Ever since I built my computer in January, I've had audio dropouts from the Realtek ALC892 8-channel high definition audio codec that came on my motherboard. These dropouts occur on all 3 of my bootable drives. I'm wondering if one of the driver files is checking for updates or something and THAT'S what's causing the dropouts. Do any of you have any experience with stopping these dropouts? Also, if I install the Creative SB X-FI XtremeGamer sound card I have laying around, will that REPLACE the Realtek driver and give me some peace? Thanks in advance for any advice, y'all!  

You should invest in a higher quality audio interface that provides good ASIO drivers. That will definitely improve performance. As for what to get... that depends on what features you need and how much you want to spend. Cakewalk has an audio hardware guide here on their site, but those are just some of the choices available...
http://www.cakewalk.com/s...reader.aspx/2007013101

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
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A proper audio interface will do wonders.

Thanks for your quick response, Scott. I know I need to get a real audio interface but life keeps getting in the way and making me use the money for more pressing things! LOL   I DO have ASIO4ALL v2 however and it helped me immensely. But do you have any experience with getting rid of dropouts caused by the internal sound setup? Also, if I installed the SB card that I have, would it "take over" the role that the Realtek stuff is playing?

Depending on the age of your SoundBlaster card (which might go back to the 90s), it should be an improvement over the RealTek, but it comes with new problems. Others will know better, but I would not want to install the Creative drivers since they add stuff like EAX reverb. There is a third party driver; I think the name is KVR?

Get an audio interface, they shouldn't cost too much over 100$.

Thanks for your help but I can't afford to buy ANYTHING right now which is why I came to the forum for advice on how to FIX the problem. I can't be the only person experiencing audio dropouts from the Realtek driver so I thought someone here would have a fix(remove the XXXX driver file, uncheck the xxxx button, etc.). I guess I'll try the ASUS forum since my motherboard is from them. Try to remember in the future that BUYING a new this or that, has probably ALREADY occurred to a person seeking help and OBVIOUSLY wasn't an option. 

fix problem = decent ASIO based sound card


asio4all is a wrapper = faking asio mode .. and hit / miss for users.. a gamble 

you come on here posting with a decent rig ? yet you don't budget for the most important part..  you could have cut back on some of the other stuff.. 

if you think that's blunt.. you're wasting our time AND your own by not sorting that out.. save up for a bit and buy something decent = your issues regarding that will be gone.. I use a saffire usb 6 on my laptop rig, that didn't exactly break the bank.

Been a while since I used onboard sound card and perhaps things have changed. But you used to have to use MME driver mode. MME should work fine for everything except if your using input echo to monitor effects on the input or using an external keyboard to play soft synths. If you don't need either of those things try MME driver mode. If you do need either of those things then a sound card with WDM or ASIO drivers will give the lower latency needed.

Hi titetrax,

A friend used one of those SB Xfi cards. There was lots of latency that he could never get rid of and ended up taking it back and got an Maudio Fast Track.

Your Realtek should work fine for playback, but recording will be a problem because of latency.

On my system thete is a very small amount that i can adjust the asio4all buffers before I start to get drop outs.

The Realtek and SB Xfi are reLly designed for playback. They can record, but they were never designed to do so via Sonar or simular software.

Disable your Realtek in bios before installing the SB.

Also, check to make sure you didnt set the asio4all buffers too much. That will cause dropouts. 

I'd sell one of those hdd's and get a decent audio card :)

Good luck. Hope some of this helps.

Bub