Windows 1903-1909 sound popping.

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Kol12

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#265738 8-Feb-2020 17:14

Is anybody with Windows 1903 or 1909 experiencing loud crackle pops in their Windows sounds? When I go to control panel/sound/sounds tab and play back the Windows scheme .wav files I get loud pops on each file. It's most noticeable when repeatedly clicking the test button. I am trying to determine whether this is a sound issue with Windows or my machine. I have a notebook with Win 10 1803 installed and there no pops at all. I have freshly installed Windows 10 1909 today and the popping is still there. It is there with the motherboard's sound card, my Sound Blaster sound card and the Nvidia HD audio through my monitor speakers.

There is some talk of popping sound being an issue since Win 10 1903 was released but I can't find anything official. Does anybody know if this is indeed a sound issue with the latest Windows 10? It would be very helpful to hear from other users, pulling this machine apart for naught is no fun...

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#2414678 8-Feb-2020 18:04

I'm running 1903 and 1909 and seen no problems.

This sort of sound issue has many generic causes and it is not very often that they are directly attributable to a specific OS version change. There's lot of generic help to resolve this, e.g.

https://www.howtogeek.com/285429/how-to-fix-crackling-or-popping-sound-on-a-windows-pc/

I've had crackling and popping many times over the years for many different reasons: firmware or device drivers needed updating; cable connection problem e.g. dry joints on circuit board or cable not seated correctly; interference of other software such as overloading the CPU, high IO demands, and playing other sounds at the same time.

Note that the DPC latency mentioned in the above article can be a real issue because Windows is not a real-time system so interrupt handling is a notorious source of problems with real-time playback of audio.

https://www.osr.com/nt-insider/2014-issue3/windows-real-time/

Edited to correct spelling and add direct answer to question.

Brumfondl

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#2414680 8-Feb-2020 18:09

If this has only just started happening then check if KB4532695 is installed and, if so, try uninstalling it as it is apparently causing issues like this.

Kol12

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2414735 8-Feb-2020 20:00

Hammerer:

I'm running 1903 and 1909 and seen no problems.

This sort of sound issue has many generic causes and it is not very often that they are directly attributable to a specific OS version change. There's lot of generic help to resolve this, e.g.

https://www.howtogeek.com/285429/how-to-fix-crackling-or-popping-sound-on-a-windows-pc/

I've had crackling and popping many times over the years for many different reasons: firmware or device drivers needed updating; cable connection problem e.g. dry joints on circuit board or cable not seated correctly; interference of other software such as overloading the CPU, high IO demands, and playing other sounds at the same time.

Note that the DPC latency mentioned in the above article can be a real issue because Windows is not a real-time system so interrupt handling is a notorious source of problems with real-time playback of audio.

https://www.osr.com/nt-insider/2014-issue3/windows-real-time/

Edited to correct spelling and add direct answer to question.

As mentioned I have a fresh installation of Win 10 1909, 2 hours old fresh with just chipset and sound drivers. I only resorted to the clean install because I had exhausted all of the known troubleshooting in the old install (including the how to geek link stuff). The pops occur over the Sound Blaster card, the motherboard audio and the Nvidia HD audio so can't be a device specific issue. That only really leaves the OS or the motherboard itself. Another one of my notebooks on Win 10 1903 has the same pops, only the one with 1803 doesn't.

Could you please test your Windows sounds via control panel/sound/sounds tab, repeatedly press the test button on the .wav samples and tell me whether you get pops?

Kol12

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2414736 8-Feb-2020 20:01

Brumfondl:

If this has only just started happening then check if KB4532695 is installed and, if so, try uninstalling it as it is apparently causing issues like this.

Fresh install of Win 10 1909 today and don't have that one...

Hammerer

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#2414767 8-Feb-2020 22:45

Kol12:

Could you please test your Windows sounds via control panel/sound/sounds tab, repeatedly press the test button on the .wav samples and tell me whether you get pops?

I tested all the windows events and the other .wav sounds through built-in speakers and headphones. I found several that crack for me each time I reclick test but only if I press test more than twice a second e.g. "Windows unlock.wav". None of them produce a loud crack, a crack as loud as the .wav sound, a pop or a crackle. That's actually a better result than I expected.

I have all default settings for sound apart from volume. I'm using the integrated Realtek HD Audio which is what I imagine most people will be using. The only difference might be that the Alienware Audio app replaces the Realtek HD Audio Manager.

What happens when you run the Windows sound troubleshooter? Access it by either method:

* Run Windows Settings | System | Sound | Output | Troubleshoot

* Right-click the speaker icon on the task bar.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4520288/windows-10-fix-sound-problems

Kol12

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2414773 8-Feb-2020 23:47

Hammerer:

Kol12:

Could you please test your Windows sounds via control panel/sound/sounds tab, repeatedly press the test button on the .wav samples and tell me whether you get pops?

I tested all the windows events and the other .wav sounds through built-in speakers and headphones. I found several that crack for me each time I reclick test but only if I press test more than twice a second e.g. "Windows unlock.wav". None of them produce a loud crack, a crack as loud as the .wav sound, a pop or a crackle. That's actually a better result than I expected.

