REALLY tired of sound issues with HP laptops

[imaref]

I continue to have trouble with a "pop" sound every time I start playing a video (youtube, etc.), anytime that I change the volume, and also during most Windows alerts. It's driving me up a wall. It also happens any time that I skip to a different point in a video (youtube, etc.).

I believe there is a major conflict between all of the HP provided audio drivers and the Intel Smart Sound Technology, and this conflict causes audio issues.

The only way I can get rid of the pop sound (and restore my sanity):

If you have an Intel chip, go to Device Manger, expand System Devices, and look for "Intel Smart Sound Technology OED".

RIGHT click on it and choose "Disable Device". When it asks if you're sure, choose YES.

See is that solves the issue.

If it works, your sound won't be quite as rich as before but the popping should stop.

If this doesn't work for you, simply follow the same directions but choose "Enable Device" instead.

It's a shame that I have to do this (because the sound is not quite as rich), but I just can't stand the popping noise...

HP--please see if your engineers can figure out what the conflict is between your proprietary audio drivers and the Intel Smart Sound Technology.

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @imaref, Welcome to HP forums.

I understand you have audio issues with your laptop.

Don't worry I'll try to help you out.

Did you make any software or hardware changes on your laptop?

Does the pop sound when you play the audio file stored on your laptop?

Have you tried checking with different browsers?

Please provide the product number of your PC to assist you better.

As you mentioned you hear a pop sound when you play a video on youtube.

Please try the steps recommended below.

Go to Control Panel -> Devices Manager -> Audio, Video and Games Controllers

And find there Realtek audio card. Click on it with the right button of your mouse and choose ' Properties '.
Select ' Driver ' tab and select Roll Back Driver check if the issue persists.

Go to Windows Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers section.
In the list of audio device drivers, look for Realtek High-Definition Audio. This is the device driver for BeatsAudio (a little bit sneaky, wouldn’t you say?).
Right-click and select Disable. The downward arrow displays on this driver, indicating it is disabled. (NOTE: At this point, you won’t be able to play any music files.)
Right-click and select Update Driver Software.
Select Browse my computer for driver software.
Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
You should see a window that says Select the device driver you want to install this hardware. NOTE: If you see a window that says something like This is the best driver for this device, exit the window and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6.
In the Model box, highlight High Definition Audio Device (this is the substitute audio device driver) and click Next.
At the Update Driver Warning window, click Yes. You should see a confirmation window with High Definition Audio Device displayed. Click Close.
In the list of audio device drivers in the Sound, video and game controllers section, you’ll notice that the High Definition Audio Device now displays instead of Realtek High-Definition Audio.
At the prompt to reboot, click Yes.

If the issue still persists try the steps recommended below.

Is the loudness equalization off? If not, please:
Right, click the speaker icon
select 'Playback Devices'. 
Highlight the default device
Click Properties
Click Enhancements tab
Next to 'Loudness Equalization' take out the check mark in the box.
Click Apply
Click OK

If the issue still persists uninstall the audio driver from device manager and install the drivers using HP recovery manager.

Refer this article to know how to restore drivers using HP recovery manager.

If the solution provided worked for you, please mark accepted solution for this post.

Let me know if this works!

Have a great day! 🙂

Please click "Accept as Solution" if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the "Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say "Thanks" for helping!

[imaref]

It's NOT a hardware issue because as soon as I right click on "Intel Smart Sound Technology OED" and disable it, no more popping sounds. AT ALL.

I don't have Realtek--I have Conexant with the Bang & Olufsen so IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN OFF ENHANCEMENTS AS THERE ARE NONE LISTED.

[A4Apollo]

@imaref, Thanks for your quick response and time.

I appriciate your efforts for writing back to us.

As you mentioned you have Conexant audio drivers on your PC.

Try following the same steps in my previous thread instead of Realtek select Conexant.

Also, try updating the BIOS. Also, I see the latest update for audio drivers try updating the driver from the links below.

Link to update BIOS.

Also, update the audio drivers using this link.

Let me know how it goes!

Take Care! 🙂

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[imaref]

1. BIOS and audio drivers are up to date.

2. Your suggestion #1 -

Go to Control Panel -> Devices Manager -> Audio, Video and Games Controllers

And find there Realtek audio card. Click on it with the right button of your mouse and choose ' Properties '.
Select ' Driver ' tab and select Roll Back Driver check if the issue persists.

RESULTS: driver was rolled back to the Conexant version from May. Rebooted computer--popping issues remain.

