Sound problems in FS9 after new PC

[pipper 0]

G'day guys:I have recently encountered a very strange problem with FS9 following build up of a new PC. The problem is that the engine noise of the PMDG 737 starts to flutter and become distorted. This occurs primarily during climb to cruise, never on takeoff. I used the stock 737-400 as a lab constant, and the fluttering noises are still present but much less noticeable. The fluttering seems periodic even when FS9 is the only main program running.( no active sky, VATSIM, etc) The engine noises sound OK for awhile but then every 90 seconds or so start to flutter and distort. Even when I change views the sound is somewhat distorted. I never had this problem in the 3 years previous with use of a different PC. My system specs are: Asus P5q deluxe, 4 GIGS Corsair dominator 8500, Intel E8500, HIS ATI 4870 w 8.8 drivers, Creative Audigy sound card. Win XP with SP3. I first noticed the fluttering following the build up of the new PC with the onboard sound I was using. I figured this was the prob and swapped it out for the Audigy card following shutting down on board sound in the BIOS. No luck. I then re installed the PMDG 737 with the same negative result. I then tried to use DXDIAG to reduce the direct X sound acceleration, and even turned down the problem persisted, as it did when I turned down sound quality in FS9. No joy again. The problem is not apparent with any other flight sim such as LOMAC or with an audio CD or movie-it appears FS9 specific. I am stumped and I hope somebody can help as it took me a week to rebuild FS9 and I don't want to have to do that unless necessary. Any ideas?Thanks....Pipper

[hmar 0]

Hi,I really don't known if it will help you, but I install always the freeware Asio4all( http://www.asio4all.com/ )on my computers and it seems to help for some sound cracking problems.Regards,Hugo

[pipper 0]

Thanks Hugo, I will go fetch it and give it a go. The problem really is a strange one. I noticed tonight that if I moved the PMDG 737 FMC around the cockpit via drop and drag, it also made that stuttering noise. I can't help thinking it may be a video issue-I am simply not sure what it could be. I downloaded the latest ATI 8.9 drivers, so with your suggestion I hope to be on the right road. Thanks and Cheers mate....Pipper

[Avcomware 1]

Hi Pipper.Is this an on mother board sound? Make sure you have the latest drivers for your board first. Then try to go in "Dxdiag" and see if you can play with the acceleration of the sound decrease if max or increase if low. Post here if you need more help.Sorry I missed your system info, try to see if your On board sound is disabled, if you have one. You can also try to remove the external sound board to troubleshoot, if you have an on board sound. TV

[iainsmith 9]

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago and I traced it to my sound card drivers (Creative Soundblaster 5.1 Live). Windows XP had installed some Microsoft drivers for it instead of my Creative ones.I found this out by going to Control Panel/System/Hardware selecting the soundcard and the drivers tab. There it stated that the driver was MS. I elected to change the driver, installed the Creative one and all was well. This may not be the cause of your problem but it's worth checking.Iain Smith

[pipper 0]

Thanks guys for the input-Originally I had onboard sound as I don't do much with the PC except FS9 and I thought who cares about super high fidelity jet noise! But when the PC was first built up and I installed FS9, I immediately noticed the fluttering sound-you can't miss it. I thought the on board sound must be the culprit and I uninstalled it in the BIOS and installed the Audigy. Unfortunately,the on board audio was not the issue and I did mess around with reducing the audio acceleration with the same negative result. Same with sound quality within FS9. I will take your suggestions about checking the sound card drivers and just update them.Thats a great suggestion and I will try it!Kind thanks again to all....Pipper

[pipper 0]

Well, I checked the driver mfg in Device mgr for the audigy card, and Creative was the source. I have to try now the ASIO option and hope for the best. I flew again last night and it seemed that the busier the ground scenery, the worse the fluttering. It also fluttered when the 2D cockpit view was changed. I even switched to the new ATI 8.9 driver with no change, so this is gonna be a tough fix. Pipper

[fbfbfb 0]

Try raising the Northbridge core voltage in the BIOS up to 1.4~1.45 volts.This was the fix on my P5B board but it may not apply to yours.Fred

[Avcomware 1]

Hi Pipper.Here are a few things that I would look at / try:Any back ground tasks / Fire walls / Anti virus that you may be running, try to disable them on start up /

[pipper 0]

OK guys,once again THANKS for all the help! I ran through most of the suggestions and still had the same issue. I think I found the problem and it seemed to test OK on two brief flights. I still need to check it on a long flight just to be sure. In an effort to be very thorough, I thought to re check the SOUND settings within FS9. Specifically, I looked at the Environment tab which was pre set to 34. This was exactly the same as on my previous PC and I guess it was the default. (not sure exactly but I think so)On a hunch, I turned it down to 21 and sure enough, the distorting was basically gone. For whatever reason, on my PC this simple setting was messing things up. Reducing the wind noise apparently reduced the problem. I have no idea why my PC distored the sound, but when I thought about how the distortion never occured on the ground or during takeoff, the solution made sense. I may still have to tweak it a bit, but I do think that was the prob. It's simply amazing to me what can go wrong with this sim. At any rate, I think the case is closed and I hope the "solution" helps somebody some day. Kind thanks to one and all-this is a GREAT COMMUNITY!Cheers and here's to all that helped!Pipper