I have a custom built computer that is running Windows 7, with a SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium PCIe sound card. This is the third sound card I have had in this system, and I am experiencing frequent sound issues which have persisted across all of the sound cards I have installed. I have tried to research the issue, but I have not found this issue reported elsewhere. I am not sure if it is the terminology I am using, or if this is just a really unique problem.
The issue I have is that single sounds degrade over time. For example, for work I use AOL Instant Messenger. After 4-5 hours, the "ding" sound played when I get IMs starts to become staticy. However, other sounds will still play perfectly fine, be they videos or games. If I play a game such as World of Warcraft for several hours, in game sounds will eventually start to also distort, but sounds from other programs that have not been running for a long time are unaffected. In addition, after waking the computer from sleep 2-3 times, the wakeup sound is typically distorted, but sound will then be normal for a few hours. This does not happen when booting the system, only when waking from sleep. The only fix I have found for a sound that has become degraded is to put the computer to sleep or reboot. Restarting the application does not seem to have any effect.
In an attempt to solve this issue, I replaced the sound card twice. The original card was a SoundBlaster 24-bit, then a SoundBlaster X-Fi Gaming Extreme (both PCI) and now the current X-Fi Titanium that is PCI-e. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the sound card drivers numerous times. The last time I reinstalled the drivers, I got an added issue of a soft popping sound over the speakers when there should not be any sound at all.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can look to troubleshoot and hopefully finally eliminate this problem?
The issue I have is that single sounds degrade over time. For example, for work I use AOL Instant Messenger. After 4-5 hours, the "ding" sound played when I get IMs starts to become staticy. However, other sounds will still play perfectly fine, be they videos or games. If I play a game such as World of Warcraft for several hours, in game sounds will eventually start to also distort, but sounds from other programs that have not been running for a long time are unaffected. In addition, after waking the computer from sleep 2-3 times, the wakeup sound is typically distorted, but sound will then be normal for a few hours. This does not happen when booting the system, only when waking from sleep. The only fix I have found for a sound that has become degraded is to put the computer to sleep or reboot. Restarting the application does not seem to have any effect.
In an attempt to solve this issue, I replaced the sound card twice. The original card was a SoundBlaster 24-bit, then a SoundBlaster X-Fi Gaming Extreme (both PCI) and now the current X-Fi Titanium that is PCI-e. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the sound card drivers numerous times. The last time I reinstalled the drivers, I got an added issue of a soft popping sound over the speakers when there should not be any sound at all.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can look to troubleshoot and hopefully finally eliminate this problem?
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