3. Your suggestion #2 - Go to Windows Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers section.
In the list of audio device drivers, look for Realtek High-Definition Audio. This is the device driver for BeatsAudio (a little bit sneaky, wouldn’t you say?).
Right-click and select Disable. The downward arrow displays on this driver, indicating it is disabled. (NOTE: At this point, you won’t be able to play any music files.)
Right-click and select Update Driver Software.
Select Browse my computer for driver software.
Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
You should see a window that says Select the device driver you want to install this hardware. NOTE: If you see a window that says something like This is the best driver for this device, exit the window and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6.
In the Model box, highlight High Definition Audio Device (this is the substitute audio device driver) and click Next.
At the Update Driver Warning window, click Yes. You should see a confirmation window with High Definition Audio Device displayed. Click Close.
In the list of audio device drivers in the Sound, video and game controllers section, you’ll notice that the High Definition Audio Device now displays instead of Realtek High-Definition Audio.
At the prompt to reboot, click Yes.

RESULTS: no HD High Definition Audio Device shows up there. Unable to complete.

3. Your suggestion #3 - Is the loudness equalization off? If not, please:
Right, click the speaker icon
select 'Playback Devices'. 
Highlight the default device
Click Properties
Click Enhancements tab
Next to 'Loudness Equalization' take out the check mark in the box.
Click Apply
Click OK

RESULTS: The wonderful engineers at Bang & Olufsen have made it impossible to turn off enhancements--they don't even show up in the enhancements tab, so there's nothing to turn off.

4. Your suggestion #4 - If the issue still persists uninstall the audio driver from device manager and install the drivers using HP recovery manager.

RESULTS--I do clean installs of Windows 10 and delete all partitions--no HP recovery exists.

As I stated before, if I RIGHT click on "Intel Smart Sound Technology OED" in Device Manager and choose "Disable", the popping sound goes away, but the sound is not quite as rich.

I believe that there is a driver conflict between "Intel Smart Sound Technology OED", Conexant audio driver sand Bang & Olufsen drivers/enhancements.

[Dvortex]

Hello, @imaref

I see that you were interacting with @A4Apollo. He is out of office and I'd like to help 🙂

It certainly looks like a driver conflict between Intel audio drivers and the B&O drivers 😞

Did you run the Windows update on your PC? If not, try and run the Windows updates and restart the PC. There are certain audio issues which are resolved via Windows updates. Hence, make sure to run the Windows updates. 

Also, download and run the Intel Driver & Support Assistant to update all the Intel drivers directly from the manufacturer.

You can get the Intel driver support assistant here: http://intel.ly/2AFuMFQ  

Restart the PC once done.

Also, from my colleague's previous instruction, try to update the drivers from the Device Manager and select "High Definition drivers" instead of HD high definition and check.

Let me know how that goes!

Cheers 🙂
 

Please click "Accepted as Solution" on the post that solves your issue to help others find the solution. To show appreciation for my help, please click the "Thumbs Up Icon" below!

[imaref · Accepted solution]

Well I finally got this figured out. I posted on the Intel Communities and they suggested the problem could be that maybe I'm using the generic HD 620 graphics drivers (and that package also includes the Intel Smart Audio Drivers) and that I should be using only the HP provided HD 620 graphics/audio drivers. They were right.

In the past I have always used the generic HD graphics drivers from Intel (since they are updated much more frequently than the HP drivers)---turns out that's not a good idea with this computer. I followed their directions and the pop sound is completely gone.


In case others come here looking for the same info, I'm going to write below step by step what I did.


1. I downloaded both the Intel HD 620 driver from HP (the newest one available) and the latest audio driver from HP (in my case, this is Conexant)

2. Go the Device Manger, RIGHT click on HD 620 under display drivers and choose "uninstall", then in the box that pops up put a check in the box for "delete all drivers for this device". If you get a message that you're about to install drivers older than the current drivers, choose YES/install/OK. When it's finished and it asks to reboot, choose LATER.

3. Still in Device Manager, under System Devices, RIGHT click on Intel Smart Sound Technology (Intel(R( SST) Audio Controller and choose "uninstall", then in the box that pops up put a check in the box for "delete all drivers for this device".

4. When it's finished, reboot the computer.

5. Install the HD 620 driver that was downloaded from HP--reboot when asked.

6. Install the Conexant audio driver from HP--reboot when asked.

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @imaref, Thanks for your prompt response and time.

I am happy to hear that your issue got resolved.

If you have any queries in future related to any HP products, you can always reach out to us.

We will try our best to help you out.

Take care,

Have a great day! 🙂