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Xonar Phoebus causing audio-pops and drop outs with official drivers

thedrunkenpumpk
Level 7
I got a pair of Astro A50 wireless headphones for christmas and they are amazing - they use Optical/Digital audio

I plugged them in and listened to music, watched a couple clips on youtube then started gaming

Up until this point, the sound was amazing and playing a good fps like Far Cry 3 blew me away

But then I started noticing audio pops and minor drop-outs - they were extremely frequent as well (I had an analogue 5.1 ch headset previous - ROCCAT KAVE - and there were none of these issues)

In the end I figured it was the ASUS drivers/software as when I uninstalled the drivers/software I never experienced any more audio pops/drop-outs. I even tried all of the available drivers for my system and the issues persisted consistently

I also tested the headphones on another system and didn't receive any audio pops or drop-outs - it was also suggested to me to by Astro to lower game settings but that didn't help

At the moment I am still using the Windows default drivers for the Phoebus and although the sound quality isn't as good as the drivers can get, at least there is no audio drop-outs

This is more of an FYI to the ASUS guys and for anyone else looking to get a pair of A50s or anything else similar (digital etc.) plus if the problem could be isolated I can let Astro know as well (have a thread on their forums also, describing the situation)

Cheers!
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28 REPLIES 28

fordmustang68gt
Level 7
I have been looking into this issue a little further. When I use the control box, or in other words, plug directly into the headphone jacks, the problem does not exist. It only happens when using the optical out. Mostly just when playing "world of tanks". I do not hear it when playing music or video's. I don't know if it has anything to do with how windows processes the optical out vs the headphone out on the sound card. However, I did have a creative Z card and this never happened, so it may have something to do with the components used on the Asus card.

Glasofruix
Level 8
That's called jitter, it's when the clocks on both devices aren't properly synched, you get audible pops and cracks.

Glasofruix wrote:
That's called jitter, it's when the clocks on both devices aren't properly synched, you get audible pops and cracks.


I've looked a few articles about it, but I'm none the wiser other than it seems to be a digital only issue

Do you know of any solutions for it? It's an absolute pain when playing games etc.

Glasofruix
Level 8
One of the solutions would be to try out a new optical cable (no need to go for expensive gold plated ones, yes gold plated optical cables exist, unfortunately), be careful not to kink it or make it do sharp turns. Other than that a driver fix is needed.

I'm have the exact same issues as you. Here are the steps I've taken.

1. Switched optical cable to 4 different brands.
2. Switched USB cable 3 different times.
3. Uninstall drivers then CC cleaner the registry.
4. Reinstall Latest Drivers
5. Updated Astro a50 receiver and headset firmware.
6. Installed driver without software via windows device manager
7. Tried powering off/on a50 receiver unit multiple times.
8. Tried powering off/on a50 receiver while turning the dolby digital button off multiple times.
9. Tried plugging the a50 receiver directly into the wall.
10. Tried uninstalling nvidia audio drivers
11. Reverted overclock on system to stock settings.
12. Disabled onboard audio
13. Moved card to a different PCI-E slot
14. Tried turning the Tos-link adapter to a different position.
15. Tried turning off my wi-fi adapter
16. Tried turning off my router
17. Tried older Phoebus drivers
18. Finally, tried syncing my a50 to the receiver a ridiculous amount of times.


The only solid evidence I can think of is that it only happens when the 48khz option is selected on the Phoebus. 44khz works flawlessly. 16 and 24-bit work the same either way. I know Dolby digital live runs at 48khz, so i think the problem lies therein.

I'm at a loss as to what else I could possibly do.

Glasofruix
Level 8
There's no audible advantages to use 48khz over 44.1 anyway.

Except for the fact that DDL is in 48khz so you can't even use it properly.

I should now add that I've tried:

19. Windows 8.1. Same issue.
20. Looked at IRQ conflicts. Found 2 conflicts. Updated drivers on conflicting hardware. Still no luck.


Mild Success!

Tested my headset with on-board Realtek Dolby Digital Live. Works perfectly. The issue is definitely with the sound card. (I had a sneaking suspicion that my headset might be at fault. Alas, it's not.)


Raja, perhaps you could pass along my testing results to the team? Maybe they can take a look at it for us. Thanks!


System Specs:

i7 920 @ 3.4ghz
Sabretooth x58
6gb Corsair Dominator @ 1600
1gb WD Caviar Black RAID 0
2x ADATA SX900 256gb RAID 0
Asus Phoebus Sound Card
Windows 7 Ultimate - x64 Bit
Astro a50 Headset

I don't appear to be getting the drop outs and pops as frequently anymore

I've moved my soundcard to the vertical expansion slot with 2x riser cables connecting it to the MB and it runs at maximum of around ~35-40C (I don't know how hot it got before that as I didn't have an efficient way of measuring the temperature)

I've also updated my motherboards network drivers through the intel site and the spikes are far less frequent or as noticable - essentially I've isolated the network as the problem, as when I am disconnected from the internet (i.e. disabling the network through device manager), I get next to no problems

Playing online is where most of the issues occur

To fix that, I have order a network card and a couple more riser cables and I'll install that in the bottom-most expansion slot

Will keep you guys posted

x7007
Level 7
Hi, I've found this while searching how to improve to 100% maximum performance of my Phoebus and now ZXR.

http://www.m-audio.com/?do=support.faq&ID=80d7b56e35ea51e73104295aec1f755b

you should read this and try to understand, the problem usually is not the driver and not the card, it's your system and how you set the bios + windows drivers and software.