Crackling/Popping audio on HERO VIII

[adiwitko]

Lately, I have been getting stuttering audio and a pops coming from my headphones while plugged into the onboard audio also same when I plug them into a DAC but plugging in the headphones into a phone works perfectly fine. Also there was a post on reddit with the exact same issue and he was using the same motherboard (HERO VIII) and I'm unsure what is causing it as using diffrent headphones,DAC, formatting PC,Reinstalling drivers did nothing and still i get the issue.

I'm happy to provide any other info and happy to hear suggestions on resolving this issue.

Thank you in advance.

[brkkab123]

I have the Maximus VIII Hero on my pc, too.
It's a known issue and there's a easy fix.
Make sure you wrap your cases HD Audio cables in a plastic pc cable wrap all the way from the front panel to the motherboard's HD Audio port and then replug the HD Audio cable to the motherboard.
The hiss should be gone after doing that.
It worked on my pc.
I found the cable wrap afew years ago atHarbor & Freight.
If there isn't a Harbor & Freight in your area, try a local hardware store or Amazon/Newegg.

[adiwitko]

brkkab123 wrote:
I have the Maximus VIII Hero on my pc, too.
It's a known issue and there's a easy fix.
Make sure you wrap your cases HD Audio cables in a plastic pc cable wrap all the way from the front panel to the motherboard's HD Audio port and then replug the HD Audio cable to the motherboard.
The hiss should be gone after doing that.
It worked on my pc.
I found the cable wrap afew years ago atHarbor & Freight.
If there isn't a Harbor & Freight in your area, try a local hardware store or Amazon/Newegg.

The thing is I'm not getting any hissing just crackling/popping noises when watching videos or streams and sometimes while gaming but quite less. It seems everytime sound stops and resumes the pop/crack occurs like I can recreate it by turning the volume up and down on the youtube video to consistently recreate it or using the windows sound ring test in the audio device settings.

[adiwitko]

Really Nobody has a solution to this? the issue which seems to be common... :(:(:(

[Buellersdayoff]

adiwitko wrote:
Really Nobody has a solution to this? the issue which seems to be common... :(:(:(

Try the latest realtek driver from their website, remove all the rog stuff.
http://www.realtek.com/downloads/

[adiwitko]

Buellersdayoff wrote:
Try the latest realtek driver from their website, remove all the rog stuff.
http://www.realtek.com/downloads/

I tried using newest drivers and the still same issue also I'm using an External DAC/AMP which has no issues on other computers same with headphones no issues on other computers.

Buellersdayoff wrote:
https://www.howtogeek.com/285429/how-to-fix-crackling-or-popping-sound-on-a-windows-pc/
High overclock could do it too

I was running a overclock then when installing a new BIOS update I have my CPU not overclocked and this is the same issue.

[Vinny1001]

adiwitko, these motherboards are very prone to audio issues. I had gone through many models of the Asus Z170 line and all had the same audio issues. Tried my same hardware on another brand, 0 audio issues.

I posted a topic and received some help:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?93780-Can-t-reinstall-Sonic-Studio-Audio-issues-persist-ye...

Please see the first page and the replies from Denaba or see below for what he suggested to specifically check -
"1 - Network Adapter you have, example i217V or i219V and if there is a number after it. Mine is Intel Ethernet Connection (2) i219-V so your should be something similar

2 - What driver version is the Ethernet Adapter

If it is Intel and if it is the older 20 and 21 series then this could be the cause of the popping. The driver introduced a huge latency which resulting in audio popping. Even in recordings you would here it."

Then later he said -
"So you have driver version 12.13.17.7 which equates to Intel Ethernet package 20.4.1 and this is the line where the problems started for Intel. Some reading if you want:
https://communities.intel.com/thread...rt=60&tstart=0

Now to update. First go to the Intel Download Center and drill down till you get to your i219-V driver. Make sure to look for your Windows 7 one. The latest version is 22.3 which was released on 4-27-2017. Once you find it you will be offered two versions; 32-bit and 64-bit. Get the right one for your system, find it and download it to your desktop.

Now uninstall the Intel Ethernet driver that your system has, reboot and then use CCleaner. Double check because I have seen the Intel Ethernet drivers do some weird things. Go back to the control panel add/remove area and see if the Intel Ethernet Driver is gone. Sometimes the one you uninstall is gone, but the next lower one pops up on the list. If it does, uninstall it just as you did above and reboot again. If not proceed on. Once you are sure no more Ethernet drivers are on your system (which BTW you will not have Internet for now) then go ahead and install the newest driver. Once installed reboot and see about the popping.

BTW-
Intel package 22.3 = Intel Ethernet Driver 12.15.25.6. Driver date is 3-21-2017 and the package was released on 4-27-2017"

I had the audio pop/crack anytime an audio channel opened to begin playing audio. This actually fixed it. I updated my Intel Ethernet drivers appropriately and didn't have that pop/crack anymore.

I still have some other audio issues, but that at least fixed that part. Please try it.

