[Quakky]

Sorry for ressurecting an old thread, but this is a problem that I wanted to solve and I would like you guys to help me understand the part in question:
 
I did a bunch of experiments and I found that applying air to the soundcard solved the issue, I went a little further by getting a CO2/Compress air can and started applying air to each capacitor, chip , one by one until I found the culprit.
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6498/layoutlarge.jpg
Yellow is the area of the problem
Green is the 2ndary problem
Red is the main culprit
 
can someone Identify these 2 parts of the soundcard? Upon applying air to this area the sound of the popping completely disappeared. I touched the Green part and it was extremely hot for a soundcard component (and I am questioning why there is no heatsink on here). Now I touched the red part and I almost burned my finger. the feeling is like putting your finger in a boiling kettle of water. the temperature there is close to if not more than 100 degrees Celcius. I thought only GPU components took that kinds of operational temperature. Also as soon as i touched that part the popping sound disappearned and reappeared about 4 seconds later.
 
BTW this is the video of the sound that I am hearing.. The mouse clicking is me changing the mode from entertainment to gaming back to entertainment.
 
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=vngz7o&s=7
 

 

[hipzilla]

I know this isn't any help, but I had the exact same problem as you (the rapid fire popopopopop noise) until the card finally stopped outputting sound all together.  If you haven't already started an RMA, might as well do it now.  I've had a ticket in for almost 3 weeks and still no response from Auzentech about their card crapping out on me.

 

[Quakky]

Yea I already posted a ticket....It took about 3 weeks for them to respond (Very very slow). I now have the RMA form, but before RMAing the card I wanted to see if I can fix it.
 
BTW do you know what the RMA process is? Do you have to send in your card and they send you a new one or do they send you a new one anyways? Because there's really no point in shipping them a card that's defective and paying like 50 bucks to ship it to them.
 
Also hipzilla, can you check the video i posted? is that what you got?
 
Thanks

 

[hipzilla]

Yeah, my AD700s made the exact same noise with my Forte.  At first it was intermittent, so when it stopped I'd put my headphones and go back to gaming only to get that deafening popping sound later.  Like I said, eventually the popping noises just stopped and the card didn't output any sound at all (through the headphone port or the speaker output bundle).
 
I'd assume based off of what I've read on the net that you have to send your card in for repair.  Auzentech doesn't strike me as the kind of company that would (or could, based off of my experience with them thus far) do advanced RMA.  At least they've responded to your support ticket.

 

[Quakky]

Well I'm going to make my case by a verity of videos and pictures to try to get an advance rma, because I have a motherboard that does not have an onboard soundcard and my other sound card is not working right. thanks for the input hipzilla..Ill pm you with what they say tomorrow (They gave me a phone number that I will call and try to reason with them)

 

[hipzilla]

Yeah, I'm definitely interested to hear how it goes for you.  I've attempted to contact them through every means possible and haven't heard a peep.

 

[Quakky]

this is not good.....
This is thier phone number..these guys seem to be on perma-vacation mode or something
Tel: 408-727-6212
Toll Free: 866-786-6212

THEY DO NOT PICK UP THE PHONE. Phone is ringing for 2 minutes straight without anyone answering...I tried both...god damn they dont answer their phone....I'm pretty sure I'm screwed in the hopes of getting my card RMAed without having to pay huge price for shipping.
 
I'm tempted to try
Auzentech, Inc. Korea :
Tel: 82-31-259-7460~1
just for kicks to see if I can get someone from halfway across the world...

 

[Inf0 Please]

Voice Number to Auzentech is 408-232-5487.  Just guessed it would be close to the FAX number and BINGO, it worked!  Common sense is a great thing.

 

[43st]

After two years (almost exactly) my Forte started popping last night. 

 
Has anyone successfully managed to fix this?  From the picture Quakky posted it doesn't look like a surface one could attach a heatsink to.  Is it a bad trace on the board or a cold solder perhaps?
 
I started looking around and there really is no replacement for this card.. maybe Bravura or Essence, but that's about it.

 

[Draygonn]

My Forte started making that popping sound after 9 months. After spending so much time getting the buzzing to stop I didn't want to mess with it any longer. After hearing the Auzentech cust service nightmare stories I decided to get rid of it. Best of luck to you 43st. The Forte was a great card while it was working.

 

[NamelessPFG]

So far, my Forte works where it counts-the rear outputs.
 
But when testing the front panel output, it'll sometimes add distinctive popping noises (not quite the same pitch as the ones in that video, but similar in frequency)-or, worse, a really loud and irritating hum-that the Prelude never did, so I know it's not just the crappy, EMI-prone front panel audio header. Setting the volume doesn't affect it.
 
I hope this isn't the beginning of the end. I can live with it for now since I don't use the front-panel header (it DOES add noise, after all, and my AD700's cord is long enough), but if it spreads to the rear outputs, I won't be very happy. I just don't understand why it's only affecting the front-panel output, and only intermittently at that.
 
Also, this one doesn't appear to need its mounting bracket electrically isolated. If anything, that may have made the problem worse. (Also, judging from the receipt the original buyer left in, it's a very recent purchase, so it's probably from a new batch with that problem fixed.)

 

[hwfanatic]

I realize it is an old topic but I have a few points to add.
 
I've modified the picture to point out electrolytes surrounding the heat source.
 
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/4852/layoutlarge1.jpg
 
The one in red leaked on my card. Suffice to say it is a 85 °C electrolyte. Rather disappointing! But it gives me hope that after swapping it with a good 105 °C the card will once again function normally. Right now it stops producing sound after 10-20 minutes of power on.

 

[hwfanatic]

Changing the leaked cap fixed the card. Went one step further and changed the other three caps in the vicinity with high temperature counterparts just to play it safe. I'm still disappointed that these low end parts made it to this supposedly high end card. That's something I would excpect from Creative, not Auzentech... Also, the card still dissipates a LOT of heat. Went a step further and contacted tech support with this problem. Waiting for an answer.
 
Thank Quakky for helping me identify the problem. Hope this experience helps others, too.

 

[Xpl0sion]

Bumping this thread.  Has anyone had any luck in coming up with a solution to fix their cards on their own?  My RMA'd Forte died again (around the same ~9 month timeframe) after experiencing the popping noises.

 

[odaz]

Hi all,
I also had a problem with my sound card Auzentech X-Fi Forte front channels produce very little sound level at maximum volume. At normal volume seemed to be quiet. By its experiments I came to the problem.

The cause of most problems with the sound card is malfunctioning power analog circuits. So I connected the external balanced supply voltage (terminals 4,8 operational amplifier for the front channels and analog power ground the card.

After this relatively easy to do repair / edit the card again hear the sound from my front speakers.