Crackling sound while playing music in HP SPECTRE X360 Ultrabook

[marcolorenzo]

what do you mean it has separate volume control when headphones are plugged in? When I plug in my headphones, if the volume was set to 80 without headphones, it would remain 80 when headphones are plugged in. This was something that I also disliked about the Spectre but have learnt to deal with it (by immediately dialing down the volume after plugging in the headphones). My older laptop would have separate volumes for headphones and internal speakers.

[parkgt]

Speakers:

Headphones plugged in:

No need to adjust when changing; settings are saved

[andrewiam_com]

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@parkgt wrote:

No need to adjust when changing; settings are saved

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You have a newer Spectre x360 with a Conexant DAC instead of a Realtek DAC. 

[andrewiam_com]

Hello from the other thread! I didn't realize this thread existed until today; oops! I have been fighting this issue since July, when HP replaced my second Spectre x360 4003dx with a Spectre x360 4101dx (which is the same model, but with Windows 10). The issue might have existed sooner, but I can't remember. Here is a list of facts I have found after months of testing:

• Our issue is actually two issues: the DTS Audio Enhancements are misconfigured, and the Audio Enhancements do not stay off.
• Both issues are driver issues. All Windows driver versions have these issues, including the generic driver from Realtek's website. These issues do not exist in Linux.
• Modifying the driver does not fix the issue, with one exception below. I have tried deleting and altering configuration files, exe's, and registry keys to no avail.
• The Audio Enhancements are governed by a file, "C:\ProgramData\SRS Labs\APO\slconfig.xml". The Audio Enhancements settings are saved to this file.
• If you change most booleans in slconfig.xml from "1" to "0", the Enhancements are modified to stop the "crackling" (which is called "clipping" in the audio industry) but the audio instead sounds suppressed and muffled. I do not know if it is possible to modify slconfig.xml to alter the Enhancements to sound like they are effectively disabled, negating the other issue below.
• You can temporarily disable these Audio Enhancements from the DTS Audio Control Panel. After rebooting, the Audio Enhancements appear to reenable themselves, even though the DTS Panel still shows they are disabled. Checking and unchecking the Enhancements box will again temporarily disable the Audio Enhancements. Changing the Audio Enhancements settings (the sliders and modes) will stick through reboots.
• From this behavior, I can assume that the Realtek driver does not check to see if Audio Enhancements should be disabled on boot, but it can still receive the signal to disable them from the DTS Audio Control Panel. However, the Realtek driver does check slconfig.xml on boot to see how it should configure the Audio Enhancements.
• HP recently released new revisions of the Spectre x360 with Conexant chips instead of Realtek chips. The Conexant chips keep track of separate headphone and speaker volumes unlike the Realtek chips.
• The Realtek drivers are actually two drivers: a driver for Intel Smart Sound (on the PCIe bus) and the Realtek chip (on the I2C bus). If you extract the setup, you will find the Intel Smart Sound driver has multiple configurations for different manufacturers, including HP and Lenovo, some of which install less files. Forcing any of the different configurations to install has no effect. Surprisingly, it is the Intel Smart Sound driver that contains the DTS Audio Control Panel. The Realtek driver only contains two exe’s and the three core driver files. You need to install both the Realtek driver and the Intel Smart Sound driver for audio to function.
• The clipping/crackling is most noticeable when a song it “loud” but not distorted. My best example is the YouTube and SoundCloud versions of Don Diablo’s “On My Mind”. You should hear crackling and distortion starting at 0:16 (a few seconds later in the YouTube video).

There are further tests I need to conduct and you can help with.

• Some people report that plugging and unplugging headphones has the same effect of reenabling Audio Enhancements as you would see when you reboot. Is this true? I don’t know because in my testing I have always unplugged my headphones before shutting down and plug them back in after booting.
• Do the new Conexant chips have the same issue? Does Intel Smart Sound show up in the Device Manager for Spectre x360 laptops with the new Conexant chips?
• Is it possible to modify slconfig.xml to effectively disable Audio Enhancements?

After weeks of going back and forth with HP, they eventually said “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature” and have ignored me since. [Information in violation of the Rules of Participation removed]. Thanks for reading all this, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

[daxliniere]

Hey everyone,

It's nice to see there is another group of passionately disgruntled Spectre users. As Andrew has said, we've basically been ignored in the other thread, so this is a nice surprise to find. Obvious bugs being touted as 'fine' grinds my gears.

