I posted in the Stereo thread about the bad audio on a Sheryl Crow You Tube video. Tonight I was checking music on Amazon - same scratchy sound. I pulled up Itunes - same scratchy. So, I plugged in the headphones - same scratchy. I tried updating drivers - it said I have the latest. I am now at a loss....anyone have any ideas?............Rob

I got Nuthin here?

What sound card are you using? Onboard cards are not always sufficienly isolated from the "noise" from the other components.

As it seems the sound is always there I waold agree with Eric and the soundcard would be to blame. i would try an aftermarket soundcard, I have used a Sound Blaster XFi for external use on various computers and the sound is very good and when I run REW through it it registers nearly flat from 5hz right through to 20khz.

I am not at home - so I don't know the sound card. I have had the computer for quite some time - the scratchy sound just started up the other day.

Could be a component in the card is starting to go....

Last night....no scratchy sound. Weird. I went back and listened to the Sheryl Crow Japan '98 videos on You Tube. Sound is still not all that great - but much better when the sound card is functioning properly.

Try to spot if it happens while something else is happening like heavy USB activity, harddrives in overdrives, CPU heat, fans...

I've had my card end up in a strange state where the sound coming from it was barely recognizable. A reboot fixed it.

Loosely akin to a reboot, if it's not an on-board card, can you pull it and re-seat it in the same or a different slot on the motherboard? I have had a few quirky items over the years where cards have come loose in transport and the like and this has helped.

Could just be the video's audio is poor....