Audio crackling / pop on Windows 11

Posted by DeIaminate@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 55 comments

I’ve been getting some audio pops on low frequencies or when skipping songs, changing videos etc etc. I have tried updating all my drivers including realtek, getting rid of them entirely, setting 1 core to audiodg.exe, disabling audio enhancements. It happened to me also on windows 10 before updating. Happens on my laptop as well which has windows 11. I tried different headphones and IEMs, still happen, even with a seperate dac and amp. Im at a loss, please help.

https://imgur.com/a/cSKRZOv

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Clara_Who_95@reddit

I've been having this audio popping at start of media playback on Windows 11 22H2. I tried the Sound -> Properties -> Change format method mentioned in the comments. It seemed to work at first but eventually I was still noticing popping.

I've now changed the audio driver to a generic Microsoft HIgh Definition Audio driver and so far no pops.

I had audio problems with Realtek drivers back with Windows 10 also, namely volume increases when pausing/resuming playback. Seems like reverting to a generic driver always solves these things; and I have seen at least one article stating that quality of Realtek drivers has gotten worse over time.

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Real_karmeck@reddit

this one. October 2024. Front jack was not fixed but in the back, the pops are gone. also fixed constant cracking on some frequencies when using equalizer apo.

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Yifun@reddit

Hi, I’m a computer idiot and have been having this same issue. How did you change drivers?

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Clara_Who_95@reddit

Go to Control Panel, then click on 'Device Manager'.

Scroll down the list that appears and open the "Sound, video, and game controllers" node by clicking on the arrow next to it.

right-click on the RealTek speaker item, and choose "Update Driver software".

I clicked on "Browse my computer for driver software", and then clicked on "Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer". I chose "high definition audio device" from the list and clicked "Next" to install it.

Reboot after that.

(The High Definition Audio Device driver is a generic Microsoft driver.)

- - -

Let me know if those steps work, and if not, I'll try to provide more help.

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Yifun@reddit

Unfortunately it did not work. The only driver available to choose was a Realtek High Definition Driver and it did not remove any of the crackle

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Clara_Who_95@reddit

Ok ... I was hoping it would work first time around.

But that's happened to me before too, where the generic driver wasn't available, at least at first. I remember going back to the machine the next day and trying the same steps again, and there it was.

Maybe the attempt to 'browse drivers available on my pc' sort of kicks the system into checking for generic drivers and downloads them in the background. I really don't know, but for me, the generic driver did eventually appear.

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Yifun@reddit

Ah, I’ll keep an eye out for it in the next few days. Appreciate your swift replies :)

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DemonSlayerM@reddit

Did you manage to fix it. If so then how?

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Right_Watercress2191@reddit

you helped me thanks

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Wambo_007@reddit

Don't know if you guys are still struggling with this but I did. Tried everything that I found online but nothing worked.

BUT...great news!!!! I just finally figured it out on mine! And since I haven't seen this answer anywhere else in my searches, I'm hoping this will help.

It has to do with power management on the PCI Express settings. Go into your Power Options and Edit your existing power plan. Go into Advanced Settings and expand "PCI Express", then "Link State Power Management". It'll likely be set to Maximum power saving. If you're on a desktop PC, you can definitely turn this off. On a laptop, at least change it to Moderate. In my case both Moderate and Off fixed my issue completely.

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Halcyon_156@reddit

This fixed an audio interface issue that I have been troubleshooting for months, to the point of yelling and cursing sometimes. I have two audio interfaces I use for my computer and both of them were popping and clipping when using various software and watching YouTube especially. This looks like it fixed the issue. Don't know how I missed this in my hours of googling and reading manuals but thank you!

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Hot-Particular-9020@reddit

king

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Icy_Ice3074@reddit

Mine's already off

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AdministrativeGift80@reddit

Didn't work for me. Seems to be a latency issue. The real weird thing is that it doesn't happen with bluetooth headphones. It happens with the internal speakers and the aux out, but not bluetooth.

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C_FREAKS@reddit

Damn you really got my hopes up. I have the exact same issue for months now and unfortunately the PCI Express settings did not fix it.

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MR_DERP_YT@reddit

Windows (or some other app idk prolly a windows update) turned this on. Thanks a lot man

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gtmatha@reddit

This worked!!! Thanks a lot!

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PreparationVisual923@reddit

I still have it on a PC, going crazy with this s*it.

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Cultural-Exercise-16@reddit

The reason for the static noise is that the PCI doesn't have enough power to handle all the peripherals, especially on a laptop. As you say turning off "PCI express" help, but in addition to that I also use an external power USB hub for all my order device (keyboard, mic, cam, etc.........).

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ElPasoNoTexas@reddit

Thanks. I unplugged all unnecessary USBs and it works.

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xSrxFenix@reddit

Thank you

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Giraffe_Hats@reddit

Gold star sir, gold star.

