The sound card is...?
Speakers plugged into a surge protector?

From where?

Are you sure it's not the wife?

Sound Card is Creative Soundblaster X-FI Fatality Pro.

Yes, the speakers are plugged into a surge protector.



Speakers sometimes pop and crackle when *say* a light or other appliance is turned on or off... most noticeably from the sub-woofer.

Turn the speaker switch to the just below normal and use the Windows volume control. Turn bass down on woofer switch and disable EAX,CMSS and Crystalizer in Console. If the problem goes away, play with the Console effects until it comes back, then you'll know the correct settings. That said, a 'screech' is almost always a volume problem.



You can try a different outlet with the surge protector, but I don't think it will matter much. If you want to make sure it's not the surge strip, plug the speakers directly into the wall outlet. No pop...your surge is shot.

Ok, I've done all that... now it's a waiting game to see if it happens again.



You might be right about my surge protector being shot/faulty. A couple of days ago we had a brief power interruption and it cut out, but when the power came back on it took a while to reset and become fully functional again. There were no electrical burning smells and it seems to be working fine now, but I'm no expert so will get it checked.

Oh, and the screeching sound happened once before the power interruption/surge board thing so I don't think they're related.

If it's just a sound/volume thing I can resolve that easy enough, but I've heard of people hearing Bios/Mobo related screaming and that's what had/has me concerned.

I have heard strange noises coming from my speakers when i place my cell phone on my desk. If I move it farther away it doesn't happen. Just keep it in mind

starkers,

The "snap-crackle'n-pop" from the speakers is something that has reared it's head in some of the other games I've played over the years (thankfully not sins).

One way I found of getting rid of it was to run DXDIAG and kept lowering the "3D Sound Acceleration" on the slider until the "snap-crackle-pop" went away.




Certainly making sure your PC is well protected (from surges etc.) goes without saying...

the Monk

Spell-check on aisle three.... ...

no, he's dreaming!

You might be on to something there... it's screaming cos a speck of dust got inside, and is jealous everything else is clean. Me thinks I shall have to get out the microscope and check/clean that out.



Oh no I'm not... mrs starkers will tell you I can be the most infuriating person to live with... thus the long and loud screaming, which is when I turn on selected hearing. Come to think of it, my selective hearing might be what gets her so infuriated.




Hmmm! Me thinks we're on different wavelengths here... hehe, maybe I'm in need of a frequency change.

You want ME to spell check when I am carping on Cap'n Starkers obsessive compulsiveness?

Cap'n Starkers, shanghai this polliwog!

Not to be to simple here but if you mean you're not sure if it's coming from the speakers or within the tower.... shut the speakers off quick next time you hear it?

Don't bother Pop....that's not how bios' work. If the computer was up and running, it's your sound system.