Audio Left Speaker Only - HP Spectre x360 - 15t-df000 CTO

[joffad]

On occasion only my left speaker will work. This is a recurring problem first reported earlier this year. There is a fix, and that is to shut the laptop down hold the power button for 5 seconds to do a 'hard-reset' then both speakers will work again.

My question is why does this keep happening? So far as i'm aware this is not the result of Windows updates, as the issue is sporadic. Sometimes both speakers will work for quite some time, in this case i only did the hard reset fix a couple of days ago, but the problem has returned.

It's very frustrating to have a premium product like this laptop and have to cowboy fix it every few days.

Any permanent advice would be appreciated.

[praveenbv]

@joffad, Welcome to the HP Support Community!

I understand you have audio issues with your laptop.

Don't worry I'll try to help you out.

Did you make any software or hardware changes to your laptop?

Does the issue persist when you connect a headphone to your PC?

As you mentioned the left speaker working and the right speaker has crackling noise or not working.

Try the steps recommended below.

Go to Windows Device Manager > Sound, video, and game controllers section.
In the list of audio device drivers, look for Realtek High definition Audio. This is the device driver for BeatsAudio (a little bit sneaky, wouldn’t you say?).
Right-click and select Disable. The downward arrow displays on this driver, indicating it is disabled. (NOTE: At this point, you won’t be able to play any music files.)
Right-click and select Update Driver Software.
Select Browse my computer for driver software.
Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
You should see a window that says Select the device driver you want to install for this hardware. NOTE: If you see a window that says something like This is the best driver for this device, exit the window and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6.
In the Model box, highlight IDT Audio Device (this is the substitute audio device driver) and click Next.
At the Update Driver Warning window, click Yes. You should see a confirmation window with High Definition Audio Device displayed. Click Close.
In the list of audio device drivers in the Sound, video and game controllers section, you’ll notice that the High Definition Audio Device now displays instead of Realtek High definition Audio.
At the prompt to reboot, click Yes.

If the issue still persists try the steps recommended below.

Is the loudness equalization off? If not, please:
Right, click the speaker icon
select 'Playback Devices'. 
Highlight the default device
Click Properties
Click Enhancements tab
Next to 'Loudness Equalization' take out the checkmark in the box.
Click Apply
Click OK

Also, uninstall the audio driver from device manager and update the driver and BIOS using the link below.

Link to update the audio drivers.

Also, update the BIOS using this link.

You can update other drivers on your PC using HP support assistant.

Refer this article to know more information about using HP support assistant.

If the issue still persists after trying out the steps try installing the drivers using HP recovery manager.

Refer this article to know how to restore drivers using HP recovery manager.

If you have tried all the steps and if the issue persists.

It is certainly a hardware issue with your laptop, please contact HP support for service options.

Link to contact HP.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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Have a great day!