Onboard sound horrible, please help ;(

[bowrain]

Hello tomshardware users,
it would be very nice to get some tips as I've been struggling with this issue for quite some time now. And I just can't take it anymore. Listening to music is very important to me but these sound problems make it very hard for me to enjoy.

Issue: Popping/cracking noise. This has been an issue for quite some time now. I'm not sure what I did, but for some reason this issue is much reduced from what it used to be, iirc since a few months.

Also: my microphone causes a weird beeping noise that colleagues have told me when chatting over something like TeamSpeak. Plugging into another port or just replugging into the same one usually stops this issue. I could verify the same while recording, which gave me this weird rectangle wave (see https://imgur.com/FZq2kZr).

However, at the same time I always had the feeling something was off with the sound. I'm not sure how I could endure it for this long, or if it's getting worse with time. To describe it in a few words: voices are drowning, the bass is unusually strong and "shaky"/"boomy", classical music / piano pieces sound really bad, the higher vocal range in general lacks richness and strength.

Tried:

• 
  ■ headphones
  ■ new speakers
  ■ front and rear audio jack
  ■ upped PCH voltage
  ■ UEFI update´
  ■ used standard UEFI settings
  ■ Linux
  ■ reinstalled every driver
  ■ changed sample rate in Realtek HD Audio-Manager

Info
--------------------------------------------
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4
Graphics card: NVidia GTX 1070
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K
PSU: 500 Watt be quiet! Straight Power 10
Sound Card: -
OS: Windows 10 x64

Built myself ~2 years ago, was (still is) my first self-built PC and I was completely inexperienced.
--------------------------------------------

 

[kindangrysliceofpie]

Hello tomshardware users,
it would be very nice to get some tips as I've been struggling with this issue for quite some time now. And I just can't take it anymore. Listening to music is very important to me but these sound problems make it very hard for me to enjoy.

Issue: Popping/cracking noise. This has been an issue for quite some time now. I'm not sure what I did, but for some reason this issue is much reduced from what it used to be, iirc since a few months.

Also: my microphone causes a weird beeping noise that colleagues have told me when chatting over something like TeamSpeak. Plugging into another port or just replugging into the same one usually stops this issue. I could verify the same while recording, which gave me this weird rectangle wave (see picture).

However, at the same time I always had the feeling something was off with the sound. I'm not sure how I could endure it for this long, or if it's getting worse with time. To describe it in a few words: voices are drowning, the bass is unusually strong and "shaky"/"boomy", classical music / piano pieces sound really bad, the higher vocal range in general lacks richness and strength.

Tried:

• 
  ■ headphones
  ■ new speakers
  ■ front and rear audio jack
  ■ upped PCH voltage
  ■ UEFI update´
  ■ used standard UEFI settings
  ■ Linux
  ■ reinstalled every driver
  ■ changed sample rate in Realtek HD Audio-Manager

Info
--------------------------------------------
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4
Graphics card: NVidia GTX 1070
CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K
PSU: 500 Watt be quiet! Straight Power 10
Sound Card: -
OS: Windows 10 x64
--------------------------------------------

Make sure your HD AUDIO port and header is properly connected on your mobo.

 

[bowrain]

Make sure your HD AUDIO port and header is properly connected on your mobo.

The rear port directly sticks out on the backside of the case and I just checked the front port connection, which was fine.

 

[bowrain]

The sound is much better (albeit not perfect) when I take out the pin of my speakers just a little bit. But then only my left speaker is playing.

 

[bowrain]

Bump

I got a USB sound card and I can hear static noises and crackles when listening to classic music. It's not as bad as the onboard sound, but still pretty bad.

I know at this point it's either my PSU or motherboard. Is there a way to test which one it is without getting a new component? Because I can't afford just getting one for testing.