Getting minor audio distortion regardless of sound hard/headphones/headset, DAC my saving grace?

[richruzz]

I use my PC solely for gaming and since I've gotten it no matter what sound card I have there is a minor pop or crackle on certain sounds at times and it really isn't majorly noticeable but it's something that once you hear it happen you hone on each time it does and it drives me crazy. For example if you click the windows sound bar over and over again real fast so it "pings" there will be a crackle or popping noise as the sound loops, or on certain games or if someone messages me on Steam it will crackle before the pinging audio plays. I had an ASUS Xonar DX 7.1 and just bought a Creative Titanium HD and they've both had this issue when I thought maybe it was my old card... which it apparently wasn't, there I thought it was my headset/headphone which I had Sennheiser PC 350s (my gaming headset before) then I bought AD700s as an in-between pair of headphones before I drop 300-400 on a better pair I wanted but alas I gotta get past this crackling audio problem first. Would a DAC be my saving grace? ANY and ALL help would be appreciated since I love the sound in my games and this is driving me freaking crazy.

 

[stv014]

You are probably getting clipping when multiple loud sounds are mixed in software, or maybe the sound skips because of buffering problems (too small buffers and/or not enough CPU time for the audio playback(). This is probably not a hardware issue, assuming no component in your PC is faulty. The DAC on the Xonar DX does not clip any sound by itself, even at maximum volume.

 

[richruzz]

I have really high-end parts too, just not sure why this is happening. Would a external DAC assist in any of the problems I am experiencing?

 

[stv014]

Quote:

I have really high-end parts too, just not sure why this is happening. Would a external DAC assist in any of the problems I am experiencing?

 
It is most likely a software issue, especially if it affects two different sound cards, so I would expect the distortion to be there with an external DAC, too. I have the PCI version of the Xonar DX, and it works fine for me without any audible DAC distortion.

 

[richruzz]

Happened on Win 7, happening on Win 8, happened with my Asus Xonar and now happening with my Creative Titanium HD. It's like a pop or crackle very minor but noticeable. If anyone can help troubleshoot, fix, and figure this out I'll gladly pay you 50$ since I've wasted enough time and money on headsets, sound cards, and other stuff trying to fix this.