well, it is only coming from the left channel and sounds more that the source of the output is not grounded correctly.
Audio hardware is very sensitive to power so things must have separate power sources and be grounded separately.
from what I am reading is that anything with power use on the same side as the headphone port makes the static.
I have also been hearing intermittent crackling/static from the headphone jacks. Card configuration has had no noticeable impact on the sounds.
I hear the static noise while I try to adjust the connector pin that is plugged-in to the port. I have to fiddle with it for a good few seconds to find the right orientation for the static to go away. Even after that, the headphone volume is too low. I turned up the system volume and my headphone’s volume control and it is still far too low. The volume issue might be a driver issue but something is certainly up with the port itself.
The static on my headphones has mysteriously disappeared for several weeks. The only things I changed recently were updating to kernel 5.13 and editing alsa.conf to enable microphone Ubuntu 21.04 on the Framework Laptop - #58 by Atul_Ingle
Alright I have a recording that demonstrates the static issue. At the 2:00 mark I replay the video after I find the sweet spot of fiddling with the headphone pin and the audio becomes a little clear but still not crystal clear I think. The thing I noticed is that the voice channel seems to be messed up while watching the video. However, on a Zoom call since there is no music channel and I suspect it is not a 2ch stereo(?) I have a different problem – low volume.
The video I was playing during the recording is this: Outcast 2 - A New Beginning - World Trailer | PS5 - YouTube
What other info would you need to help diagnose this, @nrp? I am on Windows 11 (22000.194), by the way.
Would you be able to check if this also occurs on Windows 10 with the beta Framework Laptop Driver Bundle? Public Beta Test: BIOS v3.03 + Driver Bundle 2021_08_31
Let me see if I can do that easily. I think I’d have to wipe my hdd to get out of the Win11 Beta program. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t want to go back to Win10 because it is a pain. If you have any ideas, do feel free to DM me.
@Kieran_Levin not sure if this is still useful to you, but I just got my system yesterday and I’m seeing the same issue in PopOS:
Would you be able to check a couple of things to help us debug this:
I’m still getting some noise while listening to headphones now & then, I tried to reproduce with some test tones and quiet music today but I didn’t notice any noise on these tests.
FWIW I tried with nothing plugged into any port except a short stereo 1/8" cable going straight into a field recorder.
I made recordings initially with test tones at a moderate volume, but I redid the tests with very quiet signals afterward. Test tones at 200, 400, 800, and 8000hz, then a linear sweep from 2hz to 20khz. (FYI the oscillator I used doesn’t prevent aliasing distortion, so that’s present in the recordings, but the noise we’ve been discussing is nothing like aliasing distortion so I didn’t feel the need to use a bandlimited or analog test tone for this…)
I think I’ve only heard noise when plugged into power, and I’m sure I was doing more than just playing a test tone when it happened. I also generally use the laptop with a wired mouse, so I’ll try these again later when I’m working on something on the laptop with a mouse plugged in too.
Test tones, recordings, screenshot (just to show what was running at the time of the recordings, and the general battery level) and photo of how the recorder was hooked up are all here in case anyone is interested, I’ll try reproducing again this week!
In addition:
I just got my Framework and am loving it but I’ve noticed this and one other intermittent noise issues. Music production is one of my primary uses for a computer. When working on any loud sound (ex. a bass drum), I notice crackles on the left channel that only happen when the sound is playing. The crackles sound different depending on how loud the sound it. This problem also sometimes goes away but doesn’t seem to depend on whether the charger is plugged in or not. I am using AKG Q701 headphones and I have not tested with another pair yet. I notice this problem when I’m working on music sitting on my couch with nothing else plugged in to the laptop.
When I am working in my studio plugged in to my audio interface via usb, I do not notice this issue. However, I notice a 2 high-frequency clicks when I begin recording. They are somewhere in the 11k-15k frequency range and are quite loud. I can compensate by starting recording a few bars early and then deleting the beginning of each recording but I would be great if this noise didn’t happen. I have not yet tried switching the USB card out.
EDIT: I am running PopOs, I have not tried any other distros.
I had this problem too. i’m running windows 10. i went into sound control panel>playback>headphones>properties>advanced then i disabled signal enhancements hit apply. it was gone. i turned it back on and it is gone. idk if that was a coincidence or not. if it happens again i will try this. i’ll update you on the results.
Edit: right as i finished this i tested it again and the noise was back. I tried turning signal enhancements on and off. it didn’t work so it is not that i then tried putting it to 16 bit 48000Hz. that has seemed to work. I can’t hear the difference between 16 and 24 bit audio anyways so i’m fine with 16bit but others are clearly not. This was done with power plugged in and the drivers i got from framework.
Thanks for the suggestion! Will try it myself because this noise issue has been driving me crazy
I am also getting the rattling noise out of the headphone jack on the left channel similar to @FaultedBeing on Ubuntu 21.04 (Linux kernel 5.11.0-37-generic). It seems to go away after unplugging and plugging back in the headphones. It is very noticeable when I bring up the Ubuntu Settings dialog and use “Front Right” test under Settings → Sound → Output. The crackling comes out of the left channel and is about the same amplitude (ouch) as the test signal that should only come out of the right channel. I tried to capture it with a USB audio interface, but it went away again. It feels like a driver issue to me.
Just plugged in headphones for the first time after getting my batch 3 laptop, lots of static popping only when audio is playing – mostly out of the left channel, it’s hard to tell. I’m using the standard microsoft drivers currently for the realtek controller to try and sidestep the sleep drain problems from another thread.
For what it’s worth, I’m running without power plugged in, 48000hz 16bit, Windows 10.
Changing to 24bit and/or disabling signal enhancements doesn’t have an effect.
Oh, and the headphones I’m using have a TRRS connector with an inline mic that isn’t picked up by the laptop (pretty sure that’s a driver thing, but might be relevant).
Static also seems to occur pretty consistently given repeated audio, while not exactly the same, it’s in about the same place timing-wise every time.
The discord sound effect seems to cause it every single time.
Just an observation, may or may not be relevant to the existing audio side crackle.
I have been plugged into the jack for an audio line out to listen to radio stations in my area.
If my amplified speakers are plugged in and on before the laptop is, I get a Lot of static noise from the speakers. As the laptop powers on, the sound then shifts to different static noise… And finally to quiet. Like power is applied by the EC, and then the driver kicks in.
SDR is not plugged in at the time I boot btw.
I have to wonder if it is an actual intermittent power problem or the headset jack driver going back to an open circuit condition… Or switching modes / levels when it should not.
Just chiming in that I’m also experiencing this with my laptop, which is running Windows 10 Pro. If I switch the same headphones over to a jack on a connected Thunderbolt dock the crackling goes away, so it’s not just my headphones.
I wanted to mention that I upgraded my Framework to Windows 11 and the crackle and static noise on the headphone jack is gone. So this is certainly a software issue, which is great.
But to repeat the noise and static are gone under Windows 11. To be fair under Windows 10 they were there, but they didn’t really bother me, because it only could be heard occasionally during times when it was basically quiet.
It was an upgrade from Windows 10, and I was using the beta drivers from Framework before upgrading.
6.0.9172.1 is the Realtek Audio Driver
10.29.0.5541 is the Intel Smart Audio driver