crackling on Audio when watching videos, you tube etc.

[fireguy1978ret]

I have a Pavillion 11x365,

  from day one when playing videos  via the web I get an audible crackling, having contacted Hp support initially the Drivers were re-installed which did not work followed by a system recovery which has also failed to solve the problem, I returned the notebook for a replacement having received the replacement it also displays the same problem. using headphones or Bluetooth speaker, the crackling is not present.

It has been suggested it may be Adobe flash player but reading forums is a mine field of technical jargon which does not really help me much. 

Hp support have been great I have to say but I need to try and solve this on my own.

[TwoPointOh]

Hi fireguy1978ret, welcome to the HP Forums. I was unable to identify the exact model of Pavilion 11 with the information you have provided.  What is the model or product number? What version of Windows is installed?
Here are guides to help you find that information:
Guide to finding your product number
Which Windows operating system am I running?

Can you provide me a few links to the videos that have crackling audio?

[fireguy1978ret]

Hi there,

many thanks for the reply.

It is a pavillion 11x360 theProduct number: G2C03EA#ABU running windows 8.1 64bit.

With regards to the crackling if I view any video online which involves adobe flash at some point and to varying degrees the crackling occurs my wife has a laptop( sony Viao) which when doing the same does not have any crackling.(watching identical videos)

I have videos  from my camera, and tutorial videos which I have no problems with I am assuming because it does not use the adobe flash player but applications

having just been on to you tube via explorer and firefox and picking random videos they all had some crackling to varying degrees.

As for sending you links to the videos it does seem a waste of your time as pretty much everything i have watched has crackling, I have noticed now as well that the videos don't play smoothly at times and yet on my wifes laptop no problem.

I have deleted and reinstalled adobe flash player a number of times with no change.

hope this helps and any further information please let me know.

Regards

Bob.

[fireguy1978ret]

Hello again,

just a quick update.

I have managed to download a video from you tube which had really bad crackling, having played it through windows media player no crackling is present.

hope this helps.

regards

bob

[TwoPointOh]

Thanks fireguy1978ret, great troubleshooting BTW! So you have narrowed the symptom down to audio crackling while streaming from Youtube.
It is kind of incredible that you have had it replaced for this exact issue, and have restored the system/drivers and it still persists. Clearly not a hardware issue with the notebook, but it doesn't make it any easier to determine what is causing it.

Take a look at this, and make sure your Enhancements are all disabled, this should directly translate to 8.1 instructions:
Fixed Windows 7 Sound (Popping, Cracking & Skipping)

If that doesn't do it, a BIOS update may be helpful: HP Notebook System BIOS Update (Intel Processors)

Is there a difference in the playback quality selection when you stream the video? What about trying it with an Ethernet cable, as opposed to wirelessly? I know it works fine on your Sony wirelessly (I assume), but perhaps this will help us rule out the network connection as it pertains to your Pavilion.

Go with those ideas for now, and I can maneuver from there once we have the results.

[fireguy1978ret]

Good morning,

I have tried both of your suggestions the result is a negative with regards to the enhancements being  disabled the enhancements tab is not present on my laptop. The Bios update did not solve the solution.

However your suggestion re connecting via ethernet cable was more telling I played a range of viral videos with no crackling reconnected wirelessly and lo and behold crackling is back.

Hope this is of use.

May I take the time to say a big thanks for your help in this matter regardless of the outcome it is much appreciated.

regards

Bob

[TwoPointOh]

I am honestly happy to work through this with you fireguy1978ret, than you for your kind sentiments 🙂

So narrowing it down further, you have determined the cracking audio occurs only while streaming YouTube videos wirelessly. Do you witness any buffer delays during these playbacks? Can you identify which WiFi module you have installed for me? I'll check for updated drivers.

You did mention that it happens with multiple browsers. But since there is a way to increase audio buffers in Chrome, continue troubleshooting in Chrome exclusively.
This document shows you how to add a command line to your Chrome shortcut to increase the buffer size. Since most clicking/popping is a result of an empty audio stream, this is a likely candidate. Just go down to the numbered steps at the bottom of this document for instructions: Poor Audio Quality with Google Chrome

If that doesn't fix it, then you are most likely looking at a performance issue. Try to disable any anti-virus temporarily, and try to recreate the issue.

One more thing to try if it persists, is a clean boot. If you cannot recreate it then it is probably one of the programs you prevented from loading on startup which is causing the audio crackling: How to perform a clean boot in Windows

Let me know where things are after trying those ideas out.

[fireguy1978ret]

Good evening

There is a slight delay on playing videos, i do not use google chrome, but have used Explorer, Opera, and currently Firefox all display the same problems.

I have had a look on the hardware manager and the network adaptor listed is the Ralink RT3290 802.11bgn wifi adaptor.

As for the clean boot I have already done that with no difference.

Regards

Bob

[TwoPointOh]

Hi again! So the issue only occurs from the speakers, and not through headphone port or Bluetooth.
Does it occur with the volume lowered through the speakers?

What about if you change playback quality:
Control Panel, Sound \Under Playback tab, open Speaker properties. Go to Advanced tab. In the drop down, select the highest quality stereo output.
Go to the Recording tab and perform the same steps.

If it still persists, take a look through this article. Specifically try "Method 2 – Disable Digital Audio In/Line In", and browse through the other solution options to see what makes sense to you:
Fix Audio Static Crackling Popping with Realtek Sound Card

Let me know if you make any progress.

[fireguy1978ret]

Hi again,

well strange yet again, today has been a crackle free day, played various videos throughout the day all have been fine, but trying to play through my bluetooth speaker has proved problomatic the sound keeps cutting out, so I am assuming it is a bluetooth connection problem.

I will monitor it for now and try the suggestions in your last message should it play up again.

Once again thanke for your help so far.

regards

Bob