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XPS 15-9570, Audio crackling and popping
I have an issue that renders the audio on this laptop unusable.
I have a new XPS 9570, and occasionally (I stress that word because 75% of the time there is no issue) when playing audio, either through the built in speakers or through the audio jack, there is a loud popping and crackling noise that accompanies the audio. This renders any audio generated by the laptop unusable.
Because the issue is not always present, it is very hard to debug since you can't know if the issue was actually fixed, or just temporarily gone.
Testing I have done thus far:
When playing a continuous tone, such as generated by , the issue is still present.
The crackling and popping increases with system volume, so if I turn the volume up on the laptop, the crackling becomes louder.
I have reflashed the BIOS to the newest version, uninstalled realtek, reinstalled realtek, disabled wave-maxx-audio (or whatever it is called), and tried using the built in windows drivers. Nothing has worked.
And note that when playing from bluetooth, there is no issue. So it is not a software issue in that way.
Very disappointing that on such an amazing laptop (it truly is amazing), an integral part of it is basically useless.
Axl Jay
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February 15th, 2019 05:00
Dear @Dell-Alan D,
as I already reported in another thread (look at page 4)...
https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/Win-10-Home-High-DPC-latency-XPS-15-9570-ACPI-sys/td-p/6113042
...the issue is NOT related to Realtek driver. The problem is with DPC latency. Even with idling CPU, there are latency bursts caused by ACPI.sys. This is causing Cracks and Pops with external soundcard as well (focusrite scarlett 2i2 2nd gen in my case). A very short term w.a. is to set the DAW process CPU affinity to exclude CPU0. But after a few minutes the problem occurs again.
Before installing the new Realtek driver, I uninstalled the previous one and as soon as I rebooted Windows installed MS High Definition Audio driver. Apparently it seems to work better then Realtek one, but I need more time to confirm that. However, even with this very basic driver, LatencyMON still reports DPC latency issues with ACPI.sys driver.
Therefore I think that the whole "Realtek driver troubleshooting subject" is pointless. I suggest to create a TOP thread about this matter, relating all threads about crackling/popping sound (there are a bunch of them in these forums).
Dell-Alan D
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February 15th, 2019 06:00
@Axl Jay
The Realtek driver troubleshooting is one of the major contributors to resolving this issue and can't just be dismissed. The lead engineer investigating this issue, Nelson Mak, along with Frank Azor have both publicly tweeted about this issue with Frank adding the following - There are many dependencies involved including the audio hardware, drivers, firmware and the operating system.
As you can see from the other poster's responses, the audio crackling has been reduced but with it has been other audio anomalies. This needs to be investigated further along with the ACPI.sys latency issues. Is it the driver that is causing this, or is it to with the type of drive in the system. All avenues are currently being explored to discover what exactly is causing this issue.
Alan
Axl Jay
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February 15th, 2019 07:00
Dear @Dell-Alan D ,
is the ACPI.sys driver developed by Dell or provided by Intel or Microsoft?...Has Dell already involved them in troubleshooting?
This issue has been going on over a year now. What is Dell doing to overcome it? I am sorry to sound rude, but as a paying customer I can't accept that "There are many dependencies involved including the audio hardware, drivers, firmware and the operating system." It sounds like Dell has no idea and it is not really taking care of the problem. Also other Dell tech-guys wrote on this thread asking for information to replicate the issue, but we did not have any news in months...
Nobody still knows why ACPI.sys is causing this latency spikes so far...what's the trigger? Is it Intel CPU not working properly? Is it a Dell BIOS problem? Is it a Windows 10 compatibility issue? Is it the motherboard hardware?
Did Dell figure it out? Or maybe Dell knows but can't tell because the problem is not fixable anyway?
Dell-Alan D
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February 15th, 2019 07:00
@Axl Jay as a high end flagship ultrabook system, this investigation isn't being entered into lightly. As I am reaching out publicly about this alongside our development engineers, including the head of Alienware publicly making comments about it, this indicates that we aren't shying away from it and investigating as many variables as possible to get it resolved. This is a massive undertaking when you have to rule out drivers, firmware, OS or hardware. Each of these requires their own troubleshooting taking into account hardware vendors, software developers and Microsoft themselves.
I hope this answers your questions.
Alan
st-kovalenko
33 Posts
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February 15th, 2019 10:00
@beefjerky,
Does that sound like that to you?
st-kovalenko
33 Posts
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February 15th, 2019 10:00
@Dell-Alan D,
To date, I have assumed that all XPS 15 9570 have the problem. But as I could learn, that's probably not the case? I contacted the user @chainstair, he says that he has no problems with sound.
Will that help you? Do you need further information or is this already known?
I use my notebook with HiGoing Bluetooth 5.0 transmitter, and so have never had the problem. But if I use the built-in speakers, after a few minutes / hours I have the problem that I hear the crackle and pop. I recorded the sound, that sounds like this to me: Audio recording
Do other users have such a sound or is it different?
My system:
(Google Translate)
beefjerky
5 Posts
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February 15th, 2019 10:00
I want to make sure it is known since I don't see it mentioned, but the Precision 5530 also has the same issue. I'm not surprised since they're nearly the same except for the GPU (Quadro vs GeForce). Will the fix also be applied to the 5530 if/when it's found???
crsdahl
9 Posts
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February 15th, 2019 11:00
As my problem sounds quiet different to the sound file provided by @st-kovalenko, here is what is sounds like for me. Notice that this was the most extreme one I heard so far with the laptop, most times it's just single short crackles. But I never had the sound of @st-kovalenko where the sound goes away completly to be replaced by crackling.
st-kovalenko
33 Posts
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February 15th, 2019 11:00
@crsdahl,
With you that sounds like an analog radio. :TongueTied:
LaughingJohn
27 Posts
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February 15th, 2019 14:00
I wonder if the audio popping, which I also have, and the keyboard issue are both related to the high DPC latency. It sounds too much of a coincidence.
I have a Qpad gaming mechanical keyboard plugged directly into the laptop and it's unusable at times. The keyboard lags and repeats and the mouse pointer stops moving, sometimes for quite a while The key backlight also flashes occasionally . It does feel like some sort of low level interrupt.
beefjerky
5 Posts
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February 15th, 2019 15:00
Mine sounds like the sample from crsdahl. Thankfully, I've heard nothing like the one from st-kovalenko.
st-kovalenko
33 Posts
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February 16th, 2019 02:00
@Axl Jay,
Thank you for your answer. I will definitely not buy more from dell, as long as I have these problems.
Besides sound problems, my screen occasionally flickers.
https://imgur.com/r/Dell/zvRtu8d
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/8wy79o/black_screen_flicker_on_dell_xps_15_9570/
st-kovalenko
33 Posts
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February 16th, 2019 02:00
Is there anyone here who has never connected something to the thunderbolt connection? I would be interested in whether this has a connection. I constantly use the Dell BT16.
Do users who have never connected anything to thunderbolt connection also have the problem?
Axl Jay
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February 16th, 2019 02:00
@st-kovalenko
I don't use the TB16. I'm considering buying one, but I'm not sure about the investment as long as these issues are not fixed.
SuzieG27
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February 16th, 2019 19:00
Hi Alan,
I also have an XPS 15-9570 that I purchased in January. I too am having periodic issues with audio popping and crackling. I would love to be involved in whatever troubleshooting you are a doing to address this issue.
Thanks,
Suzie