Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

[machlo]

Hi. I've got Audigy 2 ZS and there is one annoying problem. Front output sounds strange, because left channel is louder than right. Additionally when I mute rear and center/sub outputs I still can hear the music in these outputs, while front isn't muted and vice versa, front is muted and center/sub, rear isn't - still can hear music in front output. I have looked at the card, but I can't see anything suspicious with caps. I tried to measure them(unfortunately my multmeter measure only to 20 uF) and I found that one capacitor(10uF) has over 20uF(measurement is over the range, so "1" is shown on screen). There is some more capacitors that i can't tell if they are good, because they are >20uF. I wonder if the problem is caused by the only one capacitor. I attach image with pointed suspicious cap. The card in the photo looks identically like mine. Audigy 2 ZS Thanks in advance for helping me

[zandrax]

Re: Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

Still nobody replies you, so I'll try to.
First: are you sure volume issue and channel interference are due to caps? As a first move I'd try to update sound drivers and change the pci slot, just to exclude any driver, pci timings or irq conflict which Creative cards are prone to manifest.
Second point: detach any cdrom cable from the Audigy, try avoiding any radio interference near your computer (remove phones, radios, tv sets and so on) and try plugging an headphone instead of your pc speakers. Power supply's noise can [unfortunately] make sound board noisier: if you have a spare psu, try swapping it.

If problems persist, then you can rule out the card is defective: did you buy an brand new Audigy or an used one? In the first case you should ask your seller a replacement, in the latter lets continue.
Capacitance means how much charge the caps can accumulate before suppling it to the device: if you think caps are bad you shouldn't look for mismatched capacitances but for high Esr readings. Esr means the resistance the capacitor opposes to current flow: a good capacitor should have an esr value around tenths of Ohm, while Low esr caps have values of hundredths of Ohm. There is no way to detect caps' Esr with a multimeter, you can do it with an Esr meter (see the Test equipment thread for some hints).
I can't help more: good luck and keep us updated.

Zandrax

[machlo]

Re: Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

It's definitely not a matter of a software, because I tested the card in the linux and windows with original creative's drivers and kx drivers. PSU should be all right, because it's Chietec and it's quite new. It's about one year old. Every sound quality test I performed on headphones(Philips SHP8900). I will check tomorow if changing a pci slot makes any difference. In my opinion it's something wrong only with the card, but I can't tell what. It would be a real problem to check cap's esr - I don't know where to find Esr meter :|

[machlo]

Re: Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

I changed pci slot and it makes no difference. I make photos of suspected bad cap - photo 1 photo 2

[zandrax]

Re: Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

You may be right machlo: those caps are Jamicons and are considered bad caps (see X-Fi Fatal1ty full of Jamicons thread). Trodas replaced some caps and was pleasant to discover he got rid of all noises and crashes he had experienced while playing games.
Fizzycapola recapped an Audigy 2 ZS, so you can ask some hints to him.
Keep us updated

Zandrax

[Fizzycapola]

Re: Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

Actually it was Audigy 2 ( I'm not sure of the difference, it has Non-Polar capacitors at the connections end)

I can't think how this cap would cause left audio to be louder than right. This is usually Volumeter Wave balance solvable or to do with faulty jack or cable kinks.

The general 1 easy solution technique on these cards is replace the plus 100uF with good caps, maybe Rubycon ZL, Panasonic FM, most popularly Panasonic FC, but perhaps Sanyo Oscon SP (SP is audio grade Oscon) would be ideal, cheaply for lower capacitors Panasonic ECA (for audio) could be used for experimenting as they're 1/10th price the others.

If you can't be bothered with expensive test equipment, one could randomly bypass capacitors with temporary soldering caps to the reverse to see if anything has an effect. This is how I have deducted things, eventually bypassing a certain capacitor solved my issue and then it was clear to replace that capacitor.

Trodas and logistics should know alot more than me, they use bypass capacitors and things like that quite complicated. Although I wish they'd take more photo's and make easier guides with total novices like myself in mind.

A benefit of these cards is they're plentiful, replacements can be bought for under $20 with good bidding. Virtually same sound quality as mid range Xi-Fi and low CPU resources when playing sound. Because of their low replacement cost but high performance, they're definately worth experimenting on.

Replacing that single Jamicon should be easy enough I see no reason not to try it anyway.

I wouldn't panic too much of Jamicon, I doubt they're as imminent issue as say GSC, Hermei or Fuhhyiu they're used by many top companies, Sony chose to install them in the audio part of my Television next to Rubycon and Nichicon.

[machlo]

Re: Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

I talked with academic(I study electronics at Warsaw University of Technology) and he said he will help me solving this problem. We'll check this card at the university on Tuesday.

[machlo]

Re: Audigy 2 ZS audio quality problem

I checked cap's ESR using oscilloscope and simple pulse generator. The method is described here. It's written in polish, but pictures and schemes should explain everything. All caps have ESR=2,5 ohms(approximately) at freq. of 1kHz. I really don't know if this value is too hight. If not what's wrong with the card? :|