Crackling/Popping Noise when starting/stopping playback.

KutaG59 · 2025-06-17 06:38:41

System info for issue:
Distro - Arch (obv)
Kernel - 6.15.2-2-cachyos (64bit)
Audio - Pipewire/Wireplumber + pipewire-jack/alsa/pulse
BIOS - onboard audio turned off (onboard chip)
Audio Devices:
DAC - Fiio Q11 (USB-C in - Jack 3.5mm out - low bal) https://www.fiio.com/q11
Headphones - Philips SHP9600 (into DAC) https://www.usa.philips.com/c-p/SHP9600 … l-benefits

Hello all

I am having issues with audio pop/crackling when starting or stopping audio playback. I have followed the suggested troubleshooting methods in https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWi … leshooting / https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PulseA … g_playback. The popping/crackling also happens for 5-7 seconds straight after my system has booted into Hyprland after about >10 seconds then stops.
I also tried using “snd_hda_intel” “power_save=0” which does return 0 if I use cat on it, however the audio still continues with the original issue. (I also ended up blacklisting that module in my kernel params)
I've messed with ALSA's dither.noise and dither.method + suspension setups but the dither doesn't help no matter how high/low or which methods I use, in the end noise would just come out of my desktop speakers while the crackling would continue on my headphones.

This issue does not happen on baremetal windows, or within a windowsVM with my audio drivers installed.
I've tried messing with the sample rate (48KHz / 192Khz / 384Khz etc) and the bit depth (16, 24, 32) however it happens on all possible options.

So in all, I have the .conf file in /modprobe.d/, .conf files for pipewire/wireplumber under “~/.config/namehere/name.client.d”, I have a config under “~/.config/pulse/default.pa” including the default file, then unloading the module “suspend-on-idle” as suggested on topics within the Arch Wiki

Heres some output from “aplay -L”

# aplay -L
null
    Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
sysdefault
    Default Audio Device
iec958
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
lavrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Libav/FFmpeg Library
samplerate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Samplerate Library
speexrate
    Rate Converter Plugin Using Speex Resampler
jack
    JACK Audio Connection Kit
oss
    Open Sound System
pipewire
    PipeWire Sound Server
pulse
    PulseAudio Sound Server
speex
    Plugin using Speex DSP (resample, agc, denoise, echo, dereverb)
upmix
    Plugin for channel upmix (4,6,8)
vdownmix
    Plugin for channel downmix (stereo) with a simple spacialization
default
    Default ALSA Output (currently PipeWire Media Server)
sysdefault:CARD=DSX
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=DSX,DEV=0
    Xonar DSX, Multichannel
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=DSX
    Xonar DSX
    USB Stream Output
usbstream:CARD=Microphone
    USB Condenser Microphone
    USB Stream Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=0
    HDA ATI HDMI, VA2223wm
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=1
    HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 1
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=2
    HDA ATI HDMI, DELL S2421HGF
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=3
    HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 3
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=4
    HDA ATI HDMI, SE222FS
    HDMI Audio Output
hdmi:CARD=HDMI,DEV=5
    HDA ATI HDMI, HDMI 5
    HDMI Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=HDMI
    HDA ATI HDMI
    USB Stream Output
sysdefault:CARD=Q11
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    Front output / input
surround21:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    2.1 Surround output to Front and Subwoofer speakers
surround40:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Q11,DEV=0
    FiiO Q11, USB Audio
    IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
usbstream:CARD=Q11
    FiiO Q11
    USB Stream Output
usbstream:CARD=Webcam
    C922 Pro Stream Webcam
    USB Stream Output

Heres some output for sudo fuser -v /dev/snd/*

                     USER        PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0:  kuta       3315 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC1:  kuta       3315 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC2:  kuta       3315 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC3:  kuta       3315 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/controlC4:  kuta       3315 F.... wireplumber
/dev/snd/pcmC1D0c:   kuta       3314 F...m pipewire
/dev/snd/pcmC3D0p:   kuta       3314 F...m pipewire
/dev/snd/seq:        kuta       3314 F.... pipewire]

Heres some output for cat /etc/pulse/default.pa and the custom config

# cat /etc/pulse/default.pa 
load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

# cat ~/.config/pulse/default.pa 
.include /etc/pulse/default.pa
.nofail
unload-module module-suspend-on-idle
.fail

Heres the output for cat /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save

# cat /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save
0

If I were to plugin my headphones directly into my soundcard (ASUS Sonar DSX) the issue is not present, however it is not my intention to use this sound device as its a setup for my actual audio system (unplugged while debugging this issue) and not my headphones.
If I need to produce more logs, I gladly will. Thank you to anyone who may help

thearchuser · 2025-06-17 11:11:35

Same issue here and I've tried every fix I can find ant nothing solves it. This does not happen on Windows.

For example when watching youtube videos if I pause/play theres usually a loud cracking pop sound. Or skipping forward or backwards with arrow keys. Its very abrasive and painful on the ears. Happens outside of Firefox too like VLC etc.. I dont think it has anything to do with the audio device power settings or anything because if I play two videos at once, and then pause one of them, I hear the same popping and cracking noise when pausing and playing again.

Interesting enough, this is not Arch specific...as I have booted into multiple different live USB and heard the same issue (Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint)
Even tried an ancient version of Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and still the issue is there too!!!
Also I have another Laptop with Linux Mint and the same issue happens.
So maybe not appropriate to even mention it on Arch forum... but still, the issue is driving me mad and I am eager to find a fix!

Maybe this has ALWAYS been a thing on Linux systems.
Maybe Windows just does some post-processing on audio to where you cannot hear this raw clicking and popping when starting/stopping playback
Whatever it is, I want it like this on my Linux system.

checkout this convo:
https://chatgpt.com/c/6851555a-7c0c-800 … f1b1b5840c

Last edited by thearchuser (2025-06-17 11:48:21)

Arch Linux

#1 2025-06-17 06:38:41

Crackling/Popping Noise when starting/stopping playback.

#2 2025-06-17 11:11:35

Re: Crackling/Popping Noise when starting/stopping playback.

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