Question Audio has started popping and crackling out of nowhere ?

[Aeacus]

I have my PC plugged into a UPS so I think it would handle any issues on that end though.

Make and model (or part number) of the UPS is?

Also, just because you have your PSU's power cable plugged to the UPS, doesn't mean there is a proper grounding. Since when the wall socket doesn't have a grounding pin, UPS has nowhere to dump the excess electricity.

E.g in Europe, mostly round sockets are in use. Usually Type F (Schuko) but there can also be Type C.
Both, Type F and C plugs, go into both sockets. But only Type F socket with Type F plug has grounding pins.

Direct link if image doesn't load: https://world-power-plugs.com/img/plugs/en/latvia-electrical-outlets-and-power-plugs.png

 

[Voidcraft]

Yeah, it is grounded though. Three-pronged, and I've tested that the outlet itself is grounded properly. It's a APC UPS 1350 smart UPS.

 

[Aeacus]

It's a APC UPS 1350 smart UPS.

This thing?
Specs: https://www.apc.com/us/en/product/B...-1350va-120v-avr-lcd-10-nema-outlets-5-surge/

If so, have you actually tested the battery backup? Meaning, when PC is up and running, you pull the UPS'es plug from the wall, thus forcing UPS to switch over to battery power, to power the PC.

I'm asking it because your UPS outputs simulated sine wave and that isn't compatible with PSUs with active PFC. Whereby, when switching over to the battery power, PC may loose the power completely. Or UPS fails to switch over to battery power itself.

 

[Voidcraft]

Yeah its been tested while the pc was powered on. Pc is fine when it switches to battery backup.

 

[helper800]

This thing?
Specs: https://www.apc.com/us/en/product/B...-1350va-120v-avr-lcd-10-nema-outlets-5-surge/

If so, have you actually tested the battery backup? Meaning, when PC is up and running, you pull the UPS'es plug from the wall, thus forcing UPS to switch over to battery power, to power the PC.

I'm asking it because your UPS outputs simulated sine wave and that isn't compatible with PSUs with active PFC. Whereby, when switching over to the battery power, PC may loose the power completely. Or UPS fails to switch over to battery power itself.

Simulated sine works more often than not with PC's, but not always, it depends on how finicky your PSU is and how good the simulated sine wave form from the UPS is. Pure sine is obviously better, but also more expensive.

 

[Aeacus]

Yeah its been tested while the pc was powered on. Pc is fine when it switches to battery backup.

So, you got lucky with your UPS-PSU combo.

For your audio popping issue, hardware wise, only thing i can think of 🤔 , that may be the issue, is EMI filtering (lack of it).
High electromagnetic interference (EMI), particularly from sources like a noisy PSU, nearby electrical equipment (e.g fridge, washing machine, UPS) or even strong cell phone signals, can cause audio popping on a PC. EMI can interfere with the delicate signals traveling through your audio hardware and cables, corrupting the audio data and resulting in audible pops, crackles, or static.

You said that you have Maingear 650W PSU. But since your PC case is also Maingear, you most likely have some OEM PSU.
If you can, take the pic of the PSU's label (where rail voltages and amps are seen) and upload it to the net, e.g www.imgur.com and share the image here.
From the label i could see the PSU's model and also tell if it is decent PSU or do you need to replace PSU ASAP, if it is crap quality PSU.

Could very well be, that your OEM PSU has poor EMI filtering, causing most of the audio popping issues you have.
To validate that, you need to test with 2nd, known to work, good/great quality PSU, that has proper EMI filtering.


For proper PSU for gaming rig, Tier A is proper. Like: Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium.
PSU tier list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...JWkc/edit?pli=1&gid=1973454078#gid=1973454078

Tier A- will do too, while Tier A+ is preferred.
Wattage wise, and since you have RTX 3070 Ti with high transient power spikes (up to 3x TDP), i'd get at least 750W unit. 850W unit won't hurt either.

(My 3x PCs are solely powered by Tier A PSUs. Namely, i have Seasonic PRIME 650 Titanium (Tier A+), Seasonic PRIME Ultra 650 Titanium (Tier A+) and Seasonic Focus PX-550 (Tier A). Full specs with pics in my sig.)


You can also try running the PC without UPS for testing purposes. Unplug PC from UPS, plug it directly to the mains. Power off UPS completely and look if audio popping goes away or lessens. This would show if the UPS would be the source of high EMI.

