Pulsing music ?'s

[garys1n2]

On my HTPC, I am getting a pulsating audio effect when playing my music on hard drive through the HT Audio system. When I say pulsating, I mean, from loud to not so loud throughout all music. It's not a big irratant, but it's noticable (like a pimple)...lol! I have over 50 G of music on the computer, and like to pump it through the surround sound via an audio optical cable.

It is on my Lime computer....Asus P5B/P4 3.0 w/HT...onboard sound. Dont know if we need more specs for the problem, but Lime is the next to be upgraded to faster ram and CPU...right now it runs 4 G DDR2 PC-6400 (well, under that due to 32 bit Windows XP Home).

As an added thought, the music doesnt pulsate when only using a left and right connection to the HT Receiver (which is KLH 5100), but it only does it when hooked up through optical audio.

Thanks for any suggestions, and any other info needed will be made available asap.

[EzyStvy]

What is the history behind the problem?
Was it fine yesterday and now its not?
Did you make ANY type of change prior to the issue starting?

[garys1n2]

Thanks for the quick reply.

It has actually been a continual problem, however, it is limited to being on the optical audio cable input to the HT amp, but the HDTV is also on optical audio cable thru the HD cable box (the HDTV audio output doesnt have the problem, or ever has) The optical audio output from the HTPC and the HDTV cable box to the HT amp go through a switching box to the HT amp. Ive tried all combinations of moving the optical cables from both to different ports in the switching box nd switching optical cable between the two, and the results are the same. If it bothers me too much, I switch to just stereo instead of Dolby surround sound, but this inquiry is more for checking to see if anyone else has had this problem.

To describe the problem, if you ever worn down a vinyl album from playing it so much (like Bat Out Of Hell), you know how some places on the tracks played louder than other...lol!

[glc]

You may want to try a sound card instead of the onboard audio. Just look for one that has an optical S/PDIF.

[garys1n2]

Again, forgive me for not getting back sooner, GLC.

In checking the sound cards at Newegg that support optical audio (and reasonably priced), I need to ask if anyone has ever heard of Turtle Beach sound cards, and whether they are any good. I know "customer reviews" can be a bit misleading, so I thought I would find out here if anyone has any suggestions from the list at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rchResult=True

because I haven't heard of a lot of these manufacturers (but with the speed technology is advancing, that is not unusual for me...lol). Or if you can direct me to another source, ya'll's advice is always greatly appreciated. TY!