Question Strange Audio Crackling

[JosephWH]

For the past few months, my audio has been crackling during certain times. For the most part, it's been in CSGO and occasionally in discord. I've tried replacing my sound mixer but the problem is still there. I also tried having my microphone and headphones in different Hz and bitrate configurations in the windows sound settings, but it just seems to change the problem. For example, with 24 bit, 44100 Hz studio-quality speaker settings and 24 bit, 44100 Hz studio-quality microphone settings, the audio seems to start getting distorted only if I open the steam browser, and occasionally it will mess up my recording audio. Other configurations will mess up my microphone audio so anyone that hears me talk will hear it. I've tried reinstalling CSGO, but the problem still occurs, and even in other games if I open up the steam browser. It's been pretty random lately so I'm not sure where to even begin to diagnose what the issue might be anymore. Any help would be much appreciated.

PC Parts: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8ph3K3
Headphones: Audio-Technica M50x
Microphone: Audio-Technica AT2020
Sound Mixer: Scarlett Solo 3rd Gen

 

[dwd999]

For the past few months, my audio has been crackling during certain times. For the most part, it's been in CSGO and occasionally in discord. I've tried replacing my sound mixer but the problem is still there. I also tried having my microphone and headphones in different Hz and bitrate configurations in the windows sound settings, but it just seems to change the problem. For example, with 24 bit, 44100 Hz studio-quality speaker settings and 24 bit, 44100 Hz studio-quality microphone settings, the audio seems to start getting distorted only if I open the steam browser,

What happens if you set your equipment to the normal 16 bit 44100 Hz settings? Perhaps you're setting the bit rate higher than your equipment can handle.

 

[JosephWH]

What happens if you set your equipment to the normal 16 bit 44100 Hz settings? Perhaps you're setting the bit rate higher than your equipment can handle.

I tried that and my audio starts crackling, as well as my microphone in my recording. What's weird is that the system volume in my recording doesn't experience it even though I do.

 

[dwd999]

I tried that and my audio starts crackling, as well as my microphone in my recording. What's weird is that the system volume in my recording doesn't experience it even though I do.

Are you saying that recording of the microphone does contain the crackling, indicating that it is occurring from a source before the audio file is created? Or are you saying that the system volume in the recording is perfect and the crackling occurs after the file has been recorded?

 

[JosephWH]

Are you saying that recording of the microphone does contain the crackling, indicating that it is occurring from a source before the audio file is created? Or are you saying that the system volume in the recording is perfect and the crackling occurs after the file has been recorded?

I have a 2 channel sound mixer so I can distinguish between the microphone and system sound. When I playback the audio the microphone channel contains the crackling, while the system audio channel does not. The system audio was crackling when I was recording, but it didn't get picked up for whatever reason.

 

[dwd999]

I have a 2 channel sound mixer so I can distinguish between the microphone and system sound. When I playback the audio the microphone channel contains the crackling, while the system audio channel does not. The system audio was crackling when I was recording, but it didn't get picked up for whatever reason.

So going back to the beginning, you said you replaced your sound mixer but are you still using the same microphone as before? If the recorded sound from your system sound channel is perfect and only the recorded channel from your microphone is crackling, would that indicate that the microphone itself or perhaps the mic cable is the source? Could the crackling be caused by the sound mixer powering of the microphone or the power leaking in the cable or microphone itself, which would not affect the system sound channel? Perhaps a grounding problem in the mic or cable?

 

[JosephWH]

So going back to the beginning, you said you replaced your sound mixer but are you still using the same microphone as before? If the recorded sound from your system sound channel is perfect and only the recorded channel from your microphone is crackling, would that indicate that the microphone itself or perhaps the mic cable is the source? Could the crackling be caused by the sound mixer powering of the microphone or the power leaking in the cable or microphone itself, which would not affect the system sound channel? Perhaps a grounding problem in the mic or cable?

So I tried a bunch of different arrangements of connections (with/without the mixer plugged in and with different cables) until I decided to switch the USB port that my sound mixer was in. This mostly fixed it. The crackling was there in my microphone recording channel, but it was a lot less noticeable and didn't happen as often. When I switched back to that original USB port the crackling started happening a lot more noticeably like before. So I swapped it back to the working USB port and restarted my pc. Then for whatever reason, the crackling started happening a lot more noticeably in that same USB port that it was just working better in. I tried a couple of different USB ports and tested them a few different times. Sometimes they would work fine, sometimes they wouldn't. I've been trying to keep a notepad of all the different configurations but at this point, the problem has varied so much that there's not much of a reason to.

 

[dwd999]

I tried a couple of different USB ports and tested them a few different times. Sometimes they would work fine, sometimes they wouldn't. I've been trying to keep a notepad of all the different configurations but at this point, the problem has varied so much that there's not much of a reason to.