HP, lift your game and get this [edited] fixed ASAP, please!

[parkgt]

"Do the new Conexant chips have the same issue? Does Intel Smart Sound show up in the Device Manager for Spectre x360 laptops with the new Conexant chips?

Don't know if this is the Smart Sound mentioned but this is what is there.

I can not detect the crackling issue with or without headphones, but admit to damaged hearing.

[TedSteel]

Dax, Andrew - 

Welcome to "the other thread"! I just finished reading your DTS Audio entitled thread. I had no idea there was a similar thread dedicated to this that had the same heft behind it (if not more based on Andrew's efforts). 

Short story: My wife is a creative type, started her own design company and is part of the Mac Koolaid drinking family. She laughed at me when the Spectre x360 4003dx arrived because it looked like, felt like and smelled like a Mac. "Why didn't you just buy a Mac?" I actually felt I bought a better Mac. But after what feels like only hours of ownership, I started troubleshooting this thing and have been troubleshooting it ever since. She continues to laugh because her Mac just works.

I've been reluctant to publicly lay down too much fodder on a message forum. I'm more of the "let's dig in and figure this out" type. However, I'm increasingly annoyed by this persistent issue. HP has gone deaf on us. This is HP's support forum that HP directs consumers to use. What really irritates me is the following pattern that I'm seeing over-and-over:

1. Consumers are pointed to this forum a) via HP's website, b) via HP's support software installed on their machines and c) by HP's tech support team.
2. Good news: HP seems to read every thread initially.
3. Bad news: HP hops in, throws out a suggestion and in the same breath, asks you to mark it fixed before knowing if they've solved your issue (this feels like a car dealership that while buying your new car, tells you that you'll be receiving a survey from the manufacturer and "please mark us 5 out of 5 for all categories" before you've even left the dealership lot).
4. After HP's initial response, they reply once, maybe twice more - but their additional posts lack anything significant, helpful or constructive.
5. HP goes into hiding while consumers are left to figure it out on their own.
6. HP apparently deletes some users posts that are deemed non-constructive.

I'd be content (truly!) if at the very minimum HP simply acknowledged this issue and said, "Hey, we got this and are working on it". But we're getting radio silence.

I'd be willing to shut up about this if it weren't for the fact that so many of us have called HP. So many of us have directed HP back to this forum during those calls. So many of us have tried to help HP solve their own issue. I've spent more time on this than I'm willing to admit for fear that I'll be labeled incompetent.

At this juncture, I'm not sure what I want given others have received replacement machines and the issues persist. I wasn't ready to ask for a refund. But I'm getting closer after reading the other thread.  I've been troubleshooting the crackling audio and left channel pop since July while others have been since May.  This has to be on HP's radar. This is a fundamental usability issue. That fact that HP is sticking their head in the sand is incredibly disheartening.

As a result, this will likely be my last HP product. The irony is I bought this machine because of the success I had with an HP laptop at the company I worked for (a company with an enormous IT spend). I'm now deterring others from going HP in their hardware choices because of the lack of attention given to consumers via the resources HP is directing its customers to use. Consumers vote with their wallets.

Ted

[SusanC0425]

What is the Meg Whitman contact page?  That sounds like a good idea, since we are getting nowhere with HP support on this forum or via phone.

[JayPS]

I too have the crackling speakers, cant permanently shut off "enhancements" issue.  I've read both threads and am going to contact the company as well.  I too can't believe HP hasn't at least acknowledged the issue and came up with plan to fix it. 

[andrewiam_com]

I tried some new drivers from an Asus laptop and Intel NUC.  A NUC driver (or was it windows?) for Smart Sound, combined with a windows driver for Realtek, made audio with no crackling but really quiet bass and distorted highs.  So I'll look at slconfig.xml for that.  Also, I found that Intel Smart Sound Technology is the driver with the DTS Audio Control Panel.  I'm not sure if Realtek or Intel is ultimately responsible for bundling it though. 

Thanks @parkgt for the screenshot.  It looks like the Conexant chips work on their own and don't need Intel SST. 

[Information in violation of the Rules of Participation removed]