Sound pops and crackles. Not DPC. Specific symptoms.


  1. oz555
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7
       New #1

    Sound pops and crackles. Not DPC. Specific symptoms.


    Hi. My audio has been suffering from pops, clicks and crackles during play. I have two sound cards and an independent USB headset. All suffer the same regardless of enhancements, enabled status or installation order Having done a lot of research and tried just about everything including fresh re-installing Windows 7 and 10 twice and tested audio at each stage in the driver install process, updated drivers , bought new GTX980TI graphics card, new sound card, new PSU, disabled components one at a time in device manager including network adapters. Disabled HPET/Speedstep, updated BIOS, changed sample rates, disabled enhancements etc etc.

    This problem is most noticeable in Iracing, but can also effect streaming media and other games.

    This does not appear to be a DPC issue. Latency Mon and DPC latency checker run clear. However the page fault bar in Latency Mon can spike, but not trigger a negative result.

    My question is quite specific to the timing of the pops and clicks and to see if it rings any bells.

    The problem occurs mostly when revving an engine whilst stationary. This produces a feint but very annoying crackle from all speakers which disappears once we get moving. Also, when a tyre touches a curb or grass on the apex of a corner. The change of road surface makes the sound pop. The same can be said sometimes for the instant I change gear.

    A mouse click on a browser button can also produce pops in audio.

    Any Ideas?

    I also have a new Plantronics 788 USB headset. Same problem, so it's definitely not my speakers.

    Asus Maximus 1V Extreme Z with newest BIOS on optimised defaults within ROG, Realtek HD onboard audio, Asus Xonar DGX sound card, MSI GTX 980TI, Itel I7 2700k, Seasonic S12G-650 650W 80+ Gold Certified Wired Power Supply, Sandisc SSD with Windows 7, Seperate HDD for files and some games,
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  3. fireberd
    Posts : 8,135
    Windows 10 64 bit
       New #2

    Other than the game and browser button, do you get any noise in audio?
    Only use (have enabled) one sound card at a time. More than one and conflicts can happen. Windows only allows one default audio playback device, anyway.

    Are you using a wired internet connection or Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi is a known cause of pops, clicks, etc.
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  4. oz555
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #3

    Hi and thanks for your reply.

    I get sound pops and crackles with You Tube streaming video also. Again, the timing of these sounds are not random. They appear often at a change of scene, change of clip in a compilation or at the start or end of speech. Tried in Explorer and Chrome. Other racing games suffer similar issues at the same specific times. Change of surface, gear etc. The pops seem to coincide with actual events. Playing music in Media Player though is fine, unless I skip forward in which case the accompanied mouse click will often result in an audio pop.

    The problem persists with only one sound card enabled.

    I am using a wired connection but have also tried a wireless adapter without success.

    Cheers
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  6. fireberd
    Posts : 8,135
    Windows 10 64 bit
       New #4

    My thought is it is software or application caused and not an actual problem with the sound hardware.

    If it was a problem with the sound, it would do it on any sound, and since it works OK playing music, it goes back to something other than the sound hardware.
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  7. oz555
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #5

    Makes sense. Ok. I'll keep digging. Thanks very much for your time. Much appreciated.

    Mike
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  8. oz555
    Posts : 8
    Windows 7
    Thread Starter
       New #6

    It seems I am getting latency issues. Last time I tried was with Windows 10 and I think the software was incompatible. Was just wondering if anyone would be so kind as to have a quick look at these results. The driver latency looks ok to me, but I'm not really sure what I should be focusing on.

    CONCLUSION
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
    LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:12:07 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    SYSTEM INFORMATION
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    Computer name: PC
    OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
    Hardware: ASUSTeK Computer INC., Maximus IV Extreme-Z
    CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2700K CPU @ 3.50GHz
    Logical processors: 4
    Processor groups: 1
    RAM: 8089 MB total


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    CPU SPEED
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    Reported CPU speed: 3511 MHz
    Measured CPU speed: 1 MHz (approx.)

    Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

    WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.



    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

    Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 7569.655822
    Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 5.161820

    Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 318.731559
    Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 4.041508


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    REPORTED ISRs
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

    Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 132.917972
    Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: storport.sys - Microsoft Storage Port Driver, Microsoft Corporation

    Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.142521
    Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

    Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.411140

    ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 2479737
    ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
    ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
    ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
    ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
    ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    REPORTED DPCs
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

    Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 435.684420
    Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 361.43 , NVIDIA Corporation

    Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.481597
    Driver with highest DPC total execution time: cmudaxp.sys - C-Media Audio WDM Driver, C-Media Inc

    Total time spent in DPCs (%) 1.082478

    DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 5085488
    DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
    DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 15
    DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
    DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
    DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

    NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

    Process with highest pagefault count: launcher.exe

    Total number of hard pagefaults 39
    Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 20
    Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 75074.285389
    Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0.002931
    Number of processes hit: 6


    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    PER CPU DATA
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 43.878628
    CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 132.917972
    CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 11.960322
    CPU 0 ISR count: 2479737
    CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 435.684420
    CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 30.746508
    CPU 0 DPC count: 4787199
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.194893
    CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
    CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
    CPU 1 ISR count: 0
    CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 38.818855
    CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0.092827
    CPU 1 DPC count: 56608
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 2.072245
    CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
    CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
    CPU 2 ISR count: 0
    CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 31.73170
    CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.510866
    CPU 2 DPC count: 172649
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 1.562112
    CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0
    CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0
    CPU 3 ISR count: 0
    CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 25.968955
    CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.139784
    CPU 3 DPC count: 69047
    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____
    Last edited by oz555; 19 Feb 2016 at 13:11.
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  10. dingov
    Posts : 3
    windows 7 64bit
       New #7

    i have the same exact problem described and im using a plantronics 780. driving me crazy trying to fix this.
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