Crackling sound while playing music in HP SPECTRE X360 Ultrabook

[BinaryJay]

Yes, my first support contact regarding this issue involved me reinstalling some drivers blah blah blah (yes all things I had already done, allowing them to run their course...) and of course, as always, the sound is fine after a reboot or simply disabling the audio device and re-enabling - or even just letting the sound stop and leaving it alone for some time without doing anything else.   If the audio device is enabled and not reporting any errors that you can see on the screen HP says it's working great and wash their hands of it - most people will end support calls saying it's fixed at this point too only to have it return once they start doing anything that requires network access and audio at the same time.

There has not been a new driver for the audio devices in these laptops since the summer, at all, and you cannot find anything on the realtek or intel's site to just get your own drivers if indeed they have produced anything since then.  It's very frustrating to be at the mercy of the manufacturer of the PC for drivers, particularly when nobody will admit that there is a problem.

I only hope that a Windows Update is forthcoming that resolves this at the OS level, there was some chatter about a fast ring insider build that specifically mentioned an issue with realtek devices being fixed but it is anybody's guess if this is the issue that was mentioned or when that particular patch will actually make it to the mainstream build and out to the general public.  Personally I'm not willing to turn PCs I actually work on into insider guinea pigs so I'm not about to test it.

Now will somebody at HP that monitors these forums please get their heads out from between their legs and escalate this GENERAL issue with these laptops to somebody internally that can actually provide answers?

Currently the only way to actually enjoy any kind of media playback for any length of time with these spectre x360s is to use an external audio device of some sort like bluetooth speakers/headphones or a USB audio device - neither of which will allow you to use the laptops built in speakers and both of which require you carry around extra junk.

[marcolorenzo]

I'm sorry for your troubles, it's a shame you had to waste so much time without anything to show for it. I think for now, there's not much that we can do other than keep pestering HP so we shouldn't bother wasting any more time with drivers and what not.
I'm interested to here though in what situations you guys encounter the crackling sound during audio playback (not the "pop" that happens just after audio finishes)? I mostly don't get it but I did notice it sometimes during low frequency sounds. For example, I was watching The Matrix Reloaded the other day and noticed significant crackling noise during a scene that showed a ship flying where the camera was zoomed into the engine. As soon as the view changed to a quieter scene, the crackling was gone.
Dont know if this means anything but it wouldn't hurt to gather as much data as possible to try to pinpoint the issue.

[BinaryJay]

I've already explained the issue.  The audio drivers fall apart when there is wifi use over a period of time due to the wifi drivers causing high dpc latency and the audio drivers/audio device having an insufficient buffer to be able to compensate for it.

Do anything you want in airplane mode and I bet you won't see it.

[Johne4U]

Hi Binary Jay

The actual cause of the issue is not my concern.  I paid HP over £1000 of my hard earned cash so I did not have to worry about such issues.

My issue is that HP simply will not aknowledge this issue, thus provide any kind of update as to progress towards a solution.

I have not found many forums detailing similar problems with the surface for example.

For me the issue is with the laptop I purchased, which, with the audio problem is not fit for purpose.

I want my money back!

[RottenApple]

Hello,

The sound issue has yet to be fixed by HP.  I've been reading the forum for months and have posted in one thread (linked below).  I have called HP support and have a case number but still no solution.  We still have crackling and low volume.

Our HP Spectre X360 model number is N5R93UA and we have the latest/only driver from the HP Support web site which was updated Oct 11, 2015. The HP support software has updated the BIOS and other drivers automatically but no new audio driver was detected. The currently installed driver is the same as listed on the support site.

Released: Jul 27, 2015

Version 6.4.10041.127 Rev.A

Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio

Many people have the same problems and returning the machine for another is no guarantee of a fix based on the posts in this forum.

HP Support please advise of any known fixes to the issue or if the computers will be recalled for a hardware fix under warranty.

Thanks,

Apple

Referenced post

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-PC-Sound-and-Audio/HP-Spectre-X360-Sound-Issues/m-p/5319703#M7...

[Iamnotpleased]

I want to add my voice here as well and particularly second Johne4U's comment on ‎10-19-2015 12:23 PM.

I like reading this thread because a lot of you folks are clearly computer savvy. I am not. That's why I bought this laptop. I didn't pay all that money for a sleek design or a specific operating system. I paid for convenience. I paid so that I wouldn't have any of these ridiculous issues. I don't have the know-how, time, or patience to troubleshoot what should be a basic, reliable funcionality of any computer (i.e. AUDIO!).

