[extrabigmehdi]

 
Quote:

Before purchasing that Xonar card I was able to hear frequencies up to 19k in both ears without a problem.  Now my left ear I am limited to 17k.  I am contemplating filing a lawsuit for hearing damage.

You can't avoid hearing loss with time. I'm no sure how loud was the high pitched sound for you, but I think not enough to induce problems. You might have more loss by going to a night club or a concert.
 

 

[WaveRider69]

 
Quote:

 
You can't avoid hearing loss with time. I'm no sure how loud was the high pitched sound for you, but I think not enough to induce problems. You might have more loss by going to a night club or a concert.
 

 
I would feel much better if that were really the case, at least I would know I did it to myself instead of feeling "cheated".
 
What gets me though is the one ear thing.  If it were normal hearing loss wouldn't both of my ears be effected?  Or is this common with one ear?
 
The tone was excruciating, having had the card hooked up to low ohm already high pitched ATH-AD700s at the time.  It was 1 second each time before I managed to get the cans off my head, no more than probably 7-10 different times before I got rid of the card.  Not very many at all.  I'm a guy that can withstand very loud music at clubs etc and it doesn't bother me etc, but the tone that card made would have my ears sensitive and hurting for a good day or so after.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

 
Quote:

  If it were normal hearing loss wouldn't both of my ears be effected?

I'm not a specialist , but I've noticed it's not usual that someone doesn't hear same way in both ears.
I was for instance surprised , to learn it was the case of the of reviewer from anythingbutipod.com website.
How old are you ? I find that listening up to 17khz is still pretty good.
You can see the results in that poll after  voting (I  suggest you redo the test with the samples provided):
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=93733&st=75

Quote:

but the tone that card made would have my ears sensitive and hurting for a good day or so after.

You mean you got some pain on the ears, a day after hearing the loud high pitched sound ?
That was definitely not my case. I  was frightened at best.
 

 

[bcschmerker4]

New question for the field directly related to this Topic:  I recently found that Windows audio events can in fact start and/or stop the howling on the analog-output side with its attendant out-of-control gain, but haven't much parallel information from the OS to help triage this issue.  Most (but not necessarily all) of the times that I encountered the howling, I had some page open in Mozilla® Firefox 6-up that required the Adobe® Flash Player plug-in (now itself under scrutiny for breaking HTML pages across Websites that use Macromedia® shockwave-flash IFrames and related software architecture).
 
What exceptions are there to Flash Player activity in the incidence of the high-pitched howl?  These will be needed to triage the howling issue, as it hasn't been reproduced on a consistent basis at the software-vendor laboratories.
 

 

[log4]

hello....
 
having this soundcart, ST Version, since 4 weeks, had this noise 3 times on hp and line out, once while clicking in mail client, twice while clicking on files in windows explorer. i could turn the noise off, through lower the volumemixer to zero but only in the task bar volume from windows.
 
 
last noise- time i checked the windows protocols (event viewer) and at the approximate time code my  "Adobe Flash Player Update Service"  was starting and stopping within 1 second.
 
silence now since 10 days, changed energy options in w7 and not using hf mode but i'm waiting (btw my headphone is scratching a bit since the last noise event  )
 
i contacted asus, they said i'm the first person with that issue.... yep 
 
 
 
 

 

[raja]

I reported it to HQ but they have not been able to replicate thus far due to the random nature of the problem.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

I got recently the bug , and decided that is was enough.
It was weird, the bug appeared while I was not even playing music, but just opening explorer, and the windows events  sounds were disabled through the volume mixer.
 
So I installed the driver from the Auzentech X-meridian 2G.
I tried the unified xonar driver, too, but I just got too much problem with it, the switcher between headphone & speakers didn't work properly.
After trying different derivers, the unified driver refused to re-install anyway.
Also the unified driver sounded less clean to me, unless it's placebo I  don't know.
 
To install the Auzentech X-meridian 2G driver, I  got to modify it first. Here's how I've done it:
 
1) Search for all the files CMPCIP0.INF
Edit each of them, and do these changes:
Under [C-Media] paste this:
%CMI8788.DeviceDesc%=CMPCI,    PCI\VEN_13F6&DEV_8788&SUBSYS_835C1043

Under [C-Media.NTamd64] paste this:
%CMI8788.DeviceDesc%=CMPCIX64,    PCI\VEN_13F6&DEV_8788&SUBSYS_835C1043

2) Get the file cmudaxp.ini from the regular xonar stx driver.
Replace all the cmudaxp.ini files from Auzentech X-meridian 2G driver , by the one from the xonar stx.
 