Pure sine is obviously better, but also more expensive.

Not that much more expensive actually. Proper, true/pure sine wave, line-interactive topology, 1500VA/1000W UPS is sub-$250 USD. A bit more than good/great quality 1000W PSU. But compared to how expensive CPUs and especially GPUs are, proper PSU and UPS cost peanuts compared to those. Heck, cheapest decent GPU starts at $250.

 

[Moonstick2]

This would be easy to validate, namely using different OS. E.g any GNU/Linux disto. This rules out OS issue. If issue remains, it is hardware. If not, it is software (OS) issue.


For testing purposes, i'd suggest using e.g Linux Mint from bootable USB thumb drive, so you can boot into the distro, without distro being installed on your PC.

Here's a guide on how to create such bootable USB thumb drive...

@Voidcraft Seriously, do this!!! You could be spending so much time chasing all these hardware possibilities when it's a Windows issue.

After my last unasked-for Win 11 update I had no sound at all from my laptop. Booted into Linux and verified within a minute that it was a Win-only problem, so then I could concentrate on resolving the sound drivers in that.

 

[The Great Buran]

I've tested vanilla Terraria and the issue is still there, plus it happens no matter what's open on the PC so I doubt it's terraria/tmodloader specific. I don't think it's a grounding issue, but I guess I could test the ground loop isolator I purchased. I have my PC plugged into a UPS so I think it would handle any issues on that end though.

where are you based UK? I got people from norway sweden and UK with this issue.

could it of been a microsoft update on how it regulated the different Hz or wattage?

 

[The Great Buran]

So, you got lucky with your UPS-PSU combo.

For your audio popping issue, hardware wise, only thing i can think of 🤔 , that may be the issue, is EMI filtering (lack of it).
High electromagnetic interference (EMI), particularly from sources like a noisy PSU, nearby electrical equipment (e.g fridge, washing machine, UPS) or even strong cell phone signals, can cause audio popping on a PC. EMI can interfere with the delicate signals traveling through your audio hardware and cables, corrupting the audio data and resulting in audible pops, crackles, or static.

You said that you have Maingear 650W PSU. But since your PC case is also Maingear, you most likely have some OEM PSU.
If you can, take the pic of the PSU's label (where rail voltages and amps are seen) and upload it to the net, e.g www.imgur.com and share the image here.
From the label i could see the PSU's model and also tell if it is decent PSU or do you need to replace PSU ASAP, if it is crap quality PSU.

Could very well be, that your OEM PSU has poor EMI filtering, causing most of the audio popping issues you have.
To validate that, you need to test with 2nd, known to work, good/great quality PSU, that has proper EMI filtering.


For proper PSU for gaming rig, Tier A is proper. Like: Seasonic Focus/Vertex/PRIME, Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, Super Flower Leadex Gold/Platinum/Titanium.
PSU tier list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...JWkc/edit?pli=1&gid=1973454078#gid=1973454078

Tier A- will do too, while Tier A+ is preferred.
Wattage wise, and since you have RTX 3070 Ti with high transient power spikes (up to 3x TDP), i'd get at least 750W unit. 850W unit won't hurt either.

(My 3x PCs are solely powered by Tier A PSUs. Namely, i have Seasonic PRIME 650 Titanium (Tier A+), Seasonic PRIME Ultra 650 Titanium (Tier A+) and Seasonic Focus PX-550 (Tier A). Full specs with pics in my sig.)


You can also try running the PC without UPS for testing purposes. Unplug PC from UPS, plug it directly to the mains. Power off UPS completely and look if audio popping goes away or lessens. This would show if the UPS would be the source of high EMI.


Not that much more expensive actually. Proper, true/pure sine wave, line-interactive topology, 1500VA/1000W UPS is sub-$250 USD. A bit more than good/great quality 1000W PSU. But compared to how expensive CPUs and especially GPUs are, proper PSU and UPS cost peanuts compared to those. Heck, cheapest decent GPU starts at $250.

its not hardware my guy lol. Figured this out 3 years ago and 100s of desktops later ahah.

Windows to the core.

