherboard
Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz, 400 mhz FSB
Powercolor Radeon 9500 Pro
Integrated sound ("C-Media AC'97 Audio Device")
512 MB Corsair PC2100 DDR RAM
Toshiba SD-M1712 16x DVD-ROM
Plextor PX-W4824A 48/24/48A CD-RW
Western Digital 80 GB 7200 rpm HD
Maxtor 80 GB External Firewire HD
100 MB Iomega Zip Drive
Generic Floppy
Logitech Wingman USB Gamepad
Standard IBM Keyboard
Microsoft Intellimouse Optical
Samsung SyncMaster 765MB 17" Flat Screen CRT
Logitech Z560 4.1 Speakers (the ones I'm using right now)
Integrated LAN
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1
DirectX 9.0

All of the latest drivers for all of my hardware, all of the latest Windows Updates installed

Currently, my sound driver is the following: (latest version off of Asus' website)
C-Media Inc.
8/20/2002
5.12.1.22

Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

This really sounds like a driver issue. You might not be able to hear any problems with the second set of speakers because they are not nearly as nice as the Z560's.

From a soundguy perspective, I guess it's possible that the soundcard is overdriving the amp, so you could try turning the sound down in your system tray and up on the speakers themselves. Also it could be a bad cable or RF interference. Check your connections and see if the rig still causes problems in a different area of the house.

Do you have the latest motherboard drivers and BIOS revisions? If you've got an audigy coming, you'll be really impressed once you get it. It's a fantastic piece of hardware.

Good luck.

is the onboard sound sharing an irq with anything else....you may try turning off either a com port or parallel port in your bios to free up an irq and force the sound to use it by itself....this may help..

Thanks for your reply.

I have tried many different combinations of my speaker and system volume, and nothing has worked.

I was thinking it might have something to do with the analog cable that connects my DVD drive to the motherboard; I'm going to try to get a hold of another cable later.

Unfortunately, I can't test my system anywhere else because I live in a dorm at college. However, maybe I can work something out.

Yes, I do have the latest drivers and revisions. And yes, I'm quite excited about getting the Audigy. Unfortunately, the shipment isn't due until the 13th :(.

I was also thinking that maybe I should try some other sound drivers. Are there any generic ones that you recommend I should try?

Your windows CD should have them if you're running a recent OS, my guess is ME/2000 or later. You could try those.

Some noise can be caused with a 'ground loop'. Prevent this by connecting your speakers and your PC to the same outlet and not resting any metal components on anything grounded, usually this includes the floor of the first story, pipes, etc.