crackle pop static in my audio

[Celticfarmgal]

its a Dell , has been doing it since I bought it but I did not use the Audio function much then , it seems to happen more if alot of memory is being used , but it happens even if music is the only thing running.
would a new sound card help? Dell says there isn't anything wrong with the one I have . any Ideas??

[Rick]

Is it an Onboard audio card or slot type?

If it is Onboard then a new sound card could possibly help

But wait for a few others to give you some suggestions as to ways to cure it first

[123456]

Have you tried reinstalling your sound card drivers?

[Sylvander]

Make a "live" bootable CD holding a distro of Linux.
e.g.
Knoppix 5.1.1 (http://iso.linuxquestions.org/knoppix/knoppix-5.1.1/)
OR...
Ubuntu 7.10 (http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloading?release=desktop-newest&arch=i386&mirror=http%3A%2F%2Fubuntu.virginmedia.com%2Frelea ses%2F&debug=%5B%27country_US%27%2C+%27country_UK%27%2C+% 27continent_NA%27%5D&download-button=)
Boot the CD to load the Linux OS and play some sound within that software environment to see how it sounds.
If it's OK, you know the problem is with the original Windows environment.

Focus on that to narrow and continue the search for the cause.

[Rick]

If/when you do find it is windows.
a good starting point is the shared resources
See what if anything it is sharing with

If it is an add-in card
Open the case and look at the slot it is in.
Then look at the slots next to it.
Are they empty ?
Is it in the last slot?

It's not uncommon for pci slots next to each other to share
It's also possible the last slot shares with another and not the one directly next to it

if you find it is sharing and you have the open slots to allow it.
Move the sound card away from the others

If it is an ATXm then you may be out of luck with moving the card