Serious Sound Problem: Noise

audiohominis · 10-02-2006

Hi guys

There a very annoying sound problem on my friend’s PC. Every action causes this horrible noise. This includes clicking, or even simply moving the mouse, menu popups, and running programs. I guess you can hear all computers generate such noise if you turn Windows’ volume all the way down and turn the speaker volume all the way up, and that’s normal. But over here that noise is actually twice as loud as the sound effects and audio. I understand that the computer has a on-board SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio chip (?) I tried updating the driver but I get a message saying that there aren’t any drivers newer than the ones I have.
My friend says that the problem seems to have occurred after he tuned in to some internet radio station, but that’s merely our supposition.

OS is Windows XP Home Edition and the CPU is 2.53GHz P4.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ih8bills · 10-02-2006

Hi -- welcome to PCHF...

I would say open your sounds and audio devices window form control panel and look at the volume tab... if nothing looks wrong there-- try the 'audio' tab ... and see what the default device is listed... should say SoundMax, or AC 97. If you click on the advanced button in this window... what are the settings in your Master Volume...?

audiohominis · 10-02-2006

Thanks for the reply and the welcome.

Hmm, let's see here:
On the volume mixer everything is turned all the way up. Adjusting the volume knob didn't change anything.

In the Device Manager there are no exclamation marks indicating any hardware conflicts

Advanced Audio Properties

___Speaker Setup Tab___

Speaker Setup: Desktop Stereo Speakers

___Performance Tab___

Hardware Acceleration: Full
Sample Rate Conversion Quality: Best

___SoundMAX Control Panel___

Speaker Setup Laout: Stereo Speaker

Front Speaker Location: Far Apart
Virtual Theater Surround: Disabled
Bass Boost: Disabled

If it helps...

ih8bills · 10-02-2006

HMMM...

The Bass boost feature was mentioned as a possible culprit by Soundmax FAQ...

I'll have to chew on this (and my dinner) for a bit... I'll be back.

audiohominis · 10-02-2006

bon appetite

ih8bills · 10-03-2006

Excuse the chewing reference-- didn't think it would bother you...

Anyway--since this onboard sytem is used by multiple manufacturers-- they send you to the PC makers' website for drivers... I know you already tried updating-- but if there's a tiny bit of one line of code that's corrupted... Device manager might not detect it-- and it's by far the easiest 'fix' here-- so we'll try it first.
I would suggest going to the manufacturer of your PC's support page-- and downloading the your PC's latest driver files-- and the latest BIOS (just in case).Make sure you can easily find these files.
Then open Dev Mgr and find your onboard sound device-- right-click on the device/properties/driver tab/uninstall.
Reboot. Windows SHOULD automatically install basic drivers. To install the ones you just downloaded-- go to devmgr again open your device/drivers/update drivers/advanced/install from a specific location/browse to your downloaded DRIVER file...and install.

Many times this is a useful method to reinstall a suspect device driver... hope it helps. post back and let us know, please.

10-02-2006	#1
audiohominis Bronze Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 16	Serious Sound Problem: Noise Hi guys There a very annoying sound problem on my friend’s PC. Every action causes this horrible noise. This includes clicking, or even simply moving the mouse, menu popups, and running programs. I guess you can hear all computers generate such noise if you turn Windows’ volume all the way down and turn the speaker volume all the way up, and that’s normal. But over here that noise is actually twice as loud as the sound effects and audio. I understand that the computer has a on-board SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio chip (?) I tried updating the driver but I get a message saying that there aren’t any drivers newer than the ones I have. My friend says that the problem seems to have occurred after he tuned in to some internet radio station, but that’s merely our supposition. OS is Windows XP Home Edition and the CPU is 2.53GHz P4. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

10-02-2006	#3
audiohominis Bronze Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 16	Some Info on the Sound Settings Thanks for the reply and the welcome. Hmm, let's see here: On the volume mixer everything is turned all the way up. Adjusting the volume knob didn't change anything. In the Device Manager there are no exclamation marks indicating any hardware conflicts Advanced Audio Properties ___Speaker Setup Tab___ Speaker Setup: Desktop Stereo Speakers ___Performance Tab___ Hardware Acceleration: Full Sample Rate Conversion Quality: Best ___SoundMAX Control Panel___ Speaker Setup Laout: Stereo Speaker Front Speaker Location: Far Apart Virtual Theater Surround: Disabled Bass Boost: Disabled If it helps...

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10-02-2006	#2
ih8bills Tech Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: coastal Rhode Island Posts: 4,633 PC Experience: More Stubborn than any PC	Hi -- welcome to PCHF... I would say open your sounds and audio devices window form control panel and look at the volume tab... if nothing looks wrong there-- try the 'audio' tab ... and see what the default device is listed... should say SoundMax, or AC 97. If you click on the advanced button in this window... what are the settings in your Master Volume...?

10-03-2006	#6
ih8bills Tech Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: coastal Rhode Island Posts: 4,633 PC Experience: More Stubborn than any PC	Excuse the chewing reference-- didn't think it would bother you... Anyway--since this onboard sytem is used by multiple manufacturers-- they send you to the PC makers' website for drivers... I know you already tried updating-- but if there's a tiny bit of one line of code that's corrupted... Device manager might not detect it-- and it's by far the easiest 'fix' here-- so we'll try it first. I would suggest going to the manufacturer of your PC's support page-- and downloading the your PC's latest driver files-- and the latest BIOS (just in case).Make sure you can easily find these files. Then open Dev Mgr and find your onboard sound device-- right-click on the device/properties/driver tab/uninstall. Reboot. Windows SHOULD automatically install basic drivers. To install the ones you just downloaded-- go to devmgr again open your device/drivers/update drivers/advanced/install from a specific location/browse to your downloaded DRIVER file...and install. Many times this is a useful method to reinstall a suspect device driver... hope it helps. post back and let us know, please.