SPDIF Vista dv9000 series audio problems...

Hi all. I got the dv9201 specifically for its combination of features...that is...the S-Video connection, the SPDIF out, etc. Unfortunately, my setup has been largely plagued with problems now that I have all the cabling, and I don't know where to pinpoint the issue. For me, I have no problem HEARING audio with the SPDIF connection, but my music is plagued with pops, clicks, cracks and crackles every 10-20 seconds.

I have read about various problems in Vista and SPDIF, some claiming SPDIF passthrough doesn't work. I have a digital audio decoder for DTS and Dolby Digital, so I want the stream to be passed through to the external hardware for decoding.

I have also read some postings about mfpmp.exe taking too much CPU time in Windows Media. Also, the pops and clicks on MP3s DO seem a little more frequent when I run two displays concurrently.

What it comes down to, is that it seems no one has been able to truly pinpoint this problem. When I played an DivX file on Nero Showtime, it outputted true Dolby Digital to my receiver, so I wonder if it is just Windows Media 11.

Should I downgrade to Windows Media 10?
Are there other media player programs out there that are decent, and output true digital multichannel audio streams? Does Winamp?
Could it be bad cabling?
Possible interference from the network or graphics chips?
My video/sound drivers? I am using Nvidia 100.65's and the .15 Conexant audio drivers.

I'm truly at a loss as to what the problem is, and how to try and fix it.
Would love to hear others' experience with this. Thanks all.

 

My personal guess would be that the Connexant audio drivers are causing your problems. I say this because Creative had (and still has?) alot of problems getting their sound cards to work with Vista. Like how Nvidia's video drivers are becoming better with each release, I think your problem will probably be resolved as HP releases a more mature audio driver.