Bizarre "Virtual" Loose Sound Connection

Ex_Brit

Moderator
Staff member
Hi guys,

On my new rig I have the onboard Soundmax 7.1 HD Sound, latest 64-bit drivers & software installed.

On my main boot (Vista Ult. SP2) I occasionally lose sound on my right speaker, or it starts crackling and becomes muffled but only for the line-in source (my sound system). Normally I would immediately suspect loose connections, but I have checked them and they are OK.
The bizarre part is that there is no problem in the other 3 boots (Vista Ult SP2 Test, Windows 7 Main and Win 7 Test) nor in this one if I reboot. It just suddenly starts.
All other sounds are normal and play on both speakers, this just happens with the line-in.

I've uninstalled Soundmax, rebooted and reinstalled 3 times now & it still occurs periodically.

What would cause a virtual loose connection?
 
Last edited:
Try uninstalling again with Revo. Do you get this problem system wide and not just in one paticular application? For instance, I get breakup in playback in WMP/WMC but not in iTunes. If everythings working great on the other systems I don't know what else it could be but we know it has to do with that OS (can't be hardware related if its working fine on other OSes).
 
Thanks for the advice will give that a go when I get the chance. Most likely a corrupted software installation I would think. It's only with line-in sound, so I guess only one application.
 
Last edited:
Sound cards are weird things.
About 2 or 3 times a year, watching TV on the PC at dinner, (it's in the dining room and doubles as the tele for said room) without warning or apparent cause, the dialogue will be replaced with 100dB of white noise, like a bomb going off in the room. Most disconcerting.
Sometimes it can be cured by reducing the volume on Media Center, then lifting it again; other times it can only be fixed by a reboot.
It's one of those unreproducable problems that can never be diagnosed successfully because there's no chain of cause and effect. (and it's not only WMC it can happen to)
 
Ain't computers grand? I'd love to be able to live without one, but it would be like cutting off an arm.


Addendum:


P.S. This morning it's working just fine....go figure. I knew the minute I started talking about it behind its back it would cooperate...LOL.

Addendum:

It occurred to me when I first reinstalled Vista after crashing this new rig on day one (typical of me) I noticed Windows installing "Realtek" sound drivers and thought nothing of it. Then I uninstalled them after realising that I don't have anything "Realtek". This happened only in this installation of Vista so that could be the cause...they must have screwed something up perhaps?
 
Last edited:
More than likely it is a mixup with the identification of the sound card. I have seen many times where Windows has tried to install a RealTek driver for a soundmax device. It was actually a common problem on Win7 Beta at first.

Using Belarc Advisor, SiSandra Software or Everest get the real info of the device and get the proper drivers.

Use Driver Sweeper from Guru3D.com:

Installer
No Installer

That will properly clean your system of all driver remnants. From there get the proper driver for your device and install that. See if that fixes the issue for you.
 
They are gone as they were listed in Programs/Uninstall a Program, but what concerns me is that Driver Sweeper detects both Creative and Realtek drivers, neither of which I have components associated with. Now I would imagine that those are the ones that Windows has built-in so really shouldn't be removed.

Neither of those show up on Belarc Advisor or Everest Ultimate Edition.

Addendum: It was my unfamiliarity with Driver Sweeper....all is well, there are no stray sound drivers present.

The problem has not resurfaced...says he touching his skull which happens to be the nearest wood he can find.:tongueout:oint:
 
Last edited:
Back
Top