Noise problem with Audigy 2 ZS and 3537

LowMoose

I installed the 3537 drivers for my Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro card. When all inputs are muted, the peak meter reports a steady noise level of -28 dB (yes, really), though no noise is audible through speakers. If I switch on any of the three line inputs, the noise level rises to -27 dB and it becomes audible.

I did not have this problem with the Creative drivers, but I'd rather like to use the kX drivers because of GSIF support.

Any ideas on what the cause of this might be? Some goof on installation? A routing fix? Are the kX drivers incompatible with the Audigy 2 ZS?

LowMoose

*bump*

Anyone? Any ideas at all?

Nappylady

Strange.

Is there anything connected to the inputs? Noise at -28dB is very, very noisy... with my rig cranked, I can't get my noisefloor above -50dB. Why is there so much noise?

dj_stick

check to make sure that your computer is grounded properly

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LowMoose

Thanks for the replies.

The noise level is the same regardless of whether there's anything connected to any of the inputs.

And like I said, I don't have this problem with the Creative drivers. With them, the noise level is around -101 dB, which is pretty close to the -108 dB that the card advertises. I'm assuming this is an issue with the kX drivers, not my hardware.

Nappylady

When you say "the peak meter"... which peak meter are you looking at?

Also, tell us a little about your DSP setup... Is your line input being accessed via Prolog or a Src plugin? From there, is it connected straight to your recording source (WinMM or ASIO) or does it pass through any gain stages?

Also, look on the AC97 page of the mixer applet. Check to see if the "gain" fader is turned way up; that might be part of the problem.

LowMoose

The peak meter I'm referring to is the one in the default setup in the kX DSP.

I tried connecting the inputs (each of the three line inputs separately) straight from the Prolog to the rec source (tried both MM and ASIO), but the noise still persisted. I didn't have a peak meter connected then, but the noise was clearly audible through the speakers.

I also tried fiddling with the AC97 controls... none of them seemed to have any effect whatsoever. I'd almost say that the audio isn't even passing through AC97 at any point.

Nappylady

Try connecting the peak meter straight to the Prolog pins? By resetting the AC97 chip, you should be able to get a spike on the meter... If this is not the case, then something is seriously wrong.

Eugene Gavrilov

try to reset the settings. try to unload the reverb and chorus effects. try to check with the DSP peak meter the exact noise source: try to connect it one-by-one to every prolog output; then to every xrouting output. if this fails, let us know.

E.

LowMoose

Nappylady, I do get a spike when I connect the prolog AC97 to the peak meter and do a reset. However, the noise is present even when AC97 is completely inactive, ie. all faders muted, and no pins connected to anything.

Eugene, I tried every prolog and xrouting output as you suggested, with a totally clear DSP otherwise. As expected, the noise is present when I connect the peak meter straight to prolog Line 3 L/R (8018 and 8019) and have Line 3 active on the Ins 'n' Outs page. Same with the other two Line inputs, respectively. Changing the recording level on the Recording page has no effect. Note that I keep all other faders on all other pages muted except the ones that I'm testing.

Similarly, when I turned AC97 on on the Ins 'n' Outs page and connected the peak meter to prolog's AC97 pins, the same level of noise was present. On the AC97 page, all faders were muted, except for Gain, which was set at zero.

When prolog is connected to xrouting, the noise is present only in connections stereo_r and stereo_l.

In other words, the noise is present in the following setups:

1.
Ins 'n' Outs: Line 1/2/3 level = 0
DSP: prolog Line 1/2/3 L/R --> peak meter

2.
Ins 'n' Outs: AC97 level = 0
AC97: Gain = 0
DSP: prolog AC97 L/R --> peak meter

BMP

I've also encountered a noise problem with a A2ZS sound card, but it were input channels that were noisy. All inputs were at about -72 dB, excluding microphone (-58 dB). I tried to ground all inputs, but the noise level wasn't reduced. Is there any way to get rid of it?

TravelRec.

Hi!

-72db is normal for AC97 inputs. With onboard Philips A/D you can reach -83db and with external A/Ds you will get some better results. BTW: a simple shielded cable of 1.5m lenghts has noise around -70 db (mostly 50/60 Hz hum), so don´t care.

Greetings!

TravelRec.

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Always take a look behind.

