Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen 3 bad sound

[eichenhain]

Hi

I've previously used MSI Z68a-GD65 motherboard which had poor OC capabilities, but great quality built in sound (good bass, no strange sounds, noises, etc).

I decided to replace it with Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen 3 MoBo to go further with OC and since it's built in sound is advertised as a high quality one I was sure it won't be worse than MSI's, taking into consideration they both are built on the same Realtek ALC889 codec.

But it's much worse 😞 The bass is not close as deep as was on MSI MoBo, a lot of noise added over the music, when it plays. Btw no noises are heard in idle, which i saw some people were talking about, so it's ok with that. But quality of sound in music, movies, games is bad.

I've tried 5.1 acoustics, headphones (rear and front connection), all the same.

My config:

Mobo: Maximus IV Gene-Z/Gen 3
CPU: i7 2600K
Video: built-in (Intel HD3000)
RAM: Team Extreme Dark 1600 4x4Gb
HDD: WD Raptor 300Gb, Fujitsu 120Gb

Audio drivers:
I've tried all combinations of drivers: Realtek from MoBo CD; downloaded from ASUS site; downloaded from Realtek site. Installing X-Fi software didn't give any improvements.

Is there something which can be done to make sound quality better without buying discrete audio card? Please tell if any other information is needed from me.

[HiVizMan]

If the noise is present from both the speaker outputs from the in/out panel and the case header (if you have connected the front panel header) then something is not right. I take it you have installed any software that is needed for the sound card.

[eichenhain]

Hi, thanks for reply.

Yes sound quality is bad via both I/O panel and case front panel audio connectors. But I need to specify that there's no noise in the idle (when no music playing, etc). The noises I were talking about only appear when listening to music, meaning a low sound quality. Kinda each beat in the song is folowed by some extraneous sounds, wheezes.
I checked that on same music files which i was listening to on MSI MoBo.

Can you please clarify the last phrase:
"I take it you have installed any software that is needed for the sound card."

Thanks

[HiVizMan]

Sound Blaster X-Fi 2 Utility Package V1.0 (R11) for Windows 32/64bit Vista & 32/64bit 7.

That is what I am talking about 🙂

[eichenhain]

I have installed it, but with no difference to my ear. Btw any options available in this soft didn't seem to work for me: Equalizer, Crystalizer, etc. Changing them, turning them off and back on didn't give any difference in sound quality...

[HiVizMan]

Ah that last point is important. I think you have a corrupted driver - tell me did you do a clean install of OS when you swapped motherboards? I wondered about that.

[eichenhain]

Yes, I formatted hdd and made new Win install.
Can you tell is there a difference between Realtek ALC889 drivers from the 'Download' section of ASUS MoBo product page and those which i take from the official Realtek site?
Also, is it right, that i first need to install Realtek sound driver and then Creative audio software?

[HiVizMan]

I only use the ASUS drivers, mainly because they are designed specifically for the ASUS motherboards. There should be no difference I guess but old habits die hard. And yes you first install the driver and after a reset install the software.

[eichenhain]

OK, i've found this thread: http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?10591-How-to-Fix-X-Fi-MB2-Sound-Problems-on-Asus-ROG-Crossh...

after removing all the drivers with the Driver Sweeper and reinstalling all new versions i've got working Creative software - it now affects sound with equalizer effects, etc. Sound quality became better, though still not as good as MSI's, i'll try to do something with the equalizer to make it better.

[HiVizMan]

The fact there is improvement is quite important. It means that the issue is not motherboard. Rather it would seem to be all about registry and driver clutter. Or at least I hope so. 🙂

Keep me informed how it goes please.