That sounds like excellent customer service from Creative Labs, Jan. Interesting thing is that I had the reverse of your situation - I used to have crackling and now I don't, although I don't remember what I may have changed to stop it. I recently recorded a CD of songs I recorded on my KN6000, and there's not one crackle or pop on the CD, but when I first got my CD writer I was getting this problem when I was compiling a CD from another CD, leaving out songs that drove me up the wall!

Mike