[AuTra]

Hey guys so I just got the Xonar DG and I have set all my settings right I believe. Check the pictures below:

 
And here are my FL Studio settings:

 
So what could be going wrong? Is this something I should expect from a $30 soundcard? I mean I thought a soundcard would at least be better than Onboard, but why is this soundcard crackling way more than my onboard? Im pretty sure I installed the card correctly. I put the card in, turned on computer, canceled the automatic driver installation and used the disk to install the drivers. I even went on the ASUS website and updated my Xonar DG firmware to current version.
 
So can you guys help me out? I would deeply appreciate it cause this is really bumming me out :[ If it helps, here are my PC specs:
 
ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 2.97 Ghz
4.00 GB RAM
1 GB ATI Radeon HD 5770
ASUS Xonar DG Sound Card
500 GB HDD 7200 RPM
Windows 7 64-bit
 
Thanks guys,
AuTra

 

[AuTra]

I am also using AKG K271 MK2 and Sennheiser 280 HD Pro headphones. I still think the 280s have clearer mids than my AKGs even after I got this soundcard :/ The AKG makes vocals hurt my ears and when people sing their 's' is really loud and annoying. Every song needs a de-esser pretty much with the K271s.
 
I'm thinking about return the K271s for something else. What do you guys recommend I should switch it out with? My budget is below $200

 

[cladisch]

Can you describe the crackling?
Is it correlated with something like CPU/harddisk/USB activity?
 
A $30 sound card won't have any filters in its power supply, so it's certainly possible that electrical noise that affects the on-board chip also affects the card.

 

[AuTra]

Hmm it may be CPU related. On FL Studio it does show that I'm using 99-100% of my CPU. I thought a soundcard makes up for CPU usage or am I wrong?