-
×InformationNeed Windows 11 help?Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
Windows 11 Support Center. -
-
×InformationNeed Windows 11 help?Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
Windows 11 Support Center. -
- HP Community
- Notebooks
- Notebook Audio
- Buzzing/crackling noises with headphones plugged in

Create an account on the HP Community to personalize your profile and ask a question
11-26-2020 06:40 PM - edited 11-26-2020 06:44 PM
Dear HP Support,
I bought a HP Pavilion laptop last year and from the beginning I have been getting some buzzing and mostly static crackling noises when using headphones. I have tried three different headphones and they all have this problem to varying degrees. I tried rolling back the Realtek audio driver, and this did solve the noise problem, but then caused the problem that sound began to come out of the laptop speakers and headphones simultaneously. As the product is still under warranty I took it back to the store I bought it from a few weeks ago, and they replaced the speakers. This did not solve the problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
AWILL1999
11-29-2020 04:41 PM
I reviewed your post and I understand that you are facing issues with the audio.
Don’t worry, I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.
I recommend you run the audio troubleshooter and it will automatically find and fix audio issues.
Here is how it is done.
- Launch Troubleshooting by typing and clicking “Troubleshooting” in Windows search.
- Click on "Playing Audio".
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
If you continue facing the issue, then uninstall the audio driver from the device manager and then download and install it from the below link.
https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp104001-104500/sp104021.exe
Here is how it is done.
- Type "Device Manager" into the search field to open the device manager console.
- Expand the node that represents the type of device that you want to uninstall, right-click the device entry, and click Uninstall.
- On the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click OK to start the uninstall process.
- When the uninstall process is complete, remove the device.
NOTE: On the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click the Delete the driver software for this device option to delete the driver package that was used for the device.
Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!
P.S: Welcome to the HP Support Community 😊
If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!
Cheers!
Stay Home – Stay Safe
The_Fossette
I am an HP Employee
11-30-2020 07:20 PM
Hi @The_Fossette, thanks for your response and kind words.
I ran the "Playing audio" troubleshooter and it told me to turn off sound effects and enhancements. When I clicked "Yes, Open Audio Enhancements" it came up with "Troubleshooting couldn't identify the problem". By default my audio enhancements are not enabled by the way.
I followed the steps of uninstalling the realtek driver before downloading and lauching the installer for the other one. I'm still definitely getting noise.
I don't think the downloaded driver is installing properly. I run the exe as administrator and it comes up with a cmd window saying "Done" yet in the bottom right of my screen it says "No Audio Output Device is Installed" and there is no sound
I restarted again and the old driver is back on the computer plus the noise is back.
I've tried this a number of times with different headphones and still no improvement unfortunately.
AWILL1999
12-01-2020 11:29 AM
I recommend you follow the steps in the below article and perform a reset on the computer and test.
https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c04742289
Let me know how it goes and you have a great day!
If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!
Cheers!
Stay Home – Stay Safe
The_Fossette
I am an HP Employee