[adiwitko]

Vinny1001 wrote:
adiwitko, these motherboards are very prone to audio issues. I had gone through many models of the Asus Z170 line and all had the same audio issues. Tried my same hardware on another brand, 0 audio issues.

I posted a topic and received some help:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?93780-Can-t-reinstall-Sonic-Studio-Audio-issues-persist-ye...

Please see the first page and the replies from Denaba or see below for what he suggested to specifically check -
"1 - Network Adapter you have, example i217V or i219V and if there is a number after it. Mine is Intel Ethernet Connection (2) i219-V so your should be something similar

2 - What driver version is the Ethernet Adapter

If it is Intel and if it is the older 20 and 21 series then this could be the cause of the popping. The driver introduced a huge latency which resulting in audio popping. Even in recordings you would here it."

Then later he said -
"So you have driver version 12.13.17.7 which equates to Intel Ethernet package 20.4.1 and this is the line where the problems started for Intel. Some reading if you want:
https://communities.intel.com/thread...rt=60&tstart=0

Now to update. First go to the Intel Download Center and drill down till you get to your i219-V driver. Make sure to look for your Windows 7 one. The latest version is 22.3 which was released on 4-27-2017. Once you find it you will be offered two versions; 32-bit and 64-bit. Get the right one for your system, find it and download it to your desktop.

Now uninstall the Intel Ethernet driver that your system has, reboot and then use CCleaner. Double check because I have seen the Intel Ethernet drivers do some weird things. Go back to the control panel add/remove area and see if the Intel Ethernet Driver is gone. Sometimes the one you uninstall is gone, but the next lower one pops up on the list. If it does, uninstall it just as you did above and reboot again. If not proceed on. Once you are sure no more Ethernet drivers are on your system (which BTW you will not have Internet for now) then go ahead and install the newest driver. Once installed reboot and see about the popping.

BTW-
Intel package 22.3 = Intel Ethernet Driver 12.15.25.6. Driver date is 3-21-2017 and the package was released on 4-27-2017"

I had the audio pop/crack anytime an audio channel opened to begin playing audio. This actually fixed it. I updated my Intel Ethernet drivers appropriately and didn't have that pop/crack anymore.

I still have some other audio issues, but that at least fixed that part. Please try it.

Thank you, I will give it a shoot but this will be the last time I'm buying a ASUS motherboard or even any other product from ASUS as their support is non-existent and the issues are common as this is not the first issue I had with the motherboard...

[adiwitko]

Vinny1001 wrote:
adiwitko, these motherboards are very prone to audio issues. I had gone through many models of the Asus Z170 line and all had the same audio issues. Tried my same hardware on another brand, 0 audio issues.

I posted a topic and received some help:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?93780-Can-t-reinstall-Sonic-Studio-Audio-issues-persist-ye...

Please see the first page and the replies from Denaba or see below for what he suggested to specifically check -
"1 - Network Adapter you have, example i217V or i219V and if there is a number after it. Mine is Intel Ethernet Connection (2) i219-V so your should be something similar

2 - What driver version is the Ethernet Adapter

If it is Intel and if it is the older 20 and 21 series then this could be the cause of the popping. The driver introduced a huge latency which resulting in audio popping. Even in recordings you would here it."

Then later he said -
"So you have driver version 12.13.17.7 which equates to Intel Ethernet package 20.4.1 and this is the line where the problems started for Intel. Some reading if you want:
https://communities.intel.com/thread...rt=60&tstart=0

Now to update. First go to the Intel Download Center and drill down till you get to your i219-V driver. Make sure to look for your Windows 7 one. The latest version is 22.3 which was released on 4-27-2017. Once you find it you will be offered two versions; 32-bit and 64-bit. Get the right one for your system, find it and download it to your desktop.

Now uninstall the Intel Ethernet driver that your system has, reboot and then use CCleaner. Double check because I have seen the Intel Ethernet drivers do some weird things. Go back to the control panel add/remove area and see if the Intel Ethernet Driver is gone. Sometimes the one you uninstall is gone, but the next lower one pops up on the list. If it does, uninstall it just as you did above and reboot again. If not proceed on. Once you are sure no more Ethernet drivers are on your system (which BTW you will not have Internet for now) then go ahead and install the newest driver. Once installed reboot and see about the popping.

BTW-
Intel package 22.3 = Intel Ethernet Driver 12.15.25.6. Driver date is 3-21-2017 and the package was released on 4-27-2017"

I had the audio pop/crack anytime an audio channel opened to begin playing audio. This actually fixed it. I updated my Intel Ethernet drivers appropriately and didn't have that pop/crack anymore.

I still have some other audio issues, but that at least fixed that part. Please try it.

It partially fixed it but the issue presists... I guess I will just sell this setup off and buy a new one as It's driving me to insanity to hear these pops and crackles...

[Buellersdayoff]

https://www.howtogeek.com/285429/how-to-fix-crackling-or-popping-sound-on-a-windows-pc/
High overclock could do it too