Windows 10: Bluetooth audio crackling/clipping

ear community,


I have a HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-0317ng with a Realtek RTL8821CE WiFi/Bluetooth card inside. The OS of choice is Windows 10 Home 64-bit 20H2, fully updated.

Ever since I bought this computer a few months ago I have the following issue:

Music over Bluetooth has noticeable amount of crackling noise. Simply put the signal is clipping all the time. Of course, it is especially noticeable on complex/loud passages of songs.

It is not the source files as they are FLAC's properly ripped from original CD's. Moreover the same files play just fine over the analogue output of the said PC and over Bluetooth form other devices line my OnePlus 5 phone. It is not the headphones/Bluetooth adapter either. I have the same issue with a pair of OnePlus Wireless Z and with an EarStudio ES100 connected to some BeyerDynamic Custom Studio headphones. The same BeyerDynaminc headphones sound just fine over the analogue output of the PC.


These are the things that I have tried in order to fix the issue:


- Turn off spatial sound or any other sound processing setting that Windows shows

- Disable Exclusive Mode

- Adjust the volume

- Reinstall the Bluetooth adapter and make sure the latest drivers are installed from Windows' Device Manager

- Re-pair the Bluetooth headphones delete them from the Bluetooth device and do the pairing again

- Make sure I am using the stereo headphones device and not the headset

- Ran the Bluetooth troubleshooter

- Tried the headphones with other devices phone and work computer to make sure they are working OK

- Tried the analogue output of the PC and everything sounds normal.

- Tried various drivers for the RTL8821CE , both from HP site https://support.hp.com/lt-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-desktop-pc-tp01-0000i/29014367/model/32... and from Realtek https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/rtl8821ce-software excluding the one Windows installs by default but it makes no difference

- Tried updating the drivers both through Windows Update and HP Support Assistant

- I booted a Fedora 33 Live CD and played the same FLAC songs and everything sounds OK.

- I tried using my work laptop as an audio source and everything sounded OK


Now at this point I don't know what else to try, but to the best of my knowledge, I suspect either some weird processing done by Windows or some issues with the drivers.


Any hint or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you!

:)

 

windows 10 Bluetooth audio problems

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

• What is the make and model of your computer?
• Do you get any error message?

I suggest to use a different Bluetooth speaker and check if the same issue persists. Also try using the current speaker with different computer running Windows 10 and check. As you are getting Crackles or warning sound it might be an issue with hardware.

Refer the link below and perform the troubleshooting steps suggested and check if that helps.

Fix connections to Bluetooth audio devices and wireless displays.

Fix connections to Bluetooth audio devices

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

Thanks

 

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