Speakers popping/crackling when connected to the internet. Windows 7.

Hi there, just wondering if anyone has come across this before and knows a fix for it.

My laptop speakers crackle and pop when I'm playing a game or listening to music. I've tried turning off power throttling, disabling and updating audio drivers and disabling all lines in.

I ran a DPC latency checker and discovered everything runs smoothly when I am disconnected from the internet. As soon as I reconnect the popping starts.

I've also followed this guide to no avail: http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-2593100/crackling-popping-sound-laptop-speakers-headphones.html

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

jmarket said:

Hi @smokingpixels and welcome to PCHF

What are the specs of your computer?

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Thank you for the speedy reply and friendly welcome!

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM @ 2.00GHz
RAM: 8GB
64 bit OS
Graphics: Nvidia GTX 460M

And if it helps the network adaptors are:
JMicron PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Adapter
Microsft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Realtek RTL8188CE Wireless LAN 802.11n COMBO PCE-E NIC (when I disable this the sound works fine but alas no internet)
Teredo Tunelling Pseudo-Interface.

Please let me know if I can send anymore info.

Cheers!

Rustys said:

Welcome to the group @smokingpixels

Are you connecting the the Internet wire and or wireless?

How long has this been going on?

Have you tried power cycling the entire network?

Coming for both speakers or just one? More from the left or the right?

Are you ADSL, Cable, Satellite ETC...?

Just to clarify
Does this happen if you play listen to music watch videos while not connected to the Internet?

Happen with a head set?

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Hi Rusty thanks for the reply,

I am connected via ethernet usually but I tested both wired and wireless and the pops and cracks persist.

Its been going on for about 8 months, sometimes it works fine or I don't notice it, others its cracks every 5 seconds. When the cracks occur it also causes a slight frame drop or freeze for that split second when i'm in game. I cant remember any software installations or changes that might have influenced this.

Is a power cycle turning off and on my modem? We've moved house and changed internet providers since its started cracking and have had the modem unplugged before.

It comes from both speakers as well as headphones with an audio jack and headsets connected via USB.

When I am not connected to the internet the sound works fine. I loaded a music track on youtube and opened DPC latency checker. When the song started playing latency spiked soon after, coinciding with the cracks in audio. I disconnected the internet while some of the track was still loaded and the audio was fine, DPC was all good. As soon as i reconnected spikes and cracks began again. Tested this with the Spotify app and had the same results.

The laptop is 8 years old so I was going to chalk it up to old age but the fact the audio is hunky dory when not connected to the internet had me scratching my head.

Rustys said:

Yes that is correct.

What type of service do you connect to the Internet with?

Have you tried any of this in Safe Mode with networking? What were the results?

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ASDL I'm pretty sure. The modem is plugged into the wall by a DSL cable.

I tried safe mode with networking but the audio drivers had an issure. There was no audio service working and after troubleshooting enables a few nvidia audio drivers it gave up and didnt know why it wasnt working properly.

Rebooted normally and still have the issue.

Rustys said:

Did you replace the modem and how old is it?

Do you have other devices connected and is the same happening to them?

Did you connect the filters to the other phone jack(s) that have stuff connected to them?

Did you connect a filter to the line going into the modem?
If so remove since DSL modems have them built in.

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Yes the modem has been replaced when we moved out and got our own service provider, also had this issue at the previous house, its about 6 months old.

Nope no other devices have this issue, just my laptop. My girlfriends laptop has no issues with sound.

No there are no filters connected. The cable just runs from the wall to the modem and the modems plugged into the power board.

I moved from Australia to Germany November last year, as far as I can remember it didn't have this issue in Aus. Perhaps the line over here in Germany is configured differently or something?

jmarket said:

It sounds like line noise. This only happens when you're connected to the internet? What about offline videos and games?

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Yes mate thats correct, I can listen to music and watch videos fine when not connected to the internet.