High-pitched tone from Spectre x360 speakers

[SamBam]

A problem has just developed with my laptop that causes a high-pitched tone (6 kHz, 12 kHz, and possibly higher order harmonics) to play from my speakers whenever any other sounds are playing, and for several seconds afterwards.  When no sound is playing, everything is silent, but when there is sound playing, the tone appears.  If the sound is stopped, the tone continues for several more seconds but then stops.  The amplitude of the tone is independent of the volume of the sound that accompanies it (i.e., I can adjust the sound volume up and down but the tone is not affected).  The tone is only present when playing sound out of the built-in laptop speakers; it is not present when using headphones or Bluetooth speakers.

[Nal_NR]

Hi @SamBam,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

I'd be glad to help you! 

I understand that you are having issues with the High-pitched tone from Spectre x360 speakers.

I recommend you uninstall the audio driver from the device manager and then download and install it from the below link and test. 

Click here

Here is how it is done.

Uninstall:

1. Start Control Panel, click Hardware and Sound, and then click Device Manager.
2. Expand the node that represents the type of device that you want to uninstall, right-click the device entry, and click Uninstall.
3. On the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click OK to start the uninstall process.
4. When the uninstall process is complete, remove the device.

NOTE: On the Confirm Device Removal dialog box, click the Delete the driver software for this device option to delete the driver package that was used for the device.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

[SamBam]

Even the most recent of the audio drivers available from the link you provided

Realtek High-Definition (HD) Audio Driver (Windows 10 v1803/1809/1903); 6.0.1.8703 Rev.B; released Jul 30, 2019)

are too old/incompatible with my fully updated Windows OS.

[Nal_NR]

Hi @SamBam,

If the current audio drivers are incompatible with your current OS, you may need to wait for further updates or the release of compatible drivers.

Keep me posted for further assistance

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

[SamBam]

It is exceedingly unlikely that there will ever be "further updates or the release of compatible drivers." As mentioned previously, the most recent update is from July 2019, which is more than 5 years ago at this time.  Clearly these speakers are not longer actively supported.  That being said, clearly they still work with modern, updated operating systems, so some drivers are compatible, but they are just not listed on the linked page.  To suggest that a solution to this is simply to "wait for further updates" to software drivers is a fairly uninspired response, especially given the circumstances.

These speakers worked fine for years using the default drivers.  Even today, they still play sound using the default drivers.  The issue is that now they also emit a high-pitched tone whenever the speakers are activated, which ruins the experience, even though no changes to the sound drivers have occurred.  Are hardware issues a possibility? Could there be some fault in the actual device itself, which might (theoretically) be replaced?  No drivers would affect a hardware fault either way (ie., unlikely to cause, unlikely to correct)?

[Nal_NR]

Hi @SamBam ,

We apologize for the inconvenience. This could be a hardware issue. 

I recommend you contact phone support for further assistance with service options. 

For that to happen, we will give you additional instructions/information via Private Message.

Please check your inbox on the forums page for the private message.

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

[Nal_NR]

Hi @SamBam ,

Since the unit might need repair/service, I would request you contact HP Phone support.

Dial 1800 474 6836

Thanks
Elohi_NR

I am an HP Employee