Windows 7 audio crackling and dropping in quality.

[tekfreak]

I just recently received a new dell xps 9100 loaded with an intel I7 six core 930 processor, 16 gigs of ram, 2x1tb hardrives, soundblaster x-fi soundcard, ati radeon 5870 1gb video card and a few other goodies. when im listening to my music while running other applications it starts to crackle and pop and drops in quality drastically. I have tried installing a new soundcard, installed new drivers, changed the power settings and its still doing th e same thing. I am running windows 7 64 as well. can anyone help me out with this issue. The dell technician has even been here and tried to resolve the issue with no success. with the headphones on as well it still does the same thing. its been driving me nuts just because im a little ocd when it comes to fixing something...

 

[Highwayman]

It's most likely a duff driver, I know I had a nightmare getting my XFI running, but once done it's perfect

 

[tekfreak]

its weird it hasn't done it for the past two days now. maybe it fixed itself...lol. yeah right. im sure it will happen again but in the meantime...has anyone else had the same problem?

 

[Labman]

I have a very similar machine (4 core only), also very new. Crackling happens -sometimes, not always- when i place my iphone or a cordless phone handset close to the computer. Removing these items stops the crackling and reliably so. I'm convinced that in my case it's an interference and shielding problem, not a driver problem.