yeah could be. I did some further investigation, and so far what I noticed is that the synth I am using does not like higher sample rates, and will crackle much of the time when used. I never ran into this problem before with other instruments. I contacted steinberg and they have no idea, so I am now going to ask m-audio if they know what the deal is. If I find anything useful I will post it here.
However, I can pretty much guarantee that m-audio will tell me to uninstall and then reinstall the drivers for my device. I can’t wait, it will be fun!