Creative GigaWorks S750 with interference on front and rear channels

[Iason]

I bought my Gigaworks S750 speakers with my X-Fi Elite Pro almost 2 years ago now, and up until about a month ago have been having no problems. Recently however there has been this really irritating interference coming through on the front and rear channels. It only seems to be occurring after the system warms up a bit (the sound is good when the system starts up), and it also doesn't seem to occur when using volumes under 50% (in windows). At first I figured that it was related to a new X-Fi driver that I had installed a week or so before the problem developed, and for a while was just trying different software things to fix it. Eventually I began to have a suspicion that it was the speakers. After checking the Creative knowledge-base, I unplugged the speakers from my PC, and used the Green, Black, and Yellow plugs in the headphone jack of my iPod to attempt to rule out the sound-card. Well, even when plugging the speakers directly into the iPod (so it definitely isn't the PC) the interference is still there, I have also tried swapping speakers around (to make sure it wasn't problems with the individual satellites) and it appears to definitely be an issue somewhere between the Front, and Rear channel inputs on the sub, and the front and rear channel outputs, where the satellites are plugged in. Seeing as it's been 2 years, my unit is out of warranty, so if I can possibly avoid shipping it to Creative for repairs, I would, but I'm not particularly good with electronics work. So if there is anyone out there with more experience than me, who has any suggestions as to what the cause might be, so I can somehow attempt to get it fixed without sending it away. I would be extremely grateful to not that I'm expecting much, but almost anything would be preferable than having to send them all away.

[Filiberto]

There is a little yellow capacitor (one on every amp. Board) that fails short circuit too regular for comfort. I never had experienced the ' just before failure ' symptoms, only the blown up power supply (expensive) after they fail. I obviously can't say without looking at the subject and I don't want to alarm you for no reason, but if it is one of the ' caps ' I wouldn't use the sub until they were replaced. They are only a few pence to buy, as opposed to the cost of repairing the blown power supply if they are left to fail.

[Aandaleeb]

When you are not using the sub do you leave it on, or do you always switch to standby? If you have left the sub 'fully' on 24/7 it can get very hot inside. To stop things vibrating, Creative covers the components in rubbery glue. If this glue is a very light cream color your ok. If it is brown it has suffered from a lot of heat and it can become conductive with very bad consequences. If the sub does show signs of excessive heat the problem could be as simple as a bad connection. On the photo or the internals you can see a small grey ribbon cable on the right hand side linking the two boards together, I have had the pins on the board oxidize and cause a similar problem. A quick clean with may fix it.

[mathews]

The interference is a kind of high frequency static noise. You can still hear the beat of music through it, but it really messes up voices, and lowers the overall volume of sound coming from the affected speakers. While the sub is heating up, you can hear the interference kind of switch in, and out, but once it heats up enough (or turn up the volume), the interference will stay on, even if Windows sounds are muted. If you put the speakers into standby, and then back on again the interference will be gone, until a sound plays on the computer (you start music, get a message in MSN, basically any sound), and then it will come back, exactly how it was.

[Yitzchak909]

I would take another closer look at the capacitors. The ones you are looking for are BEHIND the big blue caps. It would help if you could confirm whether they are the poor quality small yellow/orange caps or the better brown/red ones. As for whether creative should be selling this product. I have heard several sources say they are now discontinued in certain parts of the world, I am uncertain if this is because of safety concerns or not. I think if creative had a slight re-think of the design of certain parts of this generally excellent unit(rather than discontinue it)they'd have a really great product on their hands, although obviously this costs a great deal of money in research and development etc.

[pddaugusto]

It does not seem to be affected by having the bass higher or lower. From my fiddling I noticed that it seems to get worse as the system heats up, and the master volume. I am quite sure it isn't related to the fuse, because all the power lights still work, and everything with the speakers is fine, except for this interference. I could still be proven wrong though, because I'm no expert. I contacted Creative support to see if they had any further suggestions and also to enquire about the possibility of me sending the unit in to them for repairs. They said that the repairs would cost me $506 and once I add postage to that, it'd probably be somewhere between $550 - 600. I checked online at prices for a brand new set of S750s, and they can also be had for slightly under AU$600. Quite frankly, I'm disgusted that Creative is essentially telling me that I should just ditch my 2 year old speakers and buy a new set.

[meskalinas]

Hello. I bought gigaworks s750 ~ 3 years ago, but after I reinstalled my windows, only 2 headphones are working so far and this problem is really annoying, because I lost a driver CD. The shop where i bought this sound system no longer sells creative products. Is there any kind person who could send me install.exe of such a driver ?

[JAMES_911]

Hello. I bought gigaworks s750 ~ 3 years ago, but after I reinstalled my windows, only 2 headphones are working so far and this problem is really annoying, because I lost a driver CD. The shop where i bought this sound system no longer sells creative products. Is there any kind person who could send me install.exe of such a driver ?

Which operating system have you installed in your computer? You dont require a driver for either speaker or headphones. You only require drivers for the sound card on your pc or external one if you have installed. So, tell us which sound card do you have so that we can search drivers for it and give it to you. Another thing is you can visit this website for some Creative GigaWorks S750 troubleshooting.

[meskalinas]

Which operating system have you installed in your computer? You dont require a driver for either speaker or headphones. You only require drivers for the sound card on your pc or external one if you have installed. So, tell us which sound card do you have so that we can search drivers for it and give it to you. Another thing is you can visit this website for some Creative GigaWorks S750 troubleshooting.

Sound card is installed already, but only 2 headphones are working when i'm listening something, but when i'm making diagnostic with creative program all headphones are working. So i dont really understand what the problem is..? I;m using windows xp.

[ApPy10]

Sound card is installed already, but only 2 headphones are working when i'm listening something, but when i'm making diagnostic with creative program all headphones are working. So i dont really understand what the problem is..? I;m using windows xp.

How many headphones are you connecting at a time. I believe at one time you can listen from one headphone only because when you connect the headphone to the computer you have to disable the speakers, a pop comes on the screen telling that you have connected headphone and same if you do with speaker, you have to disconnect the headphone.

[meskalinas]

How many headphones are you connecting at a time. I believe at one time you can listen from one headphone only because when you connect the headphone to the computer you have to disable the speakers, a pop comes on the screen telling that you have connected headphone and same if you do with speaker, you have to disconnect the headphone.

I'm sorry, I was talking about speakers. Only 2 speakers are working.I configured it on sounds and audio devices to 7.1 sound system, but it still doesnt work. I though there is a driver, otherwise I dont understand why it doesnt work...