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Duke_23@reddit

WAIT HOLY SHIT THIS ACTUALLY FIXED IT. YOU GOATED HUMAN

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Duke_23@reddit

It was already off and it is still crackling for some reason. It started doing in today all of a sudden

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Practical_Bed_6641@reddit

i tried it and it still doesnt work ive tried everything :(

the problem started when i applied new thermal paste on my cpu and gpu

anyone have any more solutions?

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MicFury@reddit

Dear search engines: This is how you fix audio popping in Windows

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BeariusChilds@reddit

THANK YOU!

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Right_Watercress2191@reddit

Thanks man gif

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PlentyVegetable6027@reddit

I'm not sure who's still having this issue, I never found a solution but I did find a workaround and I have NO idea why it works. Just put your PC into sleep mode and wake it up.. It removed all crackles for me. It'll be back if you restart, but just sleep mode and wake it back up and it's gone. No clue why this works but it does

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KobaltCC@reddit

What the fuck, this worked for me. I had constant popping/crackling in one ear on a single device output, completely gone after sleep+wake. Thanks for the tip.

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wizacs@reddit

Can confirm this is still happening on July 2023 on a fresh Windows 11 install. Strange pops/crackles when changing audio volume through a slider or skipping through a video or starting/stopping audio.
It's so annoying, I thought something was wrong with my hardware.

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AdministrativeGift80@reddit

Still happening Oct 2024. Only with internal speakers and the aux out though. Not using bluetooth, which is weird.

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sabertoothshock@reddit

same here did you find a fix?

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wizacs@reddit

Nope, tried so many things and yet i didn't fix it.

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jajonjason@reddit

I have the same problem, is there still no fix? Tried everything...

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Toss_Away7952@reddit

Did you manage to fix it? If so, then how?

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PanzerKampfwagen--V@reddit

unfixable report it to microsoft please.

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Toss_Away7952@reddit

I have the same problem. Even after a factort data reset, multiple downgrades, and multiple restore points, nothing worked. I tried everything that is on the internet. There is no solution. I'm up at 3:30 in the morning trying to fix this because I have to use it for work.

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MR_DERP_YT@reddit

The top comment by Wambo_007 fixed it for me, however I do still get a pop/crackle sound when I like play really low frequency or the same sound at the same time multiple times (like 100 of times), but I suppose that's just a hardware limitation

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FriendlyUserSmile@reddit

Ever find a.fix? Same.issue for years.

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DeIaminate@reddit (OP)

Nope. Still buggin me to this day

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xenoslain99@reddit

Found a fix now?

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DeIaminate@reddit (OP)

It eventually went on its own. But i’ve changed so many things that i can’t tell what helped.

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xenoslain99@reddit

Just seemed to have solved my issue. One of my mic was set to “ listen” in control panel and playback was enabled for it. I turned it off and it seems to have stopped. For now at least.

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Abra_Cadabra_9000@reddit

I was plagued by this for a long time and went through quite a few threads like this trying different things without success.

In my case it seemed to be related to power delivery over USB sockets - in my setup I am feeding a USB switch which is powered by the PC and which connects to a DAC, wireless dongles and sometimes a keyboard cable.

I resolved it by goind through through the USB hubs / devices in device manager and unchecking the box to allow power saving. When I found the right one it was an instant cure.

Looking at them now having seen this thread they all seem enabled and the sound is fine so maybe this was improved by a windows update somewhere along the line anyway - I'm on the 24H2 beta now.

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xenoslain99@reddit

Imma try your method and see if it works

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neobondd@reddit

For me it is a loud pop of my Edifier s360DB subwoofer, which is connected wirelessly, so it isn't a cable issue. It only started when I finally upgraded to Windows 11 23H2, and later clean installed 24H2. One thing that fixed it (at least temporarily) was uninstalling the ASRock x670e Steel Legend Realtek audio drivers (defaulting to Windows device drivers) then after it started popping again with every restart/cold boot I installed the ASRock motherboard Realtek drivers again (and restarted when prompted) and now it is not popping again, at least for now!

Such a frustrating issue that I never had with Windows 10.

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Killaninja12@reddit

Would you care to explain a little more in detail how you did that? I have the exact same motherboard and basically an identical problem where upgrading and fresh installing to Windows 11 has given me this issue. Windows 10 I never, ever had any problems with but 11 has been nothing but a nightmare for me and I've been driving myself crazy trying to fix this for nearly a year now. Appreciate any help!

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neobondd@reddit

Exactly as I said it. Windows installs its own driver, but there are also motherboard manufacturer audio drivers you could install (sometimes they are older) but these are tested to work properly with the motherboard. I do not know what causes it, but it is annoying.

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Right_Watercress2191@reddit

Thankyou so much

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ThomasM69@reddit

Did you try disabling Core Isolation in Device Security?