X-Fi sound cards "tick" when loading SL

ok i've found that if i let Winamp plays in background and when SL is loading to get to the main login menu, you can hear a "tick/click" sound. It doesn't happen if i stop Winamp and load SL though.

can it be the drivers? i know Creative didn't updated their X-Fi drivers for Windows XP for over a year now (yes i use WinXP)

i have the X-Fi XtremeGamer, to be more exact.

this problem never happened with my built-in Realtek AC'97 sound though, maybe because Realtek updates their drivers often so problems get fixed quickly.

I have an X-Fi Platinum and do not experience this trouble at all. However, I have a multi-core system and usually let SL run multi-threaded as it pleases all across all cores, but then lock Winamp to one core. SL is rather taxing on most systems and the "processor dropout" one experiences when Winamp cannot grab a hold of a CPU cycle when it's bodged up to 100% load from SL creates the ticks.

Set the SL client to multi-threaded rendering if you have a modern, multi--core machine. Then call up your task manager and lock Wiamp's affinity to either core 0 or core 1,2, etc. and see if that solves it for you.

Realtek audio is completely software based, a little DAC chip the half-size of a postage stamp on your motherboard being the only "physical" component. Since it is software based it would flush through your CPU at a different priority than SL and system drivers are delegated to and come up with relatively decent audio as a result.

If that's your only problem with SL, you are one lucky devil

i have a single-core CPU, Athlon 64 3700+ 2.2Ghz (San Diego core, socket 939), and a Geforce 7600GT 256mb PCIe, 2gb DDR400 in dual-channel.

i think it's because of the drivers, really, Creative being super-lazy in updating their drivers, as i said, the latest update is from Oct.2006!

their drivers still says it's for the XtremeMusic (and the other kinds) but not the newer XtremeGamer. The XtremeGamer is the new kind of XtremeMusic, but with some features removed and low-profile...

I have the same drivers, no issues. ;3 But then I have 8 cores to spread stuff around on. I bet it's a sharp, almost electric sounding click/pop that sounds like a short burst of high pitched noise too when Winamp's mp3 decoder bottoms out a CPU already near max capacity. They haven't been updated because there is not a need to. They fixed the bugs with EAX effects and the open source positional 3-d sound driver. After that, it's just a matter of getting application specific patches. Some games require patching if you are using Hardware EAX effects on 5.1 or greater surround systems, either analog or digitally fed.

Dollars to donuts though it's your CPU already running at 88~95% on SL alone and then Winamp coming along and WANTING 12% of your CPU overhead for a decode to hardware buffer and not having enough CPU overhead to manage it. So it drops. These drops in the decoder make a click-pop-hiss noise. Try altering the MP3 decoder's priority from the Winamp Options -> output -> MP3 Decoder menu. Raise it from "background", or "below normal" to "normal" and see if the problem goes away. Though this may make SL as a result shudder and stutter occasionally.

EDIT: Extreme Gamer, Music Platinum Edition, etc.... All are just EMU 100k cards. ALL X-Fi branded cards use the same exact driver. The difference is in software that comes pre-packed with the card and devices in the box. Mine came with Media center, mode switcher and console with AISO compatible drivers, a remote control and an Audio Dock that fits a 5 1/4" drive bay with plugs and breakouts from Coaxial and fiber optic feeds to additional line level and mic inputs. Great stuff for the audiophile. ;3 But yeah, same drivers across all boards, and the last revision fixed a ton of bugs in one fell swoop. I bet with a focus on Vista compatibility after that, they had their hands full too.

it's on Normal priority by default.

and there are still stuff to fix, there's even a petition on Creative forums to make them release new drivers for Windows XP.

Try elevating it by one tick then and see if it helps. I had a similar issue with a single processor box that was also serving video and would cause the card to tick and stutter until Winamp was given just a little more priority.

I am curious though, what are the issues people are experiencing? I have nearly the same exact hardware as you with zero troubles. Though for some games there are patches required to fix a few issues they have addressing an X-Fi card, like Doom-3, Quake, and Unreal series of games. I think F.E.A.R. also needed a minor audio patch if I recall, it's been a long time since I installed/played that. But other than a minor game patch I have had zero trouble with the X-Fi Audigy systems - so I am deathly curious.

the thing is Creative did released beta drivers on their website, with some fixes, but it added 1 major bug that crashed some games with a BSOD...

a lot of peoples are also complaining about the lack of drivers updates, and the facts that a lot of stuff need to be fixed too. I think i'm lucky to not have those constant "snaps, crackles and pops" issues.

Check the Creative forums in the Sound Blaster section, there's a petition for new drivers for Windows XP. The last official drivers update was more than a year ago, they did released Vista drivers, but no new XP drivers...