Staticy speaker problem

[bigandy]

Hey kids, it's been awhile since I've been on here, but I know there's no better place for help on ther interwebs, so I thought I'd pose my problem to you all.

The last few days, my speakers have been plagued by static/white noise. Whenever I turn them on, I hear lots of pops and cracks, and it actually gets worse if I try to play music/watch a video. I thought it might be because of the wireless card in the computer (my room is not the one with the router in it, so wired is not really an option). But I tried disabling the card and the problem persisted.

I've also tried moving the speakers around, but still have the same problem. And I have double checked the connections.

The odd thing is that it seems to be only my "front" speakers (I have a 4.1 setup, and an Audigy 2 sound card).

Any thoughts/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[shadowpr]

Do you have a different set of speakers you could try?

[bigandy]

Unfortunately, I don't.

[shadowpr]

I you switch the speakers around, does the problem happen with the same speakers, or in the same position speakers?

[XenaWP]

Were you listening to stuff really loud by any chance? (You, or someone else who sure isn't going to say anything about it ... now.)

Blown drivers sound remarkably like static.

[bigandy]

It seems to be only the speakers plugged into the "front" jacks of the sub box. If they're plugged into the "rear" ones, it's fine. I tried out changing the speakers around, and the static changes to which ever speakers are plugged into the "front".

Despite my age, I'm an "old man" when it comes to music volume. I don't like it all that loud.

[shadowpr]

Have you tried reinstalling the drivers?

If that doesn't work, then I'm tempted to say your sound card might be going.

You might want to inspect it to see if there is any visible damage.

Also, might want to try it in a different computer if possible.

[XenaWP]

As with video problems, it can only be a few items: bad hardware, bad cable, bad drivers, or bad speakers.

If you've switched speakers and it's just the front channels, then you've eliminated bad speakers. Still could be bad drivers, bad cables, or bad hardware.

My money is on the hardware (the sound board). Does your motherboard have onboard sound? Plug the speaker array into that and see if you still have static.

Fiddle with the cables a bit too, esp. near any strain reliefs that cables might have and the connectors.