[SOLVED] Creative A250 speakers crackling and popping

[Ali Shaikh Shaikh Shaikh]

PC Specs:
Xeon E3 1280 (Intel stock cooler)
R9 290X 8GB
2X4GB DDR3 RAM 1333MHz
GA-H61M-S1 revision 2.2
Corsair RM850X
L24Q Monitor (connected through HDMI)
A250 speakers with subwoofer
Windows 10 1909
When I turn on my PC, these speakers crackle a lot. If I try to play audio, it is almost inaudible (too much white noise to hear properly) and then eventually (after like 1 minute after boot) the speakers transition to a different state where they no longer crackle but they pop intermittently at varying sound levels. I have tried these speakers with my phone and they function perfectly fine with my phone. These speakers used to function fine on my PC when I was still using a GT610 (I used to use a VGA cable with this card). Ever since I swapped out this GPU (all other specs remained the same), I have had problems with these speakers. I have tried an R9 290, R9 390 and R9 290X and the speakers do not function correctly with any of these cards. I have reformatted my PC multiple times using an install disc since I replaced the GT610 and my speakers never seem to work properly. I did try Windows 7 once and I managed to get both the R9 290X and the speakers to work perfectly. With Windows 10, it only works if I use the solution in the next paragraph.
I have tried switching between Windows and AMD audio drivers but both of them have the same problem. These speakers do not have their own drivers.
Also important to note is that when I experiment with underclocking/overvolting and my computer crashes a few times, the fix of running a game and then restarting no longer works until I reformat my PC.

Here is the strange part. If I allow the GPU to run at full load using FurMark or a game for a few minutes then restart my computer, the audio works perfectly until I turn off my computer. Also for some strange reason, my computer detects 5 other audio inputs. 4 are supposedly from my monitor (which has ZERO speakers on it) and it also detects headphones (even though none are plugged in).When I turn it back on the next day/whenever the audio is back to its usual non-working state. Does anyone know what could be causing these problems and how I can fix it?

Thanks

 

[hang-the-9]

Try using an external USB sound card. This Syba Sonic is good for lower price if you have a headset https://www.ebay.com/i/362989419939...peA8cuv62Yi6_2ZkfxObvGA7NOAo8ceBoCljEQAvD_BwE

For just speakers and headphones this FX-AUdio is very good for the price https://www.amazon.com/FX-Audio-Optical-Coaxial-Amplifier/dp/B072JJT7SF/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=27AF3OL5V4CL4&dchild=1&keywords=fx+audio+dac-x6&qid=1589060851&s=electronics&sprefix=FX+au,electronics,168&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFXSEJKM0VHUFU2UFMmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyOTIzNTQxTFlVNzRLWkFIQ1VXJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MzM4NTgyS0pMWE9UUzk5RERNJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== that is what I use and can run my powered speakers out of the line out on the back along with my headphones off the front jack with the volume control so they are both on separate volume controls. Otherwise you may have speakers turned up, swap to headphones and make your ears bleed.

 

[Ali Shaikh Shaikh Shaikh]

Try using an external USB sound card. This Syba Sonic is good for lower price if you have a headset https://www.ebay.com/i/362989419939...peA8cuv62Yi6_2ZkfxObvGA7NOAo8ceBoCljEQAvD_BwE

For just speakers and headphones this FX-AUdio is very good for the price https://www.amazon.com/FX-Audio-Optical-Coaxial-Amplifier/dp/B072JJT7SF/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=27AF3OL5V4CL4&dchild=1&keywords=fx+audio+dac-x6&qid=1589060851&s=electronics&sprefix=FX+au,electronics,168&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFXSEJKM0VHUFU2UFMmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAyOTIzNTQxTFlVNzRLWkFIQ1VXJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA5MzM4NTgyS0pMWE9UUzk5RERNJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== that is what I use and can run my powered speakers out of the line out on the back along with my headphones off the front jack with the volume control so they are both on separate volume controls. Otherwise you may have speakers turned up, swap to headphones and make your ears bleed.

So I did some troubleshooting and I figured out it is something to do with the motherboard. Either the BIOS is damaged or the audio controller is damaged. The speakers work fine when I tested them on another PC when I put my hard drive into it. For now I have connected the speakers to the 3.5MM jack on my monitor and it is working flawlessly so far. I will hopefully get a new motherboard in the future.

 

[hang-the-9]

So I did some troubleshooting and I figured out it is something to do with the motherboard. Either the BIOS is damaged or the audio controller is damaged. The speakers work fine when I tested them on another PC when I put my hard drive into it. For now I have connected the speakers to the 3.5MM jack on my monitor and it is working flawlessly so far. I will hopefully get a new motherboard in the future.

Buying a new motherboard for that old CPU is not worth it, better to buy a nice external sound card and use that, or replace both the motherboard and older CPU at the same time. Video card is not really slow, I have the same one in one of my systems and it matches the RX 580 speeds. Power supply is also a good model, so really CPU, RAM and motherboard would be all you need to change to move away from that 9 year old platform.

 

[Ali Shaikh Shaikh Shaikh]

Buying a new motherboard for that old CPU is not worth it, better to buy a nice external sound card and use that, or replace both the motherboard and older CPU at the same time. Video card is not really slow, I have the same one in one of my systems and it matches the RX 580 speeds. Power supply is also a good model, so really CPU, RAM and motherboard would be all you need to change to move away from that 9 year old platform.

Yeah if I were a pure gamer, I would probably have invested in a Ryzen platform by now but I am more of a PC enthusiast than a gamer so performance is not my biggest concern. I like having collector edition/flagship parts in my computer even if they are old and not cost-effective. For the games I play, the old Xeon is still perfectly capable. I intend to build a completely new system in 2023 since I still have a backlog of old games that I want to play and I don't have much time to play games these days. There's so much more to PCs than just gaming. Thanks for the advice and help though.