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maximus viii audio issues, big thanks to rog community

AmirShred
Level 8
Back in early December I purchased a Maximus VIII Hero. I immediately had problems with audio pops and clicks. Basically what people are describing as the audio channel opening and closing... very annoying. Frustratingly, a friend of mine purchased the exact same damn board and didn't have any problems. A couple days after purchasing the board I began working with ASUS support. As we all know it can be very frustrating and difficult. After about a week I finally got it escalated and then escalated again using videos demonstrating the problem. They made me try things with my graphics card power supply memory basically blamed everything but what I believed was a driver issue. After 6 weeks of back and forth I finally received confirmation this afternoon that they had identified a driver interaction with third party software.

They basically say the problem was difficult to replicate because so few users had reported it. The hilarious part is I asked how many reports they had and they said they had a few dozen over the last couple months. They however wouldn't tell me what third party software interacts. But it must be something those of us with the pops and clicks have and others like my friend don't. They say a new driver is in testing and should be available in the next couple weeks.

Based on this info, I definitely owe this community a big thank you as I know many of you have had these problems for quite some time. And I know a lot of you probably had to spend a lot of time with ASUS support. Anyway thank you again for us helping each other I suppose.
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17 REPLIES 17

Vinny1001
Level 9
AmirShred wrote:
Back in early December I purchased a Maximus VIII Hero. I immediately had problems with audio pops and clicks. Basically what people are describing as the audio channel opening and closing... very annoying. Frustratingly, a friend of mine purchased the exact same damn board and didn't have any problems. A couple days after purchasing the board I began working with ASUS support. As we all know it can be very frustrating and difficult. After about a week I finally got it escalated and then escalated again using videos demonstrating the problem. They made me try things with my graphics card power supply memory basically blamed everything but what I believed was a driver issue. After 6 weeks of back and forth I finally received confirmation this afternoon that they had identified a driver interaction with third party software.

They basically say the problem was difficult to replicate because so few users had reported it. The hilarious part is I asked how many reports they had and they said they had a few dozen over the last couple months. They however wouldn't tell me what third party software interacts. But it must be something those of us with the pops and clicks have and others like my friend don't. They say a new driver is in testing and should be available in the next couple weeks.

Based on this info, I definitely owe this community a big thank you as I know many of you have had these problems for quite some time. And I know a lot of you probably had to spend a lot of time with ASUS support. Anyway thank you again for us helping each other I suppose.


Hey AmirShred,

I have a thread going on this topic too. Many have discussed the audio issues.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?82320-This-audio-issue-has-to-go-Please-see-for-audio-file...

Asus was able to replicate the issue for me fairly quickly. I was sent two files to compare the two audio sounds to show which I was experiencing. They used the windows navigation sound (clicking through folders) to replicate what the normal audio should be sounding like and the actual audio issue. I confirmed with the Asus representative and I was told the engineering team was now on it and also they would be contacting Realtek.

I'm glad you're pointing this out though to further show Asus is working toward the fix. They have replicated the issue for me about a few weeks ago. Not sure why you're saying they had difficulty replicating it. You just need to talk them through it to replicate it and everything you have done, and if they actually test it, they should have it replicated no problem 😛

I hope they're actually releasing a new driver soon.

Thank you for pointing out further information! Can't wait for a fix if it is actually coming soon.
Z790 Asus Hero Maximus on 0816 BIOS (0914 and 1202 crashes for me on XMP I), Intel 13900k stock clock, Asus 4090 Strix OC edition, FF3D532G720 Teamgroup Ram running XMP I, 16gb x 2, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB x 2, Seasonic VERTEX GX 1200W, Win 11 Pro 64, Deepcool LS720 AIO, NZXT H7 Flow. Comfortably using Armoury Crate for updates/fan xpert.

ondersma80
Level 7
AmirShred wrote:
The hilarious part is I asked how many reports they had and they said they had a few dozen over the last couple months. They however wouldn't tell me what third party software interacts. But it must be something those of us with the pops and clicks have and others like my friend don't.


Unfortunately that is the way of things with most mfg. Until they can determine what they see as a substantial sample experiencing an issue nothing happens. As for some experincing the issue and some not, my board doesn't but a friend of mine does. I went to his place and heard it myself. We decided to try cloning his installation and tried it in my system and mine then made the noises. Put my drive back in and it was gone. Definitely a driver conflict/bug. We tried a fresh install with trial and error and couldn't find what conflicted though. I was wondering about crap through Windows update.

Anyway, sounds like good progress. Hope they get you guys a procedure or new driver! And that driver better not bork my stuff! haha

ondersma80 wrote:
As for some experincing the issue and some not, my board doesn't but a friend of mine does. I went to his place and heard it myself. We decided to try cloning his installation and tried it in my system and mine then made the noises. Put my drive back in and it was gone. Definitely a driver conflict/bug. We tried a fresh install with trial and error and couldn't find what conflicted though. I was wondering about crap through Windows update.


Wait, so you're saying you cloned his installation? Like Windows? Or what? Then yours made the noise? Or installation of the driver? And reading the rest of it, it appears that using his HD caused the issue? Or was it more so the way things were installed?

Just trying to clear it up, because that's really interesting. I think AI Suite keeps the audio channels open, so be sure to have the bare bones of Windows, with the minimal software and only drivers.

