Crackling Left Speaker on Brand New HP Spectre x360

[nbt52816]

I just purchased an HP Spectre x360, 15in model off of the website, and out of the box, the left speaker sounds crackly and blown. Multiple forums on here indicate this was a known issue back in 2015 and some had success by updating BIOS and audio drivers - both of which were unsuccessful for me. I'm hoping it's not a hardware issue. Anyone have any recent issues/successes fixing this?

[Chimney_83]

Greetings @nbt52816, 

Welcome to HP Forums and Thanks for the post. 

I understand that you are getting a crackling noise from the speaker of your computer, is that right?

Kudos to you for trying to troubleshoot the issue on your own.

Not to worry, I will be glad to assist you. 

May I know the exact product number of your computer? Click here. Please do not share the serial number of your computer.

Have you run an audio test on your computer?

Recommend you run HP Support Assistant on your computer to make sure all the drivers are updated. Click here to know about HPSA. 

Once all the drivers are updated using HPSA, check if the issue is resolved. 

If the issue persists, shut down your computer. 

Wait for a minute. 

Turn the computer On and keep tapping F2 repeatedly on startup to enter system diagnostics. 

Once the computer is in system diagnostics, select component test and run an audio test. 

If the crackling noise is heard during the test as well. 

Request you contact our phone support to check on any service options available for your computer. 

If the audio test passes, restart your computer. 
Uninstall the audio driver from device manager. 

Please delete the driver when prompted during uninstall.

Restart your computer. 

Download and install the driver from this link and check. 

Let me know if this helped. 

[nbt52816]

Hello. I appreciate the troubleshooting tips. I performed the audio test and still heard the crackling in the speaker, which leads me to believe it is a hardware issue. I called phone support and they are sending me a box to ship it back for repairs.

[SAMSP]

I just got brand new spectre HP with 4k, 15". The left speaker makes cracking sounds when I play youtube or any mp3 audio file. VERY DISAPPOINTED. This is supposed to high end laptop.  The issue came up 2 mintues after booting brand new laptop.

I plan to return. It would be terrible to get this repaired.

[wtf222]

I ordered my HP Spectre x360 on Black Friday 2 weeks ago.  I opened it out of the box and have the SAME SPEAKER ISSUE!  OMG I am so ticked off. My brother told me to buy a Macbook instead but noooooo I didn't want to listen.  I am calling and returning this piece of junk first thing in the morning as the customer service line is closed of course.

[DS2017]

I faced the same problem with a brand new spectre x360 15 with 4K display. i bought it in the black friday and the left speaker is crackling. I am thinking of returning it too.

[SAMSP]

 I  returned the laptop for cracking noise speaker. I must tell HP is good at refunds without making a fuss. HP laptops are great in general and I am so surprised they screwed up such a high end spectre laptop.  (I used HP paviliaon for 5 years with no issues). The main reason I opted HP is the brilliant screen. 

[nbt52816]

I wish I returned mine at the time. Not going to lie, their repair was fast and I had my computer back the same week I sent it out with a new speaker and no issue, however, not more than a month later the USB hub failed (hardware issue again), so I had to send it for repairs AGAIN. And like last time, it was back within the same week. Thankfully I haven't had any issues since, but I'm just waiting for the next hardware issue. I'm not keen on spending $1400 on a laptop that had hardware issues in less than 5 months of ownership. Meanwhile, my MacBook Pro 2012 is still going strong 🙂

[SAMSP]

Hopefully you will not have anymore issues. Looks like they are good at fixing things. I just hate to send my laptop for repair on day 1 after purchase. Just me.

[nbt52816]

I hope I don't either. And I totally understand where you're coming from. What was good/bad about the whole thing for me was they claimed that on the 2nd return they did a full 'quality check' and I shouldn't have any more issues... but my issue with that is, why on such a high-end laptop, did they not do a full quality check in the beginning before sending it out..... But that's just me.