I'm getting some intermittent pops in the sound whenever the buffer length is reached. Allow me to explain. The longer I set the buffer length (64 ms, 96 ms, etc.), the longer between sound hiccups. They never do go away, however.

Is there a fix for this?

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I know there was an echo buffer fix not too long ago - try the most recent test build here: http://download.sessionclan.de/overfiend/snes9x/testbuilds/snes9x_testbuild_23122011.zip

Ok, I tried it. No difference, still having sound hiccups.

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You can have my cigarettes when I'm dead from lung cancer

Have you enabled sound sync? Try lowering the input rate.

To clarify OV2's comment a little, try going into Sound Settings and bring the Input Rate down by 100 or so, and make sure the 'Synchronize with sound core' option is checked.

Tried it, no effect. Shields are down to 57%!

Does this have anything to do with it being the 32 bit version of the program that I'm running on my desktop? Because I don't get these hiccups when I run the 64 bit version on my laptop.

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You can have my cigarettes when I'm dead from lung cancer

specs?

also, have you tried killing bg processes to see if something else is interfering?

It's a Gateway 842GM, and I just got this guy installed on it today.

I wouldn't know which processes to start with, honestly.

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You can have my cigarettes when I'm dead from lung cancer

Try the integrated sound card (it has one built in), and if the crackling goes away, you know what the problem was. You should be able to switch on the integrated audio in the BIOS.

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Holy shit. I NEVER in a million years would have guessed that having the Output Image Processing set to "TV Mode" was what was causing the problem. I turned it to "None" and the problem went away completely.

This issue is resolved...except that I like TV Mode...oh well.

EDIT 1: Further info.

There were still traces of sound popping until I disabled the "Hi Resolution Support" and "Blend Hi Res Images" options as well. If I had to make a caveman-like guess, I'd say the Hi Res engine is bumping up against the sound emulation...

This is in the Win32 version of the program, mind you.

EDIT 2: Even further info.

After switching the Output Method to OpenGL (which I can now do with no video problems, due to replacing my graphics card), the Output Image Processing and Hi Res options can be re-enabled with no further sound issues.

Swish!

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You can have my cigarettes when I'm dead from lung cancer

Ahhh, that explains a lot.

What it sounds like to me is that your computer can't keep up normal emulation speed while using the filters without OpenGL picking up the slack. Then when your sound buffer runs out and the system emulation hasn't quite caught up, you get a slight gap between the end of the buffer and the start of the next buffer sample.

Since the OpenGL settings let the graphics card handle some of the image processing, it gives your CPU a bit more breathing room, and voila, you're emulating at full speed.