Audio crackling/popping when I interact with Windows10

Anonymous
2022-07-11T23:53:44+00:00

I recently started having an audio issue a few days ago, where when I have music playing (either on Spotify or Youtube) and I open the Windows Explorer to view files, open an application, hover over buttons or folders in the Explorer, or do anything on my computer, the audio sometimes pops and crackles, reacting to my mouse movements/actions. It also happens when I'm only listening to music and not moving my mouse. It will crackle maybe once every 2-3 minutes. I've gone through several websites and conducted steps to diagnose my problem, such as:

  • updating my audio drivers (no new updates found)
  • removing any sound effects on my playback device
  • changing the default format on my playback device (tried most options)
  • turning/replugging/cleaning/fiddling with the output jacks (I have a front and a rear 3.5mm jack and both of them crackle through my speakers and headphones)
  • reviewing DPC latency/audio processing latency checks via LatencyMon (no issue, got the green light)
  • reviewing overall CPU/memory/GPU usage (CPU and GPU are single digits and memory is around 30% because of browsers and other caches)
  • moving any possible interfering tech out of the way (closest objects are my monitor and keyboard + mouse)
  • "power drained" my computer (shut down, turn off PSU, unplugged everything, hold down power button for 20 seconds)

The only thing I can think of that changed with my computer is that I swapped out my graphics card (from a GTX 980 TI to RTX 2080) about a month before the crackling started. I didn't touch anything around the audio jack pin connectors and the PSU supports the increase in graphics processing power.

I'm out of ideas to try, so I'm hoping someone can give me some further advice.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-02-15T22:29:59+00:00

    My audio has been pop free for a few days again, not sure why or how. I am sure it will come back. But no answers or reason worked out yet.

    I am running 22H2 and my latest update to Windows was KB5022360 on 6/2 (that's 6th of Feb just to be clear for American readers :) but I think I still had problems after that.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-02-15T13:40:39+00:00

    I've been suffering with popping/crackling audio for a few weeks now too, whenever I do anything in Windows 11. Have you found a solution yet at all?

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-02-12T03:11:08+00:00

    I think it is one of those problems that a lot of people don't notice, think it's caused by something else, don't listen to a lot of music or watch videos on their PCs/laptops, and only happens to a subset of Windows users. That makes it a really hard problem to get the attention of the right people in the Windows team to try and solve it.

    I think it would need to happen to someone directly linked to the development for them to take notice... frustrating, but Microsoft have gone backwards with quality and beta testing in the last few years unfortunately.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-02-11T19:40:56+00:00

    Makes me think it's a core Windows driver issue going on?

    I am pretty sure it's a core Windows driver issue. The way they set Windows up, even when you uninstall something, it just comes back the next time you restart your computer. This problem of crackling audio happens to me whether I have it coming in over my speakers or headphones. It's so irritating...the moment you try to interact with a new program, regardless of how much RAM you have or how good your GPU is, you get this audio lag/crackle. Before I saw how it was impacting everyone else, I thought it was maybe something wrong with my hardware. But lately I've noticed it happening on my Windows laptop, too, but mysteriously, not on my Mac. Now I'm hearing it happens on Windows 11, too--so there's really no escaping it, I guess, unless you want to leave Windows entirely. It's so strange to me that Microsoft hasn't officially addressed this, after all this time.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-02-06T03:37:50+00:00

    Just another update. I had the same issue when I switched to using the NVIDIA audio drivers and having sound come out of the monitor speakers.

    Makes me think it's a core Windows driver issue going on?

    I can actually make my audio garble consistently by running ASUS AISuite 3 (not exactly well written software) and clicking on different fan speed options.

    Driving me crazy that we can't work this out.

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