Static/Crackling sound during burn and playback

i have a xps 400 with dual cd/dvd rw drives. Anytime I try to burn a cd or dvd, a distinct and overwhelming crackling/static sound emanates from the speakers. The burns are successful but when I attempt playback with the cd/dvd (which I just burned) the noise is still present. No visual defects have occurred. The noise is also present with dvd movies. Playback of audio/video files on hard drive have no problems. Anyone know the potential cause of such a problem?

Time is of the essence...Dell is threatening to send a technician to my house:smileysad:

Responses(6)

S

sam1486

88 Posts

0

April 1st, 2006 08:00

"Many older systems require an audio cable to connect your optical drive's four-pin analog output to an output on your sound card so that you can play audio CDs on your PC. This approach yields fine audio quality for most of us, but it's not ideal: PC optical drives typically don't contain hi-fi-quality digital-to-analog converters. Some sound cards and most current optical drives allow a digital connection between the two devices, but this connection is seldom used.

Many newer systems do away with the audio cable altogether. Recent versions of Windows support audio-CD playback using digital audio extraction, which lets the PC read digital data directly from the drive and perform the necessary digital-to-analog conversion. The biggest drawback of digital audio-CD playback: If there's a headphone jack on the front of the optical drive, it won't work when you play a CD." ~ CNET

This is where your interference is coming from. In my experience whenever I make use of this audio cable it causes static to come from my speakers in the manner you've decribed. The solutions are simple, first take a look at this photo to see what I'm talking about:

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/9640/example5ki.jpg

The cable on the far left is the audio bypass, but all it really ends up doing is causing static, especially when the drive is running an audio CD. Remoing it from the drive will likely fix your problem.

Otherwise option 2

Open Volume Control and mute anything you're not using, usually the interference is coming from one area not all.

Message Edited by sam1486 on 04-01-2006 04:36 AM

XR

X-Rogue

366 Posts

0

April 1st, 2006 12:00

lahell,

Check in your BIOS that both drives are turned on and one is not disabled. Then check that you have DMA enabled for both drives.

X-Rogue
"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."-- Albus Dumbledore

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lahell

3 Posts

0

April 7th, 2006 00:00

Thanks for your answers and time, but it ended up being a hardware defect.

stringdaddy

1 Message

0

April 21st, 2006 13:00

Your message is about a month old, so I don't know if anyone will see this. I have a new xps. I need the system to make presentations, part of which is sound output. When playing back sound, the xps puts out a loud crackle if it is connected to the power adapter brick. If it plays back through the battery, sound is clear. Have tried play back at different power outlets and in different buildings, and the problem is consistent. Obviously, a presentation can not be made off of the battery. I have not contacted support yet. I thought I would try this forum.

Bob H

obey_gravity

445 Posts

0

April 24th, 2006 10:00

Stringdaddy:

You are correct in not being seen. I believe you are using a laptop, so, You should probably start a new thread, and include as much system specs of your laptop as possible for folks to help troubleshoot, here:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board?board.id=xps_port_genhdw

bottledlove

1 Message

0

August 20th, 2006 13:00

Can you tell me what the hardware defect was? My system is making similar static noises when I try to play DVDs making them unwatchable.

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Static/Crackling sound during burn and playback