Please if you can, give more details on the experience between your friends' board and your board, and the issue coming and going. Would be a great help!

Thanks ondersma80!
Z790 Asus Hero Maximus on 0816 BIOS (0914 and 1202 crashes for me on XMP I), Intel 13900k stock clock, Asus 4090 Strix OC edition, FF3D532G720 Teamgroup Ram running XMP I, 16gb x 2, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB x 2, Seasonic VERTEX GX 1200W, Win 11 Pro 64, Deepcool LS720 AIO, NZXT H7 Flow. Comfortably using Armoury Crate for updates/fan xpert.

ondersma80
Level 7
Hi Vinni,

It was a simple test. The condition was my M8Hero Alpha has no pops or clicks using the onboard audio. My friend did have pops and clicks. I went over there to hear it. Wanting to explore, I thought about cloning his drive to a spare then taking that drive to my system. Took his exact clone to my house, took out my 950, connected his drive, booted into windows and bam. Tested sound and heard the annoying noises. Took out his drive, reconnected my 950 and no more noises. That just means the issue is the installation and not the hardware. Well, another variable could be the storage device, I have a 950 Pro and he had a SATA drive but I doubt the storage drive is the issue.

We went back to his place and tried a fresh install and still had problems. The problem is testing is hard since he uses Windows 10 and Windows updates start almost immediately so that can't be isolated.

ondersma80,

Ohhh ok, thank you for the further details. That's very odd and interesting. I've gone through 5 or so of the M8's + M8A's and always had the issue. Each time I did a fresh install of Windows 7. I also tried Win10. No matter what I did, how I installed, it came down to the same audio pop with realtek drivers installed.

You two should collaborate and see the steps that both of you take to install everything from point A to point B, and see where the differences are in installation. Even include all components installed and when they were installed, what slots they use, BIOS settings (if any OC, because OCing will keep audio channel open I'm pretty sure, IIRC)

Very interesting though, I wonder how realtek/Asus is even fixing this because what could be causing it for some and not for others?

Thanks!
Z790 Asus Hero Maximus on 0816 BIOS (0914 and 1202 crashes for me on XMP I), Intel 13900k stock clock, Asus 4090 Strix OC edition, FF3D532G720 Teamgroup Ram running XMP I, 16gb x 2, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB x 2, Seasonic VERTEX GX 1200W, Win 11 Pro 64, Deepcool LS720 AIO, NZXT H7 Flow. Comfortably using Armoury Crate for updates/fan xpert.

Vinny1001 wrote:
Very interesting though, I wonder how realtek/Asus is even fixing this because what could be causing it for some and not for others?


The fix must be the driver as ASUS has told Amir and others, it is the only thing that makes sense. That driver must have a flaw that interacts with something else installed in the affected systems. There are only two variables: 1) software and 2) mfg variances. My test combined with users like you having tried multiple boards rules out the likelihood of #2. My test also seems to point to #1. There are lots of variables between the two systems I tested. My friend has headset with mic vs my traditional speakers, he has a webcam with mic that auto installs drivers during WU, he has a 780 I have a 980, different keyboards, he uses steam and many more games, it is just almost impossible to isolate. Windows allows access rights to the sound and mic for various apps, maybe there is a conflict there that causes the onboard sound to drop or open/close - I would like to explore that more but won't be seeing him for at least a week or two.

Agreed completely. I've been through months of trying everything. And I mean everything. Hmm. When you did your install, did you have your GPU in when you first turned your PC on? I usually leave the GPU out in case it conflicts with anything.

I noticed with the GPU in, I wasn't able to install the VGA drivers, so I would purposely leave the GPU out to be able to install the VGA drivers from Asus. Without my GPU/Nvidia drivers in, ALL realtek drivers and Asus audio drivers gave me the pop, where as windows default audio drivers worked perfectly normal.

As soon as I installed my GPU (980 Ti) along with nvidia drivers, windows default audio drivers still worked fine, BUT this time around, realtek R2.79 from Realtek's site did NOT give me the static pop/thump, but Asus audio drivers still gave the same issue, or using other realtek versions gave me the same issues.

So it's odd seeing that after installing my GPU with nvidia drivers, R2.79 from Realtek ends up "magically" working. So the GPU/nvidia drivers have some sort of effect. This points me to me installing the VGA drivers ahead of time on an HDMI cable to my monitor before touching the GPU.

Since nvidia drivers/GPU has an effect, maybe the VGA drivers have an effect too?

ondersma80, did you install the VGA drivers at all? Or no if you already started installation with your GPU in? You should ask your friend if he installed VGA drivers or not.

I hope this makes sense, and may point to some drivers conflicting if that's the case.

Thanks!!
Z790 Asus Hero Maximus on 0816 BIOS (0914 and 1202 crashes for me on XMP I), Intel 13900k stock clock, Asus 4090 Strix OC edition, FF3D532G720 Teamgroup Ram running XMP I, 16gb x 2, Samsung 980 Pro 2TB x 2, Seasonic VERTEX GX 1200W, Win 11 Pro 64, Deepcool LS720 AIO, NZXT H7 Flow. Comfortably using Armoury Crate for updates/fan xpert.

scarystuff
Level 7
Do you guys also have much background noise on the mic inputs?

I do not. My chassis cabling is well shielded.