Dear HP,

According to some intelligent contributors in this forum, it sounds like it's possible that you are not exclusively responsible for this issue. However, you are HP. You are the computer expert. I am the ignorant and disgruntled client. This product that I bought brand new at top dollar clearly suffers a major defect. That is unacceptable. Please send me a refund and I will send you the defective product.

Thank you for your honorable commerce,

Disatisfied Customer

[RottenApple]

Hello SDF15,

I called HP support for the third time and they stated that this is a known issue.  I am willing to uninstall and reinstall drivers but before I make the changes, I want to know which sound drivers to remove and which sound drivers to install.  In other words, what is the known solution and what is the correct configuration for the drivers?  The support representative could not answer the question but stated that if I uninstall all drivers, Microsoft will search and find the correct drivers.

Has anyone been successful with this approach?  For reference, I want share our observation that the concerns may be related to what we observe in the control panel versus what is installed in the device manager.

The device manager includes the Realtek HD Audio driver Version 6.4.10041.127 Rev.A Released: Jul 27, 2015.  It also includes Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) version 8.4.2.105 dated June 25, 2015.

However, there is only one audio device available in the control panel under "Manage Audio Devices".
Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) is the default and only device, there are no other options.

Other troubleshooting we have tested was based on advice in the forums.  We also "Opened the "DTS Audio Control Panel" and go to the "Listening Experience" panel. Unselect "Audio Enhancements."  This was posted in the following
forum location http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-PC-Sound-and-Audio/Crackling-sound-while-playing-music-in-HP-S...

This has not corrected the problems for us and I don't know the origin of the DTS software but it is likely part of the Realtek driver package because it does not look like an Intel product.

I've decided to hold off changes based on the results in the various forum posts until a solution is provided and supported by HP.

This is an expensive machine and we hope to get an HP supported solution soon.

- Apple

There are a few related forum posts, perhaps HP can consolidate the information as we work towards a solution.
Examples:
a)   http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-PC-Sound-and-Audio/Crackling-sound-while-playing-music-in-HP-S...
b)  http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-PC-Sound-and-Audio/HP-Spectre-X360-Sound-Issues/m-p/5319834#M7...

[RottenApple]

Hello,

I apologize for the cross post but this issue is discussed in at least three separate threads.  HP Support provided some feedback at the following thread  http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-PC-Sound-and-Audio/HP-Spectre-X360-Sound-Issues/m-p/5319834#M7...

I've decided to hold off changes based on the results in the various forum posts until a solution is provided and supported by HP.  This is an expensive machine and we hope to get an HP supported solution soon.

- Apple

[BinaryJay]

I have exhausted all options and I do not state this lightly.  I spent considerable amount of time researching and attempting to work around this problem and I say this as a professional software developer that understands the ins and outs of a PC and the software that runs on them.   There is nothing we, the users, can do about this currently despite HP chanting "reinstall drivers, reset this and that" over and over on this forum and when requesting support.  This would be like the auto industry responding to complaints about defective tires by telling customers to remove them from the car and place the same tires back on again.   It is not a fix, period.  The only things that may fix the problem are:

1) Microsoft makes some change to Windows that mitigates the problem.

2) New hardware drivers are provided that specifically mitigate the problem. 

3) HP replaces the machines with ones that have different hardware.

I will wait, for now, patiently for option 1 or option 2 to become a reality but once my Spectre X360 starts getting closer to it's warranty end date I am going to start pushing HP agressively for option 3.

P.S. It appears some of my posts are being deleted from the forum for being "not helpful".  I respectfully ask that every post HP has made with suggestions of removing and installing drivers, etc. related to this issue also be deleted for being not helpful because they certainly are not and are wasting users time.

[TedSteel]

Hey BinaryJay - 

Who is deleting your posts? HP? That's not good business if that's the case. I never saw anything unhelpful in your posts but rather to the contrary. I took some of your input and tried to troubleshoot a different set of settings/components/hardware/etc. on the machine because of it. Like I said at one point - an open source approach.

Company sponsored support or social forums are a double edged sword - as a company, don't offer them if you're not going to monitor them and answer questions from the people you are pointing to use the forums. If there was a post from HP saying, "We are actively working it" I'd feel a heck of a lot better.

I personally do not want to get into publicly bashing a company (hopefully that's clear throughout my posts) but if BinaryJay's contributions are being deleted that's concerning. I thought other posts were more "inflamatory".

I too am waiting on Option 1 and 2. I too have made a living in technology for quite some time and understand the complexities involved here. But...

Ted