Windows 7 SB Audigy LS, always crashes anything that produces sound

[giantqtipz]

So I've been googling for solutions in the past 4 days and found nothing. I have an SB Audigy LS, and it produces crackling/static noises whenever I play a video. Also, that video would end up freezing and I will have to close it using the task manager.

I have an onboard audio but its Sony MPEG Realtime, and its not compatible with windows 7, which is why its cant be detected... i think (and there are no drivers for it as well to make it compatible with windows 7)

ive disabled onboard audio via BIOS, to see if maybe the nonfunctional onboard audio is conflicting with my sound card and nope.. nothing.

i really have no idea what else to do..

my sound card is SB Audigy LS 24 bit i think..

if anyone can shed some light on this i would really really appreciate it :'(

 

[Saltgrass]

Is this the driver you are currently using? Not sure I have your correct device, so check carefully.

Sometimes drivers are included in Win 7 even though the OEM may not show any available. Did you disable your onboard sound because of problems during install?

If you open Device Manager and check the Sound Devices, what do you show?

 

[giantqtipz]

Hi Saltgrass!

Yes thats the driver ive been using. Well actually, ive switched between that one, and the one that windows 7 installs automatically upon startup.

ive tried both and both gives me problems.

Under device manager, there USED to be two audio devices:
1) Sony MPEG Realtime Encoder
2) SB Audigy LS

However, the Sony MPEG Realtime onboard audio is not compatible with Windows 7. it was indicated by the windows 7 upgrade advisor before i upgraded.

ive reinstalled windows 7 and the problem still persists. i disabled my onboard sound because since its already incompatible with windows 7, perhaps it was conflicting with my SB Audigy LS sound card. however, after disabling it on the bios, the problem is still there.. sound crackling.. and videos, browsers just freezing. also when i open task manager, it says that the program i am using that produces sound is using 50% of the CPU

 

[Saltgrass]

No HD audio device?

Are you playing media through Windows Media Player?

 

[Saltgrass]

So the Sony driver is not loading. Because if it was, it might conflict with some of the Windows 7 codecs.

If that card has HD sound, you should have an HD driver. You can have more than one driver for the sound system. Some types need a legacy driver along with the HD one. I currently have 5. Four are Nvidia HD and one is Realtek HD. The Realtek is my system sound system and Nvidia added some with the Graphics card for gaming sound.

The HD one on your system might be the one that comes from Win 7. Right click on the speaker icon and select playback devices. Do you show Speakers and any HD output devices?

 

[Saltgrass]

There us an audio playback troubleshooter in the Control Panel - Troubleshooters. Maybe that will show something.

 

[giantqtipz]

hey saltgrass! thank you so much for your replies.

yes i see two devices under playback.

a Speaker, and a Digital Audio Interface.. though im not sure what the second one is..

the sony onboard audio is not compatible with windows 7, so i guess thats why its not loading. i ended up disabling it via bios anyway because of that; but disabled or enabled, the problem still persists.

 

[Saltgrass]

Well, let us know what the audio troubleshooter says, and the only other thing I can find is to right click the speaker icon and select playback devices, as you did before.

Highlight Speakers then click Properties (and speakers does show as default...). Some folks suggest altering the levels or disabling any enhancements might help.

 

[giantqtipz]

Well, let us know what the audio troubleshooter says, and the only other thing I can find is to right click the speaker icon and select playback devices, as you did before.

Highlight Speakers then click Properties (and speakers does show as default...). Some folks suggest altering the levels or disabling any enhancements might help.

hey saltgrass!

i can only run the troubleshooter when i disable the sound card. otherwise, i dont know or cant run a troubleshoot when the sound card is enabled because according ot the device manager, it is "working properly".

ive tried what you suggested, that is altering the levels but still the problem remains. i looked around the forum for threads with people having problems with SB Audigy LS, but there are only 2 threads, both unanswered..

i guess in general audigy LS is not supported? i feel like i should revert back to XP.. ugh :/

 

[Saltgrass]

If you found something that does not work as it should, you are making progress

Anyway, I found this Microsoft Win 7 compatibility site that has software for download. Maybe you already have it, but you might check. Make sure you get the correct bit version. You may want to try removing all the current drivers for the device in Device Management.

Go to the properties, Driver tab, then uninstall. If it asks if you want to remove all drivers, do that. Then reinstall those downloaded drivers, and if that doesn't work, possibly some others that may be needed.

You might also do the same thing for the on board devices. If they do not show in Devmgmt.msc, you could turn them back on in the bios and then remove the drivers and uninstall the device, then turn it off in the bios again.