Problem with Auzentech X-Fi Forte Sound Card
Aug 12, 2011 at 12:31 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 18
fire2havoc

fire2havoc

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I purchased this sound card last year and everything was working perfectly fine. Last week I installed an SSD in my PC and reinstalled Windows. Now, for some reason unknown to me, the video card occassionally gives off a very loud continuous sound resembling a machine gun (similar to this).
 
Sometimes turning off my speakers and turning them back on will make it go away for a while. Other times this does not work. I don't suppose this is caused by static.
 
Is the sound card dying? Any suggestions?
 
Aug 12, 2011 at 5:09 AM Post #2 of 18
Had that problem myself after 9 months. Some claim it is caused by caps gone bad.
 
Aug 13, 2011 at 1:45 AM Post #4 of 18
After dealing with electrical taping the bracket and adding plastic screws to keep it from buzzing I didn't have the patience to do any more work on it. I upgraded to a Ti HD and sent the Forte off to someone to try it out but did not hear back from him.

Here's a guy who says he fixed his forte http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/503907/is-my-auzentech-forte-dying-crapping-out-on-me/15#post_7656741
 
Aug 13, 2011 at 5:36 PM Post #5 of 18
Not sure that I know how to replace the capacitors, nor would I want to try.
 
I am also a bit hesitant about RMAing this card as I am likely out of my warranty period and I have read horror stories about Auzen support (months to get back a repaired card, if at all).
 
 
Maybe I should just save myself the headache and go for the ASUS Xonar Essence STX....although I don't want to drop another $200 after spending $115 on this card 16 months ago.
 
Aug 13, 2011 at 8:57 PM Post #8 of 18


Quote:
fire2havoc said:
I was thinking about the Asus Xonar Essence STX because it has a built-in headphone amp, which is a big plus for my headphones.
Click to expand...


I'm 99% sure the Xonar DX & D1 have a headphone amp. It might be one step below the one in the higher priced Xonars.
I'm guessing Asus does not talk about it much because they want you to buy the higher end cards.
I can plug my DT-770 80-Ohm headphones into my Xonar DX and it works just fine.
I can even plug in the DT-770 250-Ohm version and get sound, it's not very load and I need to have all volume controls at full.
You can get the Xonar DX for $80 with no sales tax and free shipping and there is a $20 mail in rebate this month, so $60 total.
The Xonar Essence STX is $175, and the DX and STX use the same audio chip, the C-Media CMI8788.
 
 
 
 
Aug 14, 2011 at 5:42 PM Post #9 of 18
Hey,
 
Mine crapped out too. I've been reading on their forums and it seems like they will fix the card even if it's past warranty.
I think the earlier versions of this card were prone to overheating or some common failure. I purchased mine Dec 09 and it died July 2010 and has been sitting
in its box. I plugged it in again for fun and it worked for about 30 mins. I was amazed by the sound and have taken all measures to get it fixed.
 
Aug 15, 2011 at 9:55 PM Post #12 of 18


Quote:
qazzaq2004 said:
So i contacted Auzentech and they gave me an RMA number right away.
You should try contacting them and see what they can do for you.
I'll let you know how this process goes.
Click to expand...


I also got my RMA # right away. Decided to take a risk and see how far it goes - sent the card off today.
 


Quote:
tacoboy said:
What make and model headphones do you have?
 
 
Click to expand...


Audio Technica AD700
 


Quote:
tacoboy said:
I'm 99% sure the Xonar DX & D1 have a headphone amp. It might be one step below the one in the higher priced Xonars.
I'm guessing Asus does not talk about it much because they want you to buy the higher end cards.
I can plug my DT-770 80-Ohm headphones into my Xonar DX and it works just fine.
I can even plug in the DT-770 250-Ohm version and get sound, it's not very load and I need to have all volume controls at full.
You can get the Xonar DX for $80 with no sales tax and free shipping and there is a $20 mail in rebate this month, so $60 total.
The Xonar Essence STX is $175, and the DX and STX use the same audio chip, the C-Media CMI8788.
 
 
 
Click to expand...

 
When you say you plug in your headphones, do you need to unplug the speakers? I need to have both the headphones and speakers plugged in at the same time, and the cards with a dedicated headphone AMP have a separate output.
 
 
 
Aug 15, 2011 at 10:08 PM Post #13 of 18

 
Quote:
fire2havoc said:
I also got my RMA # right away. Decided to take a risk and see how far it goes - sent the card off today.
 



Audio Technica AD700
 


 
When you say you plug in your headphones, do you need to unplug the speakers? I need to have both the headphones and speakers plugged in at the same time, and the cards with a dedicated headphone AMP have a separate output.
 
 
Click to expand...


With the Asus Xonar DX, you can have your speakers plugged into the back of the card and the headphones plugged into the front headphone jack on your computer.
But you can only use one or the other at a time, you can switch it from the Xonar control panel.
 
 
Aug 16, 2011 at 11:01 AM Post #14 of 18


Quote:
tacoboy said:
 

With the Asus Xonar DX, you can have your speakers plugged into the back of the card and the headphones plugged into the front headphone jack on your computer.
But you can only use one or the other at a time, you can switch it from the Xonar control panel.
 
Click to expand...

 
Last time I tried this there was an issue because there was a lot of static noise affecting the front panel.
 
 
 
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