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Loganiy's avatar
Loganiy
Iron Contributor
Jul 10, 2026

No sound, crackling audio on My PC

My PC produces no audio output at all, and when sound does occasionally work, it is accompanied by persistent crackling or popping noises across all applications and system sounds. I have already...
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Jamony's avatar
Jamony
MCT
Jul 10, 2026

Hey — because both speakers and headphones are affected, I’d troubleshoot the audio stack before replacing hardware.

In Settings > System > Sound, confirm the correct output device, then open its properties and temporarily turn Audio enhancements and spatial sound off. Next uninstall the audio device in Device Manager, reboot, and install the PC or motherboard maker’s current audio and chipset drivers. Generic driver-updater tools often make this worse, so I’d avoid those.

Also test after disconnecting USB audio devices and docking stations. If the crackle happens under load, check for a BIOS update and temporarily disable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth to rule out driver latency. If sound fails even in the manufacturer’s preboot diagnostics, that points to hardware.

What PC model/audio device is shown in Device Manager, and did this begin after a particular update?