Keep changing the sound quality ingame as the first Worms uses some freakish sample rates (like ~16000hz). It'll happen on some real hardware too (mostly sb clones).

I've tried that, and all that changes is the "quality" of the crackling.

I found a workaround...turning off sound blaster support entirely and instead using Gravis Ultrasound emulation.

Needless to say, I'd prefer an alternative.