[LAU] Crackles in audio - how to troubleshoot ? Tim's TEST RESULTS:

[termtech]

On Friday, August 26, 2016 1:13:49 PM EDT termtech wrote:
> On Friday, August 26, 2016 5:04:12 AM EDT jonetsu at teksavvy.com wrote:
> > Replacing the capacitors could be something to do.  Are they easy to
> > get ?  How many of these are on the card ?

...
> I suspect that if I open this PC's case and start touching the 1010 card
>  with my fingers...
...
>  Freeze spray is your best friend!
> Get a can of it, or use an upside down can of compressed air
...

> I may try it and report back...

Tested: 
Yeah, I thought so. No luck, no change in sound whatsoever.

You can try but really, don't bother with the caps, dude.
Remember my card works fine in other PCs.

Please wait several tens of minutes before rebooting,
 after freeze spraying to allow warm up, or after touching
 to allow static discharge. The card will likely lock up at 
 some point, so just wait...

Do try the CPU speed settings though, for your occasional 
 pops and clicks. It does help, on these and other PCs.

Also, I found there is usually a curious subtle effect when 
 some kind of CPU speed governing is enabled:
If you listen closely you can hear the 'tuning' of the sound
 wander around slightly as the CPU clocks are auto-adjusted.
I began to notice it when playing my KB.
It's definitely not a good thing, but funny that it adds a sort of
 'humanizing' feel to instruments!

If you record the noise, we can listen and give an opinion on 
 hardware vs. software causes.
A description of what is happening onscreen, or video would be better.
(I should post one too.)

T.