via + creative labs data corruption/crackling question

[nehalmistry]

I will be getting a creative labs sound blaster pci 128 tomorrow... i was wondering if i will be experiencing any data corruption, i heard about it with the live, was wondering if it could happen to the pci 128... i haven't heard of any problems with ensoniq chips, but wanna make sure...

PS i'm using latest VIA drivers.... and i have 694x n.bridge 686a s.bridge

what about crackling... the sound section on this page has enough info to make me hurt myself for buying this via chipset mobo

http://www.viahardware.com/faq/kt7/kt7faq.htm

Crackling with a Soundblaster PCI 64 or PCI 128 can often be resolved by enabling Delay Transaction and PCI Master Read Caching.

i don't have those options, as the gigabyte bios is limited.

any good info/help greatly appreciated.

[Wombat]

I generally find that the PCI128 causes more problems than the Live. You have a 686a though, which I don't think ever shows the data corruption of the 686b.
As for crackling and what not, I don't know.

[PeTe]

Hmm.. i actually have one of those with my Abit KT7, no sound problems so far. Actually sounds have allways worked. Only problem that i had with my KT7 is that the latest bios really doesnt know how to handle my Maxtor 80G ATA133 drive correctly and running it ATA33 now.. but thats another story.

PeTe

[nehalmistry]

well i did a search on the corruption issue, i couldn't find one case with the 686a, i guess i'm fine....

as for crackling, i hope i get same results as u do pete

[PowerHungry]

I've had a SB PCI128 for a while in my main system, until I accidentally blew the board when someone messed with my audio inputs... Anyway, while it lasted, aside from a few self imposed MIDI problems, I found it to be an adequate card for gaming and MP3s. And I got it relatively cheap at the time, when the Live!s were first coming out.

[The PIT]

I've seen reports of corruption on the 686a but it's rare. Some of the crackling reported was due to Microsoft leaving the debugging code in DX8. Switching the debugging code off cured it for me. This was under win2k
You may get silly troubles with Cdrw and zip drives but you can cross that bridge when you get to it.

[nehalmistry]

what a piece of crap!!! no clicking, no corruption, it worked fined, but:

the bass/treble controls in the volume controls are software controlled, creative just made the drivers like that (nice trick!)...
you can tell because both treble/bass are distorted when i put it to max, even when i put the master & wave volume really low (5%) .. and i tested on both h.phones/speaks ..also, there are no bass/treb controls in linux (not a limitation of drivers, but card) .. plus tone controls only work for wav out, not midi, etc..

there is no amplifier on this model unlike i thought (apparently there is a great variety of sb pci128 cards)

you would think a card made by creative in 1999 would be better than one made by them in 1995... apparently it doesn't even come close...

i'm returning this to the store.. (may get sb live! 5.1)

btw, i like my AWE 32 but the EEPROM went all weird on me, so only wav out works (no midi/game).... i tried looking for a utility to write/read eeprom with no luck... anyways broken AWE32 still worth more than working pci128

[Dr Mordrid]

I have a four word fix for you;

Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (VideoLogic Sonic Fury in Europe)

I've never seen it do more than 2% cpu utilization with *.wav's or 4-5% with *.mp3's and it sounds terriffic.

Dr. Mordrid

[nehalmistry]

hmm, well i don't think i can get it over here(at least not for low price) but does it have an internal amplifier, if not i dont think it has much advantage for me over the SB Live 5.1?

i don't care about CPU utilization, heck my AWE 32 takes about 13% in win98 when playing mp3's on my celeron......