Its going to be tedious and take time but you could open up the Device Manager and check the settings for each usb device, checking the Properties, Power Management tab to make sure Windows did not check the "Allow the computer to turn off this device" box. Windows really likes to do that even when its not necessary. A more extreme measure would be to open the Driver tab and Uninstall the drivers, then rebooting and seeing if it automatically reinstalls the correct drivers, just in case a driver is damaged. But that would really kill time.

 

[dwd999]

Its also a little disconcerting that although your mixer is a current model, that they don't use usb 3 connections for a higher amperage level. They also don't really talk about the wattage requirements for the mixer so who knows what's going on there. (I'm also assuming you tried alternate usb cables; since they specify usb 2 I'm not sure you could even get a usb 2 A to C cable.)

 

[JosephWH]

Its also a little disconcerting that although your mixer is a current model, that they don't use usb 3 connections for a higher amperage level. They also don't really talk about the wattage requirements for the mixer so who knows what's going on there. (I'm also assuming you tried alternate usb cables; since they specify usb 2 I'm not sure you could even get a usb 2 A to C cable.)

So I've tried going into the power management options of every single USB device and unchecking that and it's still happening. I also tried uninstalling every single audio driver I had. The Focusrite drivers for my sound mixer were the only ones that didn't get reinstalled so I had to redownload them from their website. Still happening, unfortunately. I'm not entirely sure what USB type my cables are, but I've tried multiple and it has been the same result. So this is where I'm at with testing the hardware:

Occurs for both my sound mixers. (Sound mixer is not the problem)
Occurs when microphone is swapped. (Microphone is not the problem)
Occurs when headphones are unplugged. (Headphones are not the problem)
Occurs when microphone cable is unplugged. (Microphone cable is not the problem)
^^^*I can tell because the steam browser audio gets messed up too when it happens
Occurs when sound mixer cable is swapped. (Sound mixer cable is not the problem)
Occurs when USB port sound mixer is plugged into is swapped. (USB port is not the problem)
DOES NOT occur when sound mixer is not plugged in. (idek what this tells me)

At this point am I right to assume that it's a windows software issue trying to interact with the sound mixer, or maybe a motherboard sound issue? And if so, if I reinstalled windows, would that give me my answer for sure? Or is there also some sort of possibility that the sound devices I use just are not compatible when used together with windows and used for specific things like CSGO?

 

[dwd999]

At this point am I right to assume that it's a windows software issue trying to interact with the sound mixer, or maybe a motherboard sound issue? And if so, if I reinstalled windows, would that give me my answer for sure? Or is there also some sort of possibility that the sound devices I use just are not compatible when used together with windows and used for specific things like CSGO?

If you were to try a reinstall of windows with the bare minimum e.g. just windows and software necessary to use mixer, then at least you might have an indication if its the motherboard usb chip system. If it works fine at that point, then you would have to decide what you want more, e.g. no recording problems versus CSGO or discord. Maybe discord first and seeing if it works OK with that and then CSGO last. It would be sad if you had to change to a 2 computer setup with one for recording and another for gaming.

 

[JosephWH]

If you were to try a reinstall of windows with the bare minimum e.g. just windows and software necessary to use mixer, then at least you might have an indication if its the motherboard usb chip system. If it works fine at that point, then you would have to decide what you want more, e.g. no recording problems versus CSGO or discord. Maybe discord first and seeing if it works OK with that and then CSGO last. It would be sad if you had to change to a 2 computer setup with one for recording and another for gaming.

After wiping windows and only using the drivers for the sound mixer, the problem was still there. I brought all my sound equipment to my buddy's house and tested it on his computer, and the issue was NOT there. I guess this verifies that it's a hardware component in my pc causing it, which would probably be my motherboard. I found someone else had nearly the same problems with their MSI motherboard as well: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-my-motherboard-the-cause-to-my-audio-issues.2827249/

Since my motherboard is still under warranty I'm gonna give that a shot of trying to get it replaced. I'm gonna guess it will probably take a while but I'll try and give an update on what happens.

 

[dwd999]

After wiping windows and only using the drivers for the sound mixer, the problem was still there. I brought all my sound equipment to my buddy's house and tested it on his computer, and the issue was NOT there. I guess this verifies that it's a hardware component in my pc causing it, which would probably be my motherboard. I found someone else had nearly the same problems with their MSI motherboard as well: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/is-my-motherboard-the-cause-to-my-audio-issues.2827249/

Since my motherboard is still under warranty I'm gonna give that a shot of trying to get it replaced. I'm gonna guess it will probably take a while but I'll try and give an update on what happens.

Computer equipment problem diagnostics can be hell. If there's still a problem, a last last last resort might be to try an add-on pcie card with its own controller for usb ports. If you could borrow one of those at least you would know if it would help without having to totally disassemble your build and send the motherboard back.