3) Now off course uninstall the xonar stx driver, before installing the Auzentech X-meridian 2G driver.

4) ensure after install that the "xear 3d" effects are disabled (gray icon, not blue). At least if you want unmodified sound.

According to a certain user vaak, the random bug disappear if you use the auzentech driver, instead of the asus one.
Source:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&id=20090222084608127&board_id=21&model=Xonar%20Essence%20STX&page=3&count=78
 
 
Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have bought the Auzentech X-meridian 2G for my second soundcard ( I use two computer) instead of the xonar stx.
According to a review from bit tech, the new card is not only more versatile, but also sound better than the xonar stx (why ???).
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/soundcards/2011/02/26/auzentech-x-meridian-7-1-2g-review/2
 
Last remark: I liked better the interface on the xonar stx, and with the new interface I cannot plug anymore headphone on the front panel (it works on the back off course).
 
Regarding the 3 modes for headphone impedance from asus driver , here's the solution by vaak:
 
Quote:

Open the Oxygen HD Audio Center (blue/cyan Xear 3D icon in taskbar)
On the bottom is where you select headphone/speakers and the Khz selection.
To the right of that, click the speaker icon next to "Output device"
You can amplify from -96 to +12 dB (where +12 dB was the 64-300 ohm one i believe from Asus).
Amplify it until its comfortable.

 

[fufula]

Auzentech driver does NOT resolve the issue. I've had it happen with the modded drivers installed. And neither does the Unified Xonar driver btw.
 
I wonder if it ever happens with cards that use the same chip from different manufacturers or if it's just an ASUS issue.

 

[JackeShan]

I've had this a couple of times as well. Seems like there is no fix to this yet..

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

Auzentech driver does NOT resolve the issue. I've had it happen with the modded drivers installed. And neither does the Unified Xonar driver btw.
 
I wonder if it ever happens with cards that use the same chip from different manufacturers or if it's just an ASUS issue.

. Anyone already tried the HT Omega Claro HALO driver ?  It seem that soundcard use again the same sound processor by c-media.
Optional: Do you you think I might damage the soundcard with this new driver experiment.
 
Note: yeah the high pitched sound problem also exists on auzentech sound card, see this thread:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=902668
 
Also there's a lot of complain regarding creative x-fi cards, some saying it's just a basic irq conflict with usb ports:
http://folding.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?p=1335104714
 
Someone claimed that are minor issue with the ht claro (much less annoying, occasional buzzing):
http://www.head-fi.org/products/ht-omega-eclaro-7-1-channel-pci-express-x1-sound-card/reviews
 
Perhaps the problem is related to win 7 ?

 

[fufula]

It's most likely a Windows 7 (maybe Vista too) issue, yes. I doubt the Claro Halo driver is going to change anything. Last I checked they were using a much older driver version than the other manufacturers and they all get their drivers from C-Media, (sometimes) slap their frontend on it, add some additional options. In case this makes you wonder, no, rolling back to an old version isn't going to help either, so don't even bother.
 
As it stands, getting rid of the card is the only sure way of making the problem go away.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

I  thought this hotfix from win 7 "might" help:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2653312
There is a resampling  bug in win7, but I  don't see how this could lead to the high pitched sound.
 
Perhaps there are other hotfix of the same kind ....

 

[extrabigmehdi]

I   didn't encountered the bug since I've installed the hotfix,  and I've been using my headphone a lot.
I don't know how much I 'd have to wait to trigger again the bug, if it's still here

 

[Agarvaen]

Have other users tried the hotfix for win sound and does it work? I am interested in getting this card and would like to be sure it will work fine.

 

[extrabigmehdi]

Quote:

Have other users tried the hotfix for win sound and does it work? I am interested in getting this card and would like to be sure it will work fine.

The bug is very rare for me. I  can use the card for many months, and then suddenly the problem. So this didn't discourage me for getting a second soundcard, as I  couldn't find better .