What the Fuck?

[CSMatt]

I come home from Washington, DC, and I noticed that my computer's SoundMAX onboard sound card isn't working right. Mainly, the speakers (which I've already found out are not the problem here) are playing slightly distorted and/or out-of-tune sound which is easily noticeable when the card is playing CD music. I can only attribute this to two possible causes; a weak power spike that managed to pass through the $10 surge strip and disable a chip or something, or some kind of backlash after a DOS game tried to access the card (which would have been because the onboard sound isn't on any PCI IRQs like DOS wants it to be). I've tried talking to both the ASUS and SoundMAX support services about this. ASUS didn't help, and SoundMAX never replied.

So then, I figure I could get ASUS to repair the board for me. After all, I'm still on my warranty. But ASUS says that all returns on motherboards are to be sent to the retailer (Newegg.com, in case). However, Newegg says that I need to return the board to ASUS for repairs.

It's bad enough that the sound stopped working properly, but how the hell am I supposed to get it fixed? Either both companies are ignorant of each other's policies on returned items, or this is a cleverly-planned corporate scheme to force me to keep the board.

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you guys have had issues with SoundMAX or onboard sound in general, and if you were able to get those issues fixed.

[AngryGoatFace]

I come home from Washington, DC, and I noticed that my computer's SoundMAX onboard sound card isn't working right. Mainly, the speakers (which I've already found out are not the problem here) are playing slightly distorted and/or out-of-tune sound which is easily noticeable when the card is playing CD music. I can only attribute this to two possible causes; a weak power spike that managed to pass through the $10 surge strip and disable a chip or something, or some kind of backlash after a DOS game tried to access the card (which would have been because the onboard sound isn't on any PCI IRQs like DOS wants it to be). I've tried talking to both the ASUS and SoundMAX support services about this. ASUS didn't help, and SoundMAX never replied.

So then, I figure I could get ASUS to repair the board for me. After all, I'm still on my warranty. But ASUS says that all returns on motherboards are to be sent to the retailer (Newegg.com, in case). However, Newegg says that I need to return the board to ASUS for repairs.

It's bad enough that the sound stopped working properly, but how the hell am I supposed to get it fixed? Either both companies are ignorant of each other's policies on returned items, or this is a cleverly-planned corporate scheme to force me to keep the board.

Anyway, I was wondering if any of you guys have had issues with SoundMAX or onboard sound in general, and if you were able to get those issues fixed.


<font face="Trebuchet MS">if this is happening for CD-audio only, then check the connection between the motherboard and the CD-drive. It's also possible that a cable is bumping against your speaker cord and creating interference between the two. finally, it could also have been the power spike. onboard sound in general is shit, i don't know why you were using it, but if it really matters that much just buy a good soundcard.</font>

[CSMatt]

Well, my budget kind of dried up after buying the DVD burner and video card. I'll buy myself a nice Augity 2 if I need to, but I just mainly want the board looked at. There could very well be other errors on it as well.

To be more descriptive of the problem: the sound appears to have been slowed down, in much the same manner as when a good turntable's manual RPM knob has been moved. And by "CD audio," I meant that the defect is most obvious when CD/MP3-quality audio is playing.

PS: I actually never got an audio cable for the DVD-ROM drive, but CD audio seems to re-route through IDE just fine.

[AngryGoatFace]

Well, my budget kind of dried up after buying the DVD burner and video card. I'll buy myself a nice Augity 2 if I need to, but I just mainly want the board looked at. There could very well be other errors on it as well.

To be more descriptive of the problem: the sound appears to have been slowed down, in much the same manner as when a good turntable's manual RPM knob has been moved. And by "CD audio," I meant that the defect is most obvious when CD/MP3-quality audio is playing.

PS: I actually never got an audio cable for the DVD-ROM drive, but CD audio seems to re-route through IDE just fine.
<font face="trebuchet MS">wait for the creative x-fi to come out and then buy an Audigy 2 ZS.

i know that plugins for certain onboard audio drivers can do that. in particular, if you downloaded any sofware that supports EAX, try uninstalling it, because i know that another supported feature of EAX is to change speed but not pitch.</font>

[exemplary citizen]

Yeah, that's sounding like more of a driver problem than the actual hardware. I would think if it were the board, you'd either be getting an interrupted signal or none at all, not something that... well, seems to be changing the waveform of whatever you're listening to.