Crackly, distorted and low sound from headphones

[Bee37]

Hello,

I have a brand-new HP Envy All-In-One and for the first couple of days everything worked fine, but now there's a sound issue. Sound over the speakers is perfect, but when I plug headphones in, the sound is low and crackling and static-y. I've tried different headphones, I've done a clean Windows install (but the issue was already there when Windows "spoke" during the setup process), all my drivers are up-to-date and I'm out of ideas what the problem could be.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Bee

[savvy2]

wrong head phones

there are 3 kinds,  wired 3.5mm  , USB and bluetooth.

I guess you meant wired 3.5mm phones, right? 

there are 2 types, TRS and TRRS , of 3.5.   (old and new skool){sic}

3 pin and 4,

the trouble with PC makers is not telling which it is , TRRS is new and the extra pin adds MIC.

I haVE NO idea at all which AIO you have. (ACTUAL MODEL #)

if this PC is TRRS,  (tip ring ring sleeve) modern (RTM or hope HP knows)  then use  "Y" splitter,  3.5mm and use that.

one end marked phones other mic.

SO i GOOGLED (duckduck go)

https://support.hp.com/bg-en/document/c04474731

TRRS is here.  Figure2 : Four-pin plug

[Bee37]

Thank you for your reply and the link.

The computer (HP ENVY 32-a1001ng i7-10700 1M6B6EA#ABD) has a jack for both headphone and mic together and I tried it out with a headset that has a four-pin-plug, but the result is the same - terrible audio quality.

I don't think it's my headphones, because they worked just fine for a couple of days. They're wired 3.5 mm phones, yes, and they work fine with another computer I've tried them on and other devices. 

Update: The headset also has the possibility to plug it in via USB, and that also works fine. Just any connection over the headphone jack causes the audio problems.

[savvy2]

that is sad this happens.  I assume sound drivers are from HP web site right?

my PC has headphone jacks front and rear.

when you insert it the inside has switches to cut speakers off line

for temporary fix try

usb adapter  sound dongle, they are dirt cheap.

HP ENVY 32-a1001ng

the sound control panel   for this PC I do not know but mine here, allows me to set the quality of sound on the phones

for buds or real phones, (and auto) I use real phones and I pick that.

the scratchy sound can be that the jack is off line and all you hear is leakage on that channel, (cross talk in tech jargon)

look in all sound setting of this PC and find phones , options,

some PCs the phones jacks have  special set of features, just for pro grade phones,  for low and high impedance,

and are more powerful,  and if it has its own phone volume , this must not be on max.  

sure sounds (no pun) like bad driver or the sound apps are not correct or set wrong,  some can be very complex.

the complexity is a function of, so many classes of phones used.  (besides USB and bluetooth sound devices )

good luck to you,  I see other folks on older AIO with Beats app set wrong. but IDK YOUR PC that well. sorry.

[Bee37]

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. I've gone through all the audio settings, but nothing's helped. I can't access the Realtek settings, because the Audio Console app won't install (I'm getting code 0x803FB005) and the old Realtek manager seems to be gone.

I'll probably buy one of those usb adapters for now, though I can't understand how there can be such an issue with a brand-new computer.

[Bee37]

Okay, so after trying anything and everything on the software side, I thought that maybe the problem was on the hardware side and I did a hard reset of the screen (unplug all devices, unplug power, press the power button for at least 15 seconds, then plug everything back in and restart), and it worked! Now the headphone sound is finally back to normal.

Anyway, thank you again, Savvy, for trying to help. Maybe my solution will help someone else with the same problem.