 

[Voidcraft]

Its so strange because I've been using the same UPS with this PC the entire time I've had it, and the audio bugs just happened randomly about 3 years into owning the PC. Very frustrating that it seems nothing can fix it besides a new PC( Maybe, at that). I should definitely test linux, I'm just very tech illiterate. I've always purchased Prebuilts for that exact reason lol

 

[Aeacus]

its not hardware my guy lol. Figured this out 3 years ago and 100s of desktops later ahah.

Windows to the core.

Could be. But as long as OP doesn't test with different OS, nothing is certain.
Also, EMI is still a possibility, since it is confirmed that high EMI will create audio popping issues.

I should definitely test linux, I'm just very tech illiterate.

I linked you a proper guide on how to create the bootable USB thumb drive distro. It is easy guide to follow and made for those who haven't done it before. Even i used that guide to learn how to create the bootable USB thumb drive.

Now, if you are weary of accidentally installing distro to your drive, you can disconnect all other drives, before booting from USB thumb drive. This way, there is no worry of accidental overwrite/install. Also, once in the distro, you can poke around there freely.
I suggested Linux Mint since it is the closest to the Win. But you can freely pick any other distro if you like.

I've always purchased Prebuilts for that exact reason lol

Or you can pay a local tech to come on site and fix the issue for you. After all, if you are paying, they have to do their level best to fix the issue.

 

[Voidcraft]

Yeah ive reached out to the local techs but none have answered. The downside of living in the middle of nowhere I guess, lol. I forgot to mention ive tested using different ups units and just plugged into the wall, all still producing the issue. Ill probably stop having to be a coward and just test it on Linux, but maybe I'll hold off until I want to jump off a hot air balloon before resorting to that lmao

 

[The Great Buran]

Could be. But as long as OP doesn't test with different OS, nothing is certain.
Also, EMI is still a possibility, since it is confirmed that high EMI will create audio popping issues.


I linked you a proper guide on how to create the bootable USB thumb drive distro. It is easy guide to follow and made for those who haven't done it before. Even i used that guide to learn how to create the bootable USB thumb drive.

Now, if you are weary of accidentally installing distro to your drive, you can disconnect all other drives, before booting from USB thumb drive. This way, there is no worry of accidental overwrite/install. Also, once in the distro, you can poke around there freely.
I suggested Linux Mint since it is the closest to the Win. But you can freely pick any other distro if you like.


Or you can pay a local tech to come on site and fix the issue for you. After all, if you are paying, they have to do their level best to fix the issue.

I am my local tech sadly. Every PC for a customer does it

The last PC I tested was the other week, same issue as every other, audio popping/Crackling.
I3 12100
16GB DDR4
H610M MSI
ARCB570
512GB NVME

Completely different specs from the Ryzen/Nvidia usual.


Me and my friend will be building new Full AMD PC's (not needed as I just built my new rig) with said spec for this issue, with duel boot Steam OS to see if it fixes it, this will be a few months from now.


after 3 years of figuring, It is 1000% windows. Some older 8th gen Intel systems in the US dont suffer from the issue. but my EU mates do.






Hold off on buying hardware. Wasted enough money myself.

 

[Voidcraft]

Its not at the point where its unbearable for me at least, just incredibly frustrating that seemingly nothing besides an OS swap can fix it. Especially since I mainly game so Windows is basically a must

 

[The Great Buran]

Its not at the point where its unbearable for me at least, just incredibly frustrating that seemingly nothing besides an OS swap can fix it. Especially since I mainly game so Windows is basically a must

Same issue for me for 3 years. Ruined gaming for me too bro, Im hoping Steam OS solves it.

Forced to play games where its less noticable or not there
CS2
Broken arrow
Warthunder (though swapping camera can do it)

 

[The Great Buran]

Its not at the point where its unbearable for me at least, just incredibly frustrating that seemingly nothing besides an OS swap can fix it. Especially since I mainly game so Windows is basically a must

if you need me to cooperate with a microsoft post or support, im more than welcome to say a thing or two on your post.

As Microsoft refuses to listen to mine, they just say faulty hardware or drivers. Despite every PC including prebuilt Dell having this issue no matter the drivers.

 

[Voidcraft]

Yeah, I'm not sure. I just noticed a big audio crackle lasting about a second when opening netflix, but I couldn't get it to reproduce. I had Torchlight Infinite open, alongside a twitch stream. I'm going to see if the bigger crackles become more frequent, and if they do I might just try running linux to see if it's windows.