Crackling sound while playing music in HP SPECTRE X360 Ultrabook

[TedSteel]

BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. F.2C, 10/20/2015  <-- this is what I'm rockin. I don't have a more current version available.

Edit: posted too soon. This is what it updated to. It's too soon to tell if my issues persists...

[JayPS]

I've been trying to recreate the problem on my end after hearing about the BIOS update and haven't been able to.  How do I find my update history to determine if I got the one you guys are talking about.  I use HP Support Assistant and it says that all of my updates are current but I can't see how to view a history of what's been updated.   I've tried my most notorious song examples where the static always came through and so far haven't heard any.

Jay

[BinaryJay]

My BIOS is F2C Rev. A as well, released Oct 27.

It doesn't work like that, there is no particular "sound" that will cause the problem.   The main thing that will set it off is a continuous stream of music, eventually it will occur.  Stream long enough from an online music service or start streaming a movie from a network drive... it takes patience to duplicate it consistently sometimes.

[TedSteel]

Are you updating yours through the HP Support Assistant app?

[JayPS]

I update mine that way.  I always thought that the crackling I heard was more pronounced with certain sounds.  I've also had to pause or refresh a streaming audio to stop the static as well.  I've tried all of that this afternoon/evening and can't replicate it.  I'm wondering if the BIOS update fixed it.  I'm not comfortable though.

[goldflame09]

I just updated my BIOS from the Suooprt Assistant app. Right before the update I got the constant crackeling even with dts off. I'll report back if the problem comes back with the new BIOS

[marcolorenzo]

My driver support page is here although I always update through the HP Support Assistant program.

I just want to clarify that my biggest annoyance was always the little "pop" that occurs in the left speaker just after sound stopping. In regards to this problem, I can't seem to replicate it anymore after the BIOS update.

In terms of the crackling that people get during  playback, although I've experienced it, it was extremely rare. I understand that it has been proven that the problem comes from the wifi, not the sound drivers themselves, but for me, it has only happened when I turned the volume up above 80 (which I rarely do) and I noticed it happening mostly during low frequency sounds and each time on YouTube, never files from my hard drive.

Anyways, I don't remember when and under what circumstances each occurance happened but I definitely remember it happening when I watched the Star Wars Ep. VII trailer which was one of the few times that I turned the volume way up. So I've gone ahead and looped it several times now and the crackling didn't come back.

By the way, in the HP Support Assistant program, to see your driver update history, you need to click on Action Log under the Updates tab.

I've attached a screenshot so you can see:

[BinaryJay]

I don't have that support assistant bloatware installed.   Pretty much an unnecessary piece of software but anyway...

Last night I did a long test an I don't know if it was a recent windows update, the bios update I had done prior (which has change notes that don't mention the sound at all).  I was able to get through multiple episodes of a show streamed from my NAS and listened to an hour or so of music streaming from Groove Music Pass and the crackling didn't happen.

Of course,  it needs more time ... but just last night, it was okay.

I did notice a small pop once when playback ended for a song but it wasn't a recurring thing.

Jason

PS. this is what your BIOS says (same as mine, same version, same release date after all)

Release details

Released: Oct 26, 2015

Version F.2C Rev.A

Fix and enhancements

- Fixes an issue where the system displays the incorrect date after the system resumes from sleep or overnight hibernation. - Reduces power consumption to provide improved battery life.

I suppose it is possible that HP not only never admitted to any of us there was a problem, but at the same time was working on a solution to it that could be fixed by the BIOS (an odd place to solve an issue of this sort),  and release a BIOS that solves the issue that still does not admit to the problem - no mention in change notes - AND have Tier 2 support wanting to have the machine shipped back to them for "repair" even after said BIOS that fixes it has been released.

Like I said I'm reserving judgment until a longer time has passed because I have thought the problem had been solved before after other things I tried but I have been proved wrong before.

P.S. Today was supposed to be the day the big fall update to Windows 10 is supposed to drop.

[TedSteel]

Marcolorenzo - the pop has been the most annoying thing for me too. At its worst, it would prematurely cut off the end of pretty much all audio clips prematurely with the pop. This occurs (occurred? ...I hope) nearly all the time, without the need to stream over a NAS, YouTube, streaming music service, etc.  I have a 4003dx, which is a 1st gen machine - so is yours.

I also experienced what BinaryJay describes very well. Though this is a more intermittent issue.

Having said this, I'm not experiencing either issue today. I updated the BIOS and left a few driver updates running as I went to bed yesterday. Been on the machine for a couple hours today and so far so good. I'm not willing to declare victory, but the pop and crackling has yet to surface.

Regarding how I've been updating, I've been using both 1) the HP Support Assistant and 2) going directly to THIS page for my machine. Although, admittedly it's been a bit since I've used the second. I wasn't seeing the "Rev.A" on my local machine or in the HP Support Assistant so I thought I might not be seeing what you all were. If I hit Windows Button + 'R', enter msinfo32 and check BIOS version/date, it shows only F.2C with a date of 10/20/2015. This differs from the what's showing in the driver update page I linked above - F.2C Rev.A with a date of Oct 26, 2015 (with a file name of SP73339.exe). Not sure why there are inconsistencies between the two.

Regarding the conspiracy theory rogue BIOS update (hey I'm right there with you!!), it never ceases to amaze me how big corporates make decisions. IF the scenario you described is right, how does shipping machines back to HP make a lick of sense rather than just saying "we're working on it"? The former is astronomically more expensive immediately (shipping costs and support staff hours chasing down ghosts) and longer term when you have customers making decisions when it comes to their next machine purchase.

Ted

[TedSteel]

Spoke too soon. Crackling is back.

I downloaded the iHeart Radio app to try something new (with a triumphant sense of victory about this issue). About 5 min in, I got the digitized crackling sound. Paused the stream, it went away. Started it up, the crackling returned a short while later.