Sound crackling on laptop (through external sources, multiple USB slots)

Dartanion

Hello everyone!

I'm new here, so hopefully I don't make any big blunders on my first post. But I've been having an audio issue with my Asus VivoBook S512. Whenver I am listening to music, the audio tends to cut out or crackle to the point that it's unlistenable. This is not a consistent sound, and goes in and out with use. I am using an external audio interface (Behringer UMC202HD), and have tried troubleshooting everything I can think of. I've replaced the speaker cables, the USB ports that the interface is plugged into, the studio speakers, the app running sound (now using Voicemeeter), and there has been no change. I'm assuming that this is a problem within the actual computer, but that is above my knowledge level. Can anyone help me out or point me to a direction that might help me solve the problem? I'm a music teacher, so I really do need my audio to be working.

Thanks in advance!

TSTDavey

Hello @Dartanion and welcome to the Microcenter Community Forum. Good first post and question. We don't bite here so please come back again if we an help. We have a few question to better understand how to troubleshoot this. The Behringer interface, is it near another computer separate from the Vivobook? Another question is, how does the Vivobook speakers sound without using any external devices? Last question, have you attempted updated your audio card drivers? Let us know.

Dartanion

Hello TSTDavey!

Thank you so much for your quick and kind reply! I'm happy to answer any questions that I can. The Behringer interface is on the same cabinet as my computer when in use, so maybe 18" away, and there are no other computers in that area. There is a printer and some other audio gear (wired speakers and mixer), but no other computers. This has been my setup since I bought the computer last year, and is only now presenting a problem (or I guess for the last few weeks as I tried to troubleshoot it on my own). I honestly don't use the Vivobook speakers on their own very much as the sound quality is really bad, I'll try to use that more throughout the day and see if I am getting the same issues. And I have checked for updates on all of my audio drivers, which is what eventually led me to install Voicemeeter, and I have seen no change. Admittedly, I am computer literate but no expert, so there is a chance that I wasn't looking in the right place for this (searched on the computer "update drivers" and everything said it was the newest and best version). I thought that it might be the USB hub that I was plugging into, but I have tried all 3 ports and still have the same problems. Any direction would be very much appreciated!

JS_MC

Hi @Dartanion

Does this audio noise happen when you're just using the speakers on the device?

To me this sounds like a ground loop feedback that may be caused by electrical noise from other devices on the same circuit. I'd recommend trying to plug your device into a different outlet on a separate circuit with a surge protector. Another way to test would be to have that as the only device plugged.

If possible, I'd use a UPS and plug it into the battery of the UPS with this device to try to further isolate the device.

Let us know if this helps!

Dartanion

@LandShark thank you very much! I'll give this a shot, but when you say "the device" are you talking about the ASUS Vivobook, the speakers or something else? If it's the computer, would it make sense to try this without the laptop plugged into power? That way there should be no ground interference, I would think, and can determine if that might be the cause. I do have several other items plugged into my computer (2 webcams and a printer), as well as a larger...but cheap... surge protector that every powered item is running through.

I am hopeful that you're correct on this! That sounds like such an easy fix, just want to make that I understand the right method to test it out as my warranty is going to expire soon.

JS_MC

I mean the whole of them. My assumption is that the interface is being powered by the laptop and that the speakers are powered by other means. I would recommend putting the laptop on its own battery and then circuit since it is the device that is creating the signal that you want to hear.

The first thing that I would recommend isolating and testing would be the laptop. While unplugged, test the laptop speakers to see if there is signal noise, then add the interface and speakers. Then check with the interface added(laptop still unplugged), then plug in the laptop. Of course, if you hear the noise at any point in testing, you'll want to try to isolate where it may be coming from.

Dartanion

This is great! I've just done a small test with the computer unplugged, only about 20 minutes, and it's going good so far! I can't say for certain just yet as the problems are never consistent, so it may sneak back in, but so far so good! Thank you so much for helping me to troubleshoot this! If the only problem is the power then I can adjust to that very easily. You guys have been great so far! I'll keep you updated if the problem returns, but this is really promising so far.

Ian

You're welcome, please let us know if you have any other questions.

Dartanion

Hey everyone!

I wanted to update and ask a quick question about this issue. I do believe that (at least most of) the problem is due to the laptop being plugged in while playing. My follow up question is... is there a way to get around this and still have my computer plugged in without the interference; possibly an upgraded power cable or anything like that? I only have one outlet in my studio, so I can't really keep it on it's own breaker, but it's also not ideal to have to unplug my computer every time I want to listen or play along with music. If there's no way around it then it's not a huge problem, but a minor nuisance that I wanted to get some input on.

This solution, and community, helped so much though! Thank you all for you input up to this point. It's great having a group that really knows the situation and can explain it to me in laymen's terms. :)

TSTDavey

@Dartanion just chiming in. Is the laptop still making the noise when the power cord is plugged in? Do you have the laptop and power cable near other cables (ex., charging cables, USB cables, etc.)?

