Crackling audio noise on new HP Pavilion with Windows 20H2

[harryg4]

I'm wondering if anyone else is experiencing audio problems where the sound is heavily distorted with crackles and pops?  I downloaded the 600 MB audio soft pack and installed multiple times.  I've also reinstalled Windows 10 about 3 times and reinstalled the BIOS.  I did use HP Support with a real live person but we're at the point of having me ship the PC to HP in Texas for repair.  I was able to get the audio working for a short period of time with the support.hp.com audio troubleshooter.  As long as I use "shutdown" and not "restart", the fix keeps working.  But if I do a "restart", then the crackles come back.

[praveenbv]

Hi@harryg4, Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Request you to follow the below troubleshooting steps Audio issue 

To resolve this issue, download and install the SoftPaq or update the audio driver in Device Manager.

Option 1: Download and install the SoftPaq to update the audio driver:

Let's start off by updating the Bios, Chipset, and graphics card drivers on your PC from our HP support website, using this link.

Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver

Option 2: Update the audio driver in Device Manager

1. Open Device Manager.
2. Expand Sound video and game controllers.
3. Right-click on Realtek Audio Device.
4. Select Update Driver Software.
5. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the driver.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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