Laptop sounds

Can anyone assist me with why my laptop would stop producing sound for a period of time and then allow the sound for a period of time?

Is this issue hardware related? Meaning, is there a crackle or any indication that the physical speakers may be broken?

If you are convinced the actual speakers are OK :


first steps should be for you to look in your hardware list to see what audio drivers you have and see if you can get any updates ones.