EWS64XL-->MIDI OK, but audio crackles. Please help

[Neil UK]

Hi there
I have an EWS64XL (about a year and a half old) which has suddenly developed a problem.

About a month ago (for various reasons) I formatted my Hard drive and reloaded win98 on my PC. Prior to this, my EWS had worked perfectly, but now, after re-installing it exactly the same way, all I get when I play audio is crackling ! It is like this when playing CDs, MP3s, audio samples etc. even Ed!son instruments are now just crackles.

The MIDI from my front panel to my Roland XP-50 and back works no problems.

I have loaded the latest drivers, but it remains the same. When you go into "My Comp" --> "Properties" and look at the drivers for the card, they are all there, with no apparent problems.
I have tried reconfiguring in the EWSCONFIG panel and even wiped the EEPROM (while talking to Terratec) and started again. It seems that after you have set the addresses / IRQs etc and save your changes, the next time you go into the CONFIG panel, the changes have been lost.
I have spoken with the TERRATEC support people and am just about ready to send the card back (run out of warranty !!) to them to have a look at.
Before I do, If anybody knows a reason for this / possible soplution, I'd be overjoyed to hear from you.

Many thanks
Neil

[Arnoud de Jong]

Maybe this answer is a bit late and you already found a solution. It's a strange problem and a don't have a direct answer. But in my experience it's best to look at the most simple things first in these cases. Like: does it also crackle at low volumes (output volume to high?). Also crackle when you directly plugin the headphones (to eliminate the possibility that the fault is in the amplifier or wiring). Or -because you reinstalled- did you check if accidently the 'ewsinit-line' is in your autoexec.bat (it should NOT be there)? Did you change other hardware or even opened the computer housing (do some pressing on the card(s) or try another slot). Did you add a pci card in a slot that's maybe shared with an ISA slot (in most cases that's PCI slot 4/5).
Anyway: things like that. Apart from this: on our SCP at www.ews64.com a lot of users on various pages of the site questioned and/or solved crackling problems.
If possible, I would try the card in another computer if nothing helps (ok, lot of work, but always less than going through the process of sending it back). But in the end it's worth sending it to TT (of course with a nice sweet-talking letter ) and I'm almost certain they will help you (I don't know about UK, but in Germany they're ok).
Good luck and let us know if you solved the problem.
Arnoud.