Crackling sound while playing music in HP SPECTRE X360 Ultrabook

[sempi601]

Hi, I totally agree with you. I also think that downgrading is not a proper solution. I only decided to do so because I got fed up with the quality of the sound. There were many updates, but none of them did any significant change.
Yes I'm using the latest drivers from Hp website for Windows 8.

I wanted to use this so called premium laptop without issues. Anyways I am looking forward to update to Windows 10 as soon as there is a final working solution.

[eded1122]

I'm not having the problem anymore.  I bought my spectre through the Microsoft store so I brought it back to them in late December.  I sat with a a tech support guy and he when to the Realtek site (I hadn't thought to do that) and downloaded a new driver.  This process needs validation, but crackling is gone.

According to my device manager,   the driver service added is RTKI2SAC.  The codec is Rtk12SCodec.  The device installed is rtki2sac.inf.  Driver date is 9/30/2015.  Version is 6.4.10041.130

The tech could have done other things, because I couldn'd see the screen the entire time....

[TedSteel]

@ eded1122 - that's the same driver most of us (or all of us?) have for the audio driver. Very glad to hear it's working for you, but unfortunately I'm still getting the pops and crackling. It has been marginally better, but in truth I've been using my laptop for non-audio stuff recently. Seems anytime I so stream audio though, it happens. YouTube much less so but iHeart Radio or Spotify, the sound quickly falls apart.

I do love this machine and Windows 10 is pretty slick. There are a few other annoyances (airplane mode light doesn't work but used to), but overall I love the machine. The sound issue is the by far the biggest buzzkill with this laptop.

[rkwj25]

Hi All,

I too recently purchased an HP Spectre x360 and was a bit let down about this crackling and buzzing audio issue.

I was dealing with it (as it seems to come and go) however, it was becoming increasingly irritating. I do not know the root cause of what it is, but I am sure that it is a software problem.

I can confirm that when I experience the crackling and buzzing, I can stop and restaer the Windows Audio Service along with the Audio Endpoint Builder Service.

The steps to do this are as follows:

1. Open the start menu and type "cmd"

2. Right click on "Command Prompt" and choose "Rus as Administrator"

3. Type to following commands:

net stop audiosrv  and  net stop AudioEndpointBuilder

4. After you successfully stop the services, let's restart them: 

net start audiosrv  and  net start AudioEndpointBuilder

You can open Notepad and paste these commands one line at a time, saving the file as {filename}.bat which will allow you to create a convenient shortcut to launch, anytime that you experience the crackling.

This solution has thus far worked for me, and I really hope it can help my fellow Spectre x360 owners get the most out of this beautiful machine. If you have any questions, or feedback as to whether or not this worked for you,  I'd love to hear it.

- RKWJ25

[andrewiam_com]

Unfortunately, the commands did nothing when they were executed. The clipping still occurs and the enhancements are still enabled.

[rcblanke]

Hmm, another BIOS update today (http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?swItemId=ob_158788_1#tab2) which  'Provides improved audio quality and volume' according to HP. Let's hope for the best..

EDIT: Actually, this particular version was released on dec.17th apparently, though I didn't get a notification from HP Support Assistent earlier, strange..

Ronald

[andrewiam_com]

I just checked for updates recently, so I think that update was released later than it says.  I just flashed it and found there was no improvement. 

[andrewiam_com]

HP released an update to the Realtek driver that claims it "provides improved performance when the system microphone is used".  I have not tested the microphones, but this update does not fix either of the primary issues. 

[goldflame09]

I don't want to seem crazy, but i was listening to pandora just recently, no problems and no sound distortions, but then my cloud syncing service kicked in and was downloading about a 1gb file and the distortions and crackeling kicked through the roof. If i paused the download, it went away. I don't know how the network driver could be having an effect on the sound, but it was. Not sure if any of you have experienced this as well.

[daxliniere]

That's it HP, I'm out.

My x360 13-4009tu has developed a random crackle** in the right speaker.

**This is not the same crackle related to the topic of this thread or the DTS Sound "Enhancements" support thread. This is a random crackling that occurs even when no sound is playing.

There is also an 'electrical' noise coming from both speakers. It's quiet, but I'm an audio engineer and am often in 'silent' rooms. It's extremely apparent to me.

What is also extremely apparent to me is that HP truly does not care for its users. When a company has "sales > support" mentality, it can only mean one thing.

There are many things I love about this laptop, but MULTIPLE reports of MULTIPLE sound issues from multiple users over MONTHS with no fix has meant I have lost all confidence in HP, not only in their desire to deliver a quality product and customer satisfaction, but even in their ability  to provide those things.

I will be lodging a complaint with HP and intend to escalate it.

Sincerely,

Dax Liniere.