Sound crackling / pops / Clicks while playing games and listening to music

[AC_1337]

Hello,
I am trying to fix a audio problem on my PC for the last few weeks.
I found some very helpful threads on this website but all the fixes that i found so far didnt fix my problem.
-> Problem:
When playing some games (Forza Horizon 5 /Counterstrike) and using Youtube or Spotify at the same time my audio starts crackling really bad.
If i only play those games without any other tasks open they work fine for some time but the crackling starts after 30/40mins -> then i need to restart my PC to fix it.
I downloaded latencymon and i will attach some logs.

Right now im using voicemeeter since a friend of mine tried to help me fix the problem by extending the buffertimes (see picture) without sucess

My Specs:
CPU:I7 6700k
GPU:GTX 1080
Mainboard: Z170-A
RAM: 32GB DDR4

on thing i found with the help of Cystaldiskinfo is that one of my Harddrives has a uncorrectable sector count but i dont know if that could be the fault

Fixes i have tried:
1) Updating ALL my Drivers
2) Disabling CPU throttling in my reg
3) Setting the MSISopported option of my Audiodriver to true
4) Run a test on my RAM

I will be online the next few hours and most likely the hole day tomorrow.

thanks in advance for any tips :)


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. Also one or more ISR routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:24:58 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name: DESKTOP-SFOOQSD
OS version: Windows 10, 10.0, version 2009, build: 19044 (x64)
Hardware: System Product Name, System manufacturer
BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/15/18 15:36:09 Ver: 05.0000C
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz
Logical processors: 8
Processor groups: 1
Processor group size: 8
RAM: 32706 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed (WMI): 4008 MHz
Reported CPU speed (registry): 4008 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 3195,20
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 7,754650

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 3189,10
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 4,030545


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 3215,712824
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0,484791
Driver with highest ISR total time: dxgkrnl.sys - DirectX Graphics Kernel, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0,502604

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 4812779
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs): 139
ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 14
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 3527,289671
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 512.95 , NVIDIA Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0,443664
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 512.95 , NVIDIA Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 1,330336

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 10641577
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs): 50763
DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 133
DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 375
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count: explorer.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 72913
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 53996
Number of processes hit: 84


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 210,773078
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 3215,712824
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 58,930699
CPU 0 ISR count: 3995433
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 3527,289671
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 116,908988
CPU 0 DPC count: 8216900
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 55,089345
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 72,031437
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 1,254239
CPU 1 ISR count: 784298
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 3211,832834
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 29,004783
CPU 1 DPC count: 1037237
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 26,893864
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 8,088323
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0,054088
CPU 2 ISR count: 33201
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 3201,293164
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 10,336239
CPU 2 DPC count: 790901
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9,533296
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 2628,013473
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0,782052
CPU 3 DPC count: 145933
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9,984396
CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 4 ISR count: 0
CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 3126,702844
CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0,718844
CPU 4 DPC count: 145988
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9,657185
CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 5 ISR count: 0
CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 2833,312874
CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0,627333
CPU 5 DPC count: 124886
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 9,208691
CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 6 ISR count: 0
CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 174,002994
CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0,606240
CPU 6 DPC count: 131859
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 8,408567
CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 7 ISR count: 0
CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 1731,864022
CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0,461344
CPU 7 DPC count: 99144
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[cwsink]

Hi AC_1337, welcome to Sysnative :)

Your description sounds like system memory resource depletion to the point of eventually causing Windows to start paging memory to and from disk. Can you post a screenshot of the Performance tab in Task Manager with the Memory panel displayed while the problem is happening?

Is it just the audio issues or do you also start getting other noticeable performance issues like video hangs/freezes, extreme fps drops, stuttering mouse cursor movement, etc?

Have you tried disconnecting the questionable drive to take it out of the equation?

 

[AC_1337]

Hi AC_1337, welcome to Sysnative :)

Your description sounds like system memory resource depletion to the point of eventually causing Windows to start paging memory to and from disk. Can you post a screenshot of the Performance tab in Task Manager with the Memory panel displayed while the problem is happening?

Is it just the audio issues or do you also start getting other noticeable performance issues like video hangs/freezes, extreme fps drops, stuttering mouse cursor movement, etc?

