Static and crackling in my HDMI audio?

Question

So, I managed to dual boot Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu 13.04. In Ubuntu 13.04, I installed the drivers for my graphics card(AMD HD Radeon 7700 Series, I'm pretty sure it's a 7790 one and Intel HD Graphics 4600 for Motherboard, but this shouldn't be necessary, considering that it's not the motherboard where I have connected the HDMI) for HDMI. I went to System Settings, and then to Sound, selected the HDMI sound option. Now, whenever I play anything that has sound, the audio has static and crackling. It does not play correctly. I tried searching, but all I find is questions in which the HDMI audio is simply not recognized and not playing.

Solution 1

SOLUTION:

I finally found a solution to my problem randomly.

sudo pico /etc/pulse/default.pa

look for

load-module module-udev-detect

and add tsched=0

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

This simple modification