Unfortunately for laptops, you can't upgrade a power supply.

Dartanion

The laptop is near other cables, but I've done my best to mitigate how much they are together. My set up doesn't really offer too much flexibility with the power, so even though I've tried to separate things, there's not really a way to avoid some overlap.

As far as the sound, yes I am still having trouble with it (when plugged in). It's not necessarily making a lot of noise, but it's cutting out the sound from my system while it's playing music. This is definitely annoying while trying to play along with. So I can unplug it, but I was hoping to find a better solution. :-/

Ian

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/32254#Comment_32254

Just to check - if you plug in headphones to the laptop while it is plugged in, does the issue persist?

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dartanion

What's changing between being plugged in on AC Power or on your battery, are the power plan settings. The defaults are different. I would go into your power plan settings and under USB try disabling "USB Selective Suspend".

Dartanion

I'll make sure to try that! I'm not at my studio at the moment, but I'll give that a shot. As well as testing out if this happens on the headphones as well. I know that it still happens if I use headphones plugged into my mixing board, so it's not just the speakers, but I haven't tested the headphone port on that subject. I'll let you know what I find!

TS_JosephF

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/32358#Comment_32358

I hope that helps! Let us know whether or not this resolves the issue for you.

Dartanion

Unfortunately the defaults for battery vs power are the same settings. I'll try disabling both of them (they automatically set to "Enabled") to see if that helps. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of this. I feel like it must be something simple that I just can't grasp, but I'll get there! Haha

Ian

Please let us know if this makes any change.

Dartanion

That didn't make any difference to the audio when plugged in. :(

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Dartanion

Alright. Our next step is to verify that this isn't related to a power setting. I would ask you to do this. Set the power plan for on AC power to Higher Performance. Verify it still crackles. If so, set the power plan for on battery to High Performance as well. See if the issue reoccurs on battery.

If it does happen on both battery and ac power, then we've got a power settings issue. If it still only happens on AC power, we've got a grounding issue with the AC adapter/DC jack.

Dartanion

Thank you so much for all of your help! I put the battery on High Performance, and I am getting a similar crackling (or cutting in and out) sound. It doesn't seem to be as pronounced or as often, but it is definitely happening. What settings would I need to look at to address this?

Dartanion

Hey there,

I wanted to follow up to see if there is a fix that can help me out. I've tested this with the power plugged in, and not, and the problem is definitely a lot worse when the computer is plugged in, as well as when the computer is on "Best Performance", but not as much when it's on "Better Performance" battery settings. Which makes me think that it is the power settings like you mentioned, but I have no idea where or what to look for to resolve that. I believe there may also be grounding issues, which would explain why this problem has been so impossible for me to pinpoint. Any advice I can get would be greatly appreciated! I feel like I'm so close to having a great setup, but this one issue has been plaguing me for months! :(

JS_MC

Hey @Dartanion

This still sounds like power feedback to me.

Have you tried using a UPS or a power conditioner to try to clean up any power feedback that might be getting turned into signal feedback?

Ian

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/33903#Comment_33903

Try the following:

Right click on Start, go to Power Options

Click on Additonal power settings

Click change plan settings next to the plan you are using

Click Change Advanced power settings

Locate Processor power management

Locate Minimum processor state

Change setting to 100

Apply and exit and reboot your PC and try this out.

Dartanion

Update: I've tried the Power Options on the comment above, and I'm not sure if that helped much. I do think it's a better power setting for my computer in general as I sometimes run powerful programs while on battery, but I'm still hearing the sound go in and out at different times. It's never more than a second at a time, and it happens both when I'm plugged in and on battery. I have noticed that it gets worse when my power plan is set to "Best Performance" on the battery icon, so I've tried to change that setting. I also have a feeling that the general power connection to the wall outlet might be an issue, but since it's happening on the battery as well, I want to see if I can find the resolution to that problem first; then I'll go after the power supply.

If you guys happen to have any further suggestions that would be greatly appreciated. I've been battling this issue for months now, and every time I feel like I'm closing in on the problem it just keeps on happening. It's very frustrating.

Thank you so much for all of your help!

Ian

Hello!

Try the following and see if it helps:

1. Press the Windows key + and the letter R at the same time to open a Run window, type “Control Panel” in to the Run box and press Enter / OK to open it
2. Once in the Control Panel, type Sound into the search at the top right Click on "Sound"
3.  Right click on the default sound device and click Properties.
4. Select the Advanced tab present at the top of the screen. Here you will see a section of “Default Format”. Click it and a drop down of options will appear.
5. Select CD quality (the first option present) and save changes, and reboot the PC and try again.

Dartanion

I'm giving that last one a shot! It seems to be working a lot better. :) Hopefully everything stays that way, and then I can check on the power supply stuff. Thank you all so much for your assistance, there are so many small settings that I had no idea to even think about before this thread.

Ian

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/34221#Comment_34221

Alrighty, please let us know how that goes.