I recently replaced the SB Live! Value in my system with an Aureal Vortex 2 card, namely the Diamond MX300 (A2 stepping), and I'm having a strange issue with the software wavetable.

I first noticed this with DLS files I converted from SF2 myself (Creative 2/4/8MB SF2 fonts) so I reverted to the original ARL, and noticed that it is still there. The wavetable synthesis produces lots of crackling and clipping for some odd reason that I can not seem to troubleshoot. The issue is a lot more pronounced on the Line Out 2 port, which is recommended for headphones (because it apparently has an amp behind it and can be set to headphones in the driver control panel).

The onboard daughterboard header (MPU-401 MIDI device) does not have this issue when used with a hardware wavetable, so that pretty much rules out PCI Latency issues which would be my kneejerk reaction here.

I also had no such issues with an SB! Live card in this system. The SB Live! rendered all sound fonts perfectly well.

Is this a known problem? Is there anything I can do to fix it?

System specs are:

250W No-Name ATX PSU
LuckyStar 5P2BX2 (440BX) Motherboard
Pentium III 450 Katmai
2x128M PC133 SDRAM
Alps FDD
NEC 16x DVD-ROM
Seagate Barracude 80GB IDE (UDMA33 Mode)
3dfx Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Dimanod Monster Sound II MX300
TP-Link TF-3200 10/100MBit PCI
Windows Me

I'm using the officiam MX300 driver CD found on Vogonsdrivers.