Hi Folks - I have done some further investigating and am pretty sure this is a known issue with these types of sound cards and 4GB or more of memory. See discussion thread here: http://forums.creative.com/showthread.php?t=577245
The thread mostly details Windows experience but the exact same issue is replicated in 64bit Ubuntu when 4GB or more ram is present. To verify this I booted with mem=3840m in Grub2 parameters which limits the amount of ram the OS can use and the problem no longer presents itself. So if it is a driver problem it appears to be present in both the linux driver (snd_ctxfi) and the windows driver. Alternatively perhaps it is more intrinsic to the hardware/firmware of the product. Posting this comment for future troubleshooters benefit. Cheers - Andy -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to alsa-driver in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1074839 Title: [SB-XFi - Creative X-Fi, playback] Background noise and Distortion Status in “alsa-driver” package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: Recently upgraded to Kubuntu 12.10 x86_64. Was previously using 11.10 x86 (32 bit) and no problems with sound. Now sound is very glitchy, distorted and even has a warbling delayed echo. Tried all maner of Pulse Audio stuff like changing sampling frequency in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf and timer scheduling in /etc/pulse/default.pa. Tested with Pulse Audio suspended and using Jack and the problem persisted which makes me think it may be driver related (not pa) - possibly 64 bit version as I had no problems with 32 bit. Kubuntu 12.10 uname: Linux 3.5.0-17-generic x86_64 Alsa version 1.0.25 alsa.driver_name = "snd_ctxfi" Creative X-Fi 20K1 SB073x ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10 Package: alsa-base 1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu3 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-17.28-generic 3.5.5 Uname: Linux 3.5.0-17-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.6.1-0ubuntu6 Architecture: amd64 AudioDevicesInUse: USER PID ACCESS COMMAND /dev/snd/controlC2: andy 2015 F.... pulseaudio /dev/snd/controlC0: andy 2015 F.... pulseaudio Date: Sun Nov 4 20:47:43 2012 InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-10-30 (4 days ago) InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Release amd64 (20121017.1) MarkForUpload: True PackageArchitecture: all SourcePackage: alsa-driver Symptom: audio Symptom_AlsaRecordingTest: ALSA recording test through plughw:XFi successful Symptom_Card: SB X-Fi - Creative X-Fi Symptom_PulseAudioRecordingTest: PulseAudio recording test through plughw:XFi successful Symptom_Type: High background noise, or volume is too low Title: [SB-XFi - Creative X-Fi, recording] Background noise or low volume UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) dmi.bios.date: 09/16/2010 dmi.bios.vendor: Phoenix Technologies, LTD dmi.bios.version: ASUS M2N-E SLI ACPI BIOS Revision 1301 dmi.board.name: M2N-E SLI dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC. dmi.board.version: 1.XX dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 123456789000 dmi.chassis.type: 3 dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnPhoenixTechnologies,LTD:bvrASUSM2N-ESLIACPIBIOSRevision1301:bd09/16/2010:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnM2N-ESLI:rvr1.XX:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion: dmi.product.name: System Product Name dmi.product.version: System Version dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+bug/1074839/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
