Had to change my computer hardware as FSX (Santa left it) was unuseable. Purchased the best parts I could buy with the meagre amount I could afford (violins playing) and with teeth clenched reloaded FSX. Result was a big improvement and quite playable. I like it. However as hours progressed I did not fail to notice that all was not well with atc voices which every other sentence was a very loud static hiss and crackle in the speakers making atc unusable. For audio I used the Asus onboard audio and CD supplied drivers so I checked out Asus for other drivers but there were none other than the supplied ones available. I checked round the usual forums and these showed about three other flyers with similar problems and one made the excellent suggestion of using USB headset for sound. I did and it worked. Assuming that the original problem was a unique combination of hardware and FSX I borrowed an old SB Live Value sound card and disabled the Asus onboard audio. Problem solved. On further searching of forums I added the word Soundmax (Asus onboard audio) to the search and found others having not dissimilar FSX sound problems. I hope these ramblings may be of assistance to someone.My system:XP Pro +SP2 operating systemAsus A8R-MVP mainboard (with onboard audio disabled )Athlon 64 3800+ CPU 2Gb DDR400 RAMNvidia 7900 GS graphic cardMS Sidewinder F/F stickSB Blaster Live Value sound card

Welcome to Avsim first of all!!Yep I have been through the same pain about a year ago. I have an older MB Asus P4C800-E Deluxe. It too has the Soundmax onboard audio, which I used quite happily for a while. However my performance in most gaming was terrible if there some serious sound occuring.Disabled the onboard sound and bought a SoundBlaster Audigy SE card from tigerdirect. No more sound issues, with an added plus of improved game performance, including MSFS. I'm glad you were able to get the problem resolved, I am sure a few people will be able to benefit from your experience![hr width=100%" size=1 color="black]http://forefrontgrp.com/MyLogo2.JPGJason | General Aviation Fan