sound problems too

Here's my rig...
Athlon 700
Abit KA7-100
129 mg 133 ram
SBlive! x-gamer
Radeon 32mg DDR
Windows ME
Directx8.0
Also, I have updated my motherboard and the Via-tech drivers for my chip-set. Latest drivers for SBlive!, video card and updates for ME.
Reinstalled DX 8.0

Here's what happened... Now, in games, my sound pops and cracks like I'm listening to an old 45. Not all sounds, it seems to be limited to music or voices within the games. I tried reverting to win 98 drivers for my SBlive! with no success. Creative tech support said it might be ME and I would need to wait on a fix for it.
Also, This appears to be happening in games installed AFTER I updated my Sblive! drivers to ME version (Tachyon, Freespace2, Mech4).
I think I am pretty good troubleshooter but this problem has me stumped. Would I have a more 'game-friendly' computer if I reverted back to Win 98SE?

You may email your advice if you want..
[email protected]
Thanks