Hi Brian,

I think that SB stands for Southbridge (or south bridge). If so, you can see more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southbridge_%28computing%29

Regards,

Alain

Wow... When I hear all that this can achieve, from a person that I have full confidence in, I just feel miserable with what I have I just can try to imagine the power that it can boast, plus the weight of the music in which one will immerse...

And they are beautiful to look at !

What word could describe what Bert and you have achieved...

Bravo is not the best word, but it certainly goes in my mind's direction !

Alain 

Hi Juan,

I think that the problem you express has more to do with the way the NOS1 and Windows behave.

I guess we are talking about unattended mode. I can't say if it does the same in attended mode.

Like you mention, if I wait long enough after the music is gone, then no noise happens.

When the music finishes, the NOS1 is still sending a "silent signal". I would compare this to "pressure in the conduit". If you immediately restart the PC, this is "cut" by Windows at some point and there is a residual that is "released" as a tick...

My explanation is "full of holes", but I am sure that Peter has a clearer explanation than I

Alain

Hi Paul,

I guess I will not taste my beer for a while, but I will raise my glass to you and the solution that will come from Peter

Alain

Ah... Could it be that these 2 situations are from 2 different sources ?

Alain

Juan,

Just an observation... The tick that you hear at the beginning of a song has been here since the beginning, when I was still using WinXP... Do you mean that or other ticks happening while the music is playing ?

Alain

Hi Juan,

I am not sure if this is related to underclocking or to any setting in XXHE that is too near some kind of boundary... I would try it in NORMAL OS mode also to see if anything about this has an effect or not.

Having multiple settings interacting with each other has its pros and cons .

Regards,

Alain

Coen,

While this will not solve the problem, it could at least help you determine what is going on...

Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer
There should be folders in the left portion of the screen. I would choose Windows Logs, then System and check the date and time of what occured...

It's not a remedy, but at least a start to diagnose what happens ?

Regards,

Alain
PS: If you are unsure about this, I could post some screenshots

I am afraid to suggest things that could do more harm than solve a problem. I am vague in my explanations. I hate to do this, but if something bad occurs after I suggest something, I would feel quite bad. For the moment, I am (silently) asking Peter to chime in about this.

I can experiment things since I have a full backup of my OS and am not afraid of reinstalling it if things turn for the worse. But this is not the case for many of us...

Alain

Hi,

I don't recall experiencing this situation, but if it is not related to update(s), nor anti-virus, defender or something like this, it could mean that some task(s) are scheduled to activate at certain times. Many tasks can be set to activate when not much is happening (no mouse moves, no keyboard activity). If this happens while the system seems to be idling, it could be it.

Alain

Cool !

I remember now, it stopped at 8ms for me... I was trying to mimic Peter's parameters, then I realized i could not imitate him

Alain

Ha ah! Finally I know who I am 

Alain

Hi Paul,

I can't explain why this happens, but I just know that at some point, I had to reduce the NOS1 driver from 16 to 12ms, even lower.

I also have experienced stuttering when having "Nervous rate" at 70 +...

Maybe you have already done this, but I suspect that what would have been working for W7 does not behave the same with W8 ?

Regards,

Alain

Ah... Finally I understand the principle ! Paul, thanks for this clear and useful example.

I will have to rethink how my system is actually plugged and linked (components to earth and between themselves, which link carries ground and which do not). And I am now aware that some components internals may not be correctly grounded...

It's a lot more motivating to hunt for the "grrrrs" and "zzzzs" that I am hearnig now that I understand what this is about

Regards,

Alain

Thanks Nick and Paul !

This raises some questions for me, like "What is a star earth configuration ?" - quite a newbie question I know, but it would certainly be interesting to have a thread with an article about this ?

Anyway, much appreciated food for thought

Alain