BMP

Thank you. I thought I'd have to contact the repair service. But solving one question produced two new ones $). First, if it's possible to reach -83 dB there must be a way to do it. Changing power supply or what? Any advice is wanted $)) Second, when a test lab measures card's SNR, it's about 96 dB or even greater. I easily believe in such or better result when, by example, Audigy's output is plugged into Lynx II or something tike that, but one can read a number of reviews where Audigy ZS (not Platinum Edition!!!) shows perfect results in loopback mode. How are such results obtained? And can they be obtained in a home studio environment? Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it. Yours, BMP

dj_stick

those results are by "switching" the ac97 codecs for the line in
go to the start menu and click "run"
type in "kxctrl --gui" and press enter
type in "sac97 2 0" and press enter
type in "shw 19 1" and press enter
type in "quit" and press enter

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BMP

Sorry, it doesn't work. Maybe I should try some other settings, but in order not to implicate "try and error" methodics I'd prefer to read some docmentation first. Is there a guide I should be looking for? I've found nothing in a knowledgebase.
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Duron 650->866, KT266A, 768 MB RAM, SB A2ZS +KX3538, M-Audio AudioBuddy, Sennheizer HD497 Headphones

BMP

I've downloaded AC97R12.pdf and experimented with 10h AC97 register. But the peak value doesnt change, no matter which value is set.$(
Setting 1C to 8000 mutes input, but no way to reduce its sensitivity without complete muting is found. $(
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Duron 650->866, KT266A, 768 MB RAM, SB A2ZS +KX3538, M-Audio AudioBuddy, Sennheizer HD497 Headphones

LowMoose

*hijacks his thread back*

Still no ideas regarding the issue with -28 dB noise?

billy_skills

I've got aud2 zs platinum pro and have exactly the same problem (although noise more like 46db just going from line-in2 to peak meter with an otherwise-clear dsp)..it goes up if i use prolog/line-2 and set the line2 level in "ins n outs" page in mixer (see my post in general discussion)..also, i don't get issues like this with creative drivers...Lowmoose, have u had any success solving this problem??


thnks

Billy

LowMoose

Nothing as of yet... it's good to know I'm not the only one with this issue, however.

Maybe we can find something in common with our hardware or software, to help narrow down the problem?

Here's my setup:
CPU: Athlon XP 2700
RAM: 1 GB
Soundcard: SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro
Motherboard: Epox 8RDA+ (nVidia chipset)
Video card: ATI Radeon 9600 Pro
Hard disks: Maxtor 6L080J4, Seagate ST3120026A
OS: Windows XP Pro, SP1
Virtual memory: 512 MB on each disk

LowMoose

Anyone alive? Problems don't go away just by ignoring them, you know...

TravelRec.

Yes, sure...

maybe noone knows a solution yet or noone has this problem - have you tried the 3538alpha driver?

__________________
Always take a look behind.

dj_stick

i'm using 3538a on my new zs, no noise issues here

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LowMoose

Well, this is most interesting. I installed 3538 alpha last week. At first, I had no noise problems at all. Then yesterday, after starting up my computer, the noise was back again. That's two days of proper functioning, and then the noise was back.

I'll have to experiment by uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers and see if I can reproduce the same effects. It sure takes a lot of time though.

Robert McClelland

Maybe it's the sound card or your speakers?

__________________
"XTREME AUDIO IS CRAP!" "There no support for it. It's crapist card on face of the earth it should be throw into the sun"

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=2242746

TravelRec.

Yes, very intersting - it seems the problem can be fixed and it´s not impossible to find a way to doing this. Good luck for you and your research to know why...

Greetings!
TravelRec.

__________________
Always take a look behind.

LowMoose

Definitely not the speakers, because the noise can be detected even by monitoring the soundcard's internal routings.

At first I suspected the sound card as well, though I haven't had any trouble with it since I bought it last December. However, I used the Creative drivers for three weeks just before this, and there were no noise issues at all. And whenever I've tried the kX drivers (versions 3535 and 3537, and possibly some earlier one as well), the noise has been present. Barring a conspiracy of blatant cheating by Creative, I don't think it's likely that the sound card would choose to malfunction only when I'm using kX.

I'll see if I can find time to experiment with installing and uninstalling drivers and keep this board posted if I find anything conclusive.

dj_stick

do you have a motherboard with smartfan or a similiar technologoy?

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LowMoose

I do, but it's on manual control. The system temperature does not rise above 32C/88F in any case.

dj_stick

some fans will cause line noise that may affect your computer, test the noise lvel with the fans up high and low and see if there is any difference

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ROBSCIX

EMI induction...not unheard of.