I have all default settings for sound apart from volume. I'm using the integrated Realtek HD Audio which is what I imagine most people will be using. The only difference might be that the Alienware Audio app replaces the Realtek HD Audio Manager.

What happens when you run the Windows sound troubleshooter? Access it by either method:

* Run Windows Settings | System | Sound | Output | Troubleshoot

* Right-click the speaker icon on the task bar.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4520288/windows-10-fix-sound-problems

The troubleshooter for my Sound Blaster sound card suggested to disable audio enhancements and it changed the format to 24 bit 48000 hz from 24 bit 96000 hz. It doesn't make a different to the pops in the Windows files. Instead of opening the C: Windows\Media folder what happens when you repeatedly press the test button from the sound options? Control panel/sound/sounds tab.

Oblivian

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#2414774 9-Feb-2020 00:27

When you say it's not installed - Don't forget to check build using 'winver'

Since it was a cumulative Jan release, Fresh 1909 media may include it (From memory 1903 and 1909 are almost identical with feature enablement)

Can't always tell from what's installed if you have changes included :/

The patch mentioned appears to bring the min build version up to 18363.628

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Kol12

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2414797 9-Feb-2020 00:57

Oblivian:

When you say it's not installed - Don't forget to check build using 'winver'

Since it was a cumulative Jan release, Fresh 1909 media may include it (From memory 1903 and 1909 are almost identical with feature enablement)

Can't always tell from what's installed if you have changes included :/

The patch mentioned appears to bring the min build version up to 18363.628

My build is 18363.592. I believe this might be a sound bug that was introduced in Win 10 1903, I've seen some talk but haven't found anything conclusive or official. Machine on 1909 and machine on 1903 windows sounds pop and crackle. Machine on 1803 no pop crackles at all.

linw

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#2414820 9-Feb-2020 06:15

My build on HP Elitebook 18363.628. No pops when testing with repeated clicks via ctrl panel as requested.

linw

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#2414821 9-Feb-2020 06:44

Also no problem on Dell 780 Optiplex before or after CU KB532696 applied.

Hammerer

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#2414994 9-Feb-2020 12:51

Kol12:

Hammerer:

Kol12:

Could you please test your Windows sounds via control panel/sound/sounds tab, repeatedly press the test button on the .wav samples and tell me whether you get pops?

I tested all the windows events and the other .wav sounds through built-in speakers and headphones. I found several that crack for me each time I reclick test but only if I press test more than twice a second e.g. "Windows unlock.wav". None of them produce a loud crack, a crack as loud as the .wav sound, a pop or a crackle. That's actually a better result than I expected.

...

Instead of opening the C: Windows\Media folder what happens when you repeatedly press the test button from the sound options? Control panel/sound/sounds tab.

That's what I did. The dialog box or modal has both a list of windows events and a list of .wav sounds that can be assigned to those windows events. I went through both lists to test them all.

If I wasn't listening carefully then I would "Windows unlock.wav" is the only sound that has an obvious when tested multiple times in a second. So it will never show up as a problem in normal usage.

SepticSceptic

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#2416756 12-Feb-2020 16:00

I'm kinda pleased I'm not the only one with this Windows 10 sound issue.

For me, it's more like crackles and pops when playing music and sounds. Randomly, 5 or 10 seconds apart. Almost sounds like a noisy volume control.

Initially had this when I did a Win7 to Win10 inplace upgrade, then disappeared when I did a full fresh Win10 install a couple of years ago (18 months), but the pops came back a few months after that during an update. Was fine on Win7

The last 2 Windows major updates hasn't resolved this issue.

Happens with multiple media players. - Media Player, Music Monkey.

I did the usual driver checks, etc, but everything looks OK.

It's a spare PC in the garage for when I'm workingm there, so I'm not overly concerned about the noise issue.

I'll do a fresh Win10 install at some stage with the latest release,, and maybe even try an older version is the issue persists.

Kol12

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2416775 12-Feb-2020 17:14

SepticSceptic:

I'm kinda pleased I'm not the only one with this Windows 10 sound issue.

For me, it's more like crackles and pops when playing music and sounds. Randomly, 5 or 10 seconds apart. Almost sounds like a noisy volume control.

Initially had this when I did a Win7 to Win10 inplace upgrade, then disappeared when I did a full fresh Win10 install a couple of years ago (18 months), but the pops came back a few months after that during an update. Was fine on Win7

The last 2 Windows major updates hasn't resolved this issue.

Happens with multiple media players. - Media Player, Music Monkey.

I did the usual driver checks, etc, but everything looks OK.

It's a spare PC in the garage for when I'm workingm there, so I'm not overly concerned about the noise issue.

I'll do a fresh Win10 install at some stage with the latest release,, and maybe even try an older version is the issue persists.

What are the specs of your PC that has the sound issue? Do you have a spare drive to install Win 10 1803 on for testing? I have a notebook with 1803 and the sounds are perfect.

Kol12

370 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2416924 12-Feb-2020 21:57

What do people experience in Windows Volume Mixer? When I click on/adjust the System Sounds slider it constantly crackle pops but when I click on the Device slider which is the SB X-AE5 there are no crackles at all for the same Windows sound. 🤔

Hammerer

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#2417048 13-Feb-2020 07:51

I have no issues in the Windows Volume Mixer. But I don't have any crackling or popping in general.

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