Audio crackle/popping

[Devin]

Shortly after installing Windows 8.1 I have been experiencing a rather annoying audio bug, when playing any form of audio, be that game sound or music it has an annoying crackling and popping sound at times.

I have looked online for solutions to no avail.

I have already tried reseating the graphics card,
Re-installing Sound drivers,
Re-installing Graphics drivers,
Installing the latest HD Audio codecs,
Installing the latest sound drivers,
Tried disabling unnecessary audio enhancements,
Disabled line-in,
Even re-installed Chrome, Flash player and disabled hardware acceleration in Chrome.

After all of this I still have an annoying audio crackling sound when playing Youtube videos or simply playing music via Winamp/WMP/VLC.


Some system specs if necessary;

Core 2 Quad Q9450
Gigabyte G31M-S2L motherboard
Nvidia GTX560

[Janar]

What about trying different sound output devices (headphones, another pair of speakers...)? Also, if you can, try different sockets (maybe one of the 3.5mm sockets is starting to fail or something).

[Ted]

Also clear the port of any dirt or dust if any which could be causing interference.

[Devin]

What about trying different sound output devices (headphones, another pair of speakers...)? Also, if you can, try different sockets (maybe one of the 3.5mm sockets is starting to fail or something).

I've tried both the front and rear jack and the crackling continues to be consistent, I have tried two different sound systems and it still has the same issue unfortunately.

Also clear the port of any dirt or dust if any which could be causing interference.

I pulled the system apart once more, gave everything a thorough cleaning including the ports however the problem remains.

[Janar]

Are you using soundboard integrated in the motherboard or a separate one (PCI slot)?

[Devin]

The on-board Realtek HD Audio.

[Janar]

The on-board Realtek HD Audio.

Control Panel - Device Manager - Sound controllers
Is there any HDMI audio listed?

[Devin]

Only NVIDIA High Definition Audio, NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device and Realtek High Definition Audio are listed.

[Janar]

Only NVIDIA High Definition Audio, NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device and Realtek High Definition Audio are listed.

On the Internet, I read similar issues were caused with conflict with HDMI audio and soundboard drivers.
Try disabling the first two, then check if anything changed.

[Devin]

Tried that to no avail.

[Brian]

For some weird reason, lately I have the same issue. But then on Windows 7

[Devin]

I have a feeling it may be caused by the latest Nvidia drivers.
Running Windows 8.1 by the way.

[Ted]

Try the last drivers that you known to have worked if possible. Is this an install of 8.1 from windows 7 or 8?

[Devin]

I've reverted to a previous version of Realtek drivers, Nvidia drivers and a few others with no luck.

The install is a clean one of Windows 8 and then upgraded straight to 8.1.

[Janar]

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/524157/audio-pop-crackle-with-gtx660-on-306-97-whql-drivers-/?offset=2

Most sources point the issue at graphics card audio system. I am still looking around for possible solution. Look in that topic, try different solutions from there.