Have you tried disconnecting the questionable drive to take it out of the equation?

Sure thing here is the screenshot while crackling accures i have no other performance issues i feel like when the game is taking a lot of resources it gets worse / lighting or like when assets are loaded it gets worse but no FPS drops

i have not tried to disconnect the drive but i made sure nothing that is running is installed on that drive

 

[cwsink]

That doesn't look like system memory would be a problem. Can you post a screenshot of the Task Manager GPU panel while the problem is happening?

 

[AC_1337]

Okay since initial post i tried to reset Windows (reinstall Windows) nothing changed.
But i found out that it has to be something with my audio drivers...
When i tab out of the game i still have the crackles and pops when listening to music.
but when i stop the music its completely silent and i cant hear any crackling or popping.

 

[cwsink]

That looks okay, too. The CPU sure looks saturated going by the thumbnail graph in the screenshots. The crackling and popping are typical of what happens when the thread playing audio is starved of CPU time. Do you have experience using xperf or Windows Performance Recorder?

 

[AC_1337]

no i have no experience using xperf or WPR

 

[cwsink]

Please try following the instructions here:

Video STUTTERING, Audio CRACKS/POPS and dpc/isr LATENCY (posting instructions)

and see if you can capture a trace while the problem is happening.

 

[AC_1337]

Hey here is my trace :)

 

[cwsink]

Hmmm... that doesn't seem to have successfully captured any process, driver, or function name information so I can't see what is doing what. I've attached a zip that contains a file named TraceCPU.cmd. Please extract that file to your Desktop, right-click on the file and select Run as administrator. That should open up a cmd prompt window with a prompt to Press any key to continue... doing so should start a trace and display what shows in the attached screenshot. Does your screen show the same?

 

[AC_1337]

okay so i guess i messed up somehow.
Here is the new trace :)

 

[cwsink]

With the latest trace, is it an example of the audio experiencing a single pop or crack during the trace?

 

[AC_1337]

multiple crackles and pops it seems to be ndis.sys or the HDaudiobus

 

[cwsink]

Yeah, I'm wondering about ndis. What network adapter are you using?

 

[AC_1337]

just my ethernet port on my mainboard nothing else i also get the crackles and pops if i disable it

 

[cwsink]

Please use the script in the attached zip to collect a trace for wait analysis using the same steps as the other script.

edit: It should create a file on the Desktop named cpuwait.etl

 

[AC_1337]

i got up again to do this trace :) i also uploaded a video of the crackles... maybe that helps :) ill go too sleep now
thanks for your help btw i really appreciate it.
this crackling/popping sounds bother me for a while now.

now that i see the video i thought it may be a faulty ram but i ran the Windows test on my ram and it said that everything is working fine.

 

[cwsink]

I see the video but I don't see a trace. If it's too big to attach, please make it available via a cloud drive or file sharing service download link.

 

[AC_1337]

This Link will only work 7 days
cpuwait (2).zip

 

[cwsink]

From your original post I'm under the impression this is a new problem and you weren't experiencing the cracks and pops until a few weeks ago, correct? If so, did something happen to your system a few weeks ago shortly before the problem appeared such as a Windows update or driver update or you added new hardware or software, etc. ?

Based on the video, it seems like the glitches are happening while moving the mouse and/or clicking on video controls. Do you only get the cracks and pops while interacting with the user interface? Do you still get the glitches if you just let a video play without touching the mouse or keyboard?

The traces don't suggest a DPC/ISR issue, to my mind. Assuming the video is representative of what was going on during the trace, a couple of somewhat long running DPC/ISRs is not enough to cause the glitches shown in the video.

There is another tool specifically created to troubleshoot media playback problems called Media eXperience Analyzer which is discussed in this video and subsequent videos in the series. It's somewhat more complicated but very similar to Windows Performance Analyzer and, in fact, you still use Windows Performance Recorder to capture a trace. It has profiles and options more focused on media playback to capture traces and the user interface is designed more for analyzing media playback issues. Please have a look at the video and see if it's something you'd want to try. I don't have a lot of experience with it but am happy to see what we can do.