Windows 10: Audio popping/crackling on both Headset and desktop speakers

I have been having an issue with audio crackling/popping across two different devices and I can't figure out what is causing it. The weird thing is the problem is able to be replicated. For example certain songs will pop at the exact same spot every time. I know nothing about audio and have only been able to do some light trouble shooting. I used to have Equalizer APO and PEACE installed but have since removed them. I've uninstalled all my audio drivers and then had them reinstalled.

:)

 

Telegram Desktop audio using Speakers and not Headset

Hi all, I use both Skype and Telegram for voice calls. With Skype it works fine, the app's audio setting is set to the Plantronics headset while Windows Sound setting is set to the Windows speakers/mic, and when I place/receive Skype calls the audio/mic comes out thru my Plantronics headset.
In Telegram, even if the app's audio setting is set to Plantronics, the audio/mic comes out thru the laptop's speakers/mic, forcing me to set the Windows Sound setting to Plantronics Default each time I want to place/receive a call. Any idea why this is happening? Maybe it's a Telegram bug. I'm using Telegram Desktop latest version 3.5.1. I'm attaching a screenshot of Skype, Telegram and Windows sound settings as explained above.

 

Audio Crackle Using Headset

Hi, I'm having an audio problem with my Dell laptop running Windows 10. I plug headphones in and the audio gets crackles so much I can't stand it. My headset works fine with my Xbox One and phone. It's just with my laptop. Is there something I'm overlooking?
I've searched this site for a while and haven't found anything that works for me. Any suggestions?

 

Realtek HD Audio latency leading to crackling sounds from the speakers

I have a problem with the Realtek HD Audio speakers driver. Everytime a sound is about to be play, the speakers of the laptop make a crackling sound, similar to the sound of static electricity.

I am using Windows 10 and have the latest version of the Realtek HD Audio driver.

I ran the Latencymon v 6.50 to check for latencies, and I get the following result:

"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 or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. Also one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. At least one problem appears to be network related. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates."

These results appear to be spot-on, however I'm surprised it mentions that at least one problem is network related, since I have the latest network drivers, and even when disabling the network adapters I still get the crackling sound.

I reckon the CPU throttling mentioned is related to the CPU exectution cap which I already set to 100%.

The other thing I need to mention is that this is a new laptop, and from the first day, even with the old drivers I noticed the crackling sound, and I assumed it would go away after I updated the drivers. I have all the newest drivers and I still get this problem.

The funny thing is that when I plug-in the laptop, it somehow does not give the crackling sound, but when I approach my ear to the speakers, I hear that they are on, even when nothing is playing ( I know because they emit some kind of barely distinguishable white noise). When the laptop is not plugged in however the speakers make the crackling noise before playing sound, and when they finish playing the sounds, the speakers go off ( when I approach my ear the white noise isn't heard anymore).

Notice that the crackling sound is heard only once: after I click on some audio to play; then the crackling disappears, only to appear when I got to the next song ( or audio file).

What do you suggest I do about it? In the beginning I thought it was a hardware problem, but given the fact that during playback the speakers do not exhibit any weird behavior, I am led to believe it is a drivers' problem.