[chococya96]

There is a problem with my mobo (Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3) and as a result I needed to RMA it which I'll be using an older mobo (Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H) as temporary replacement for 1~3 weeks. FYI, this mobo uses the same chipset and as a result I didn't need to re-install my OS. All of the windows settings are left as unchanged and only the drivers were installed/changed to match the older mobo.
 
As soon as I replaced my mobo, I immediately tried playing videos via media player (potplayer and MPC-HC) and I can hear pop noises throughout the whole playback. There are no specific patterns and it happens for any videos with any media player. With that being said:
- My current audio set up is a headphone (AKG K702 Annie) with USB DAC (FiiO E10)
- OS is Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
- All of the audio settings on media players were left as it is (explained above)
- For external factors such as cables, headphone/DAC itself etc, everything works fine (tested on other desktop/laptop)
 
Now, I immediately remembered my old thread where I had a similar issue (http://www.head-fi.org/t/629212/fiio-e10-popping-noise-jitter-is-for-old-batches-only) a year ago but this was back when I first got the DAC and the cause of the problem was the DAC itself. The DAC I'm currently using is from the latest batch and it fixed the popping noises for good as I've never heard of it until now.
As a result, it seems like the problem was most likely caused by the latest replacement of my mobo as I never had this issue with my original mobo (i.e after I got my lastest batch).
 
Ultimately, I can put up with the popping noise until my newly fixed mobo arrives but, it's driving me nuts atm and I'd love to try out some solutions if it doesn't involve any major changes (such as re-installing OS).
Moreover, I'd like to know if this problem will still happen when I change back to my newly fixed mobo?
 
Thank you, help would be appreciated it.

 

[NA Blur]

It could be the grounding on the USB cable.  Read up on removing the ground from the USB cable and see if that helps.

 

[Muinarc]

I would try to uninstall/reinstall the audio drivers, I have gotten rid of a lot of weird pops/static/noises that you would think in no possible way are driver related by doing this.

 

[chococya96]

  It could be the grounding on the USB cable.  Read up on removing the ground from the USB cable and see if that helps.

 
Wouldn't it better to get another cable instead of removing the ground? I remember a computer and DAC are still "grounded" together via the shield/shells of the USB cable. The USB signaling is very unlikely to work (could even damage the DAC) if truly only 2 wires (I think it was 1 and 4) were connected.
With that being said, that seems like a tad bit of work to do for something that I'm going to use it temporary. Note that I said the mobo I'm currently using is substitute as my original mobo will come in few weeks. Though there's no guarantee that this might not happen when replace back to my mobo...
 
Quote:

I would try to uninstall/reinstall the audio drivers, I have gotten rid of a lot of weird pops/static/noises that you would think in no possible way are driver related by doing this.

 
Audio drivers meaning the driver installed for DAC (i.e generic USB audio)? I've just tried it and I can still here popping noise. Also I've tried different USB ports and each one of them installed the latest drivers and they all had popping noise.
 
I'm gonna try a external USB hub (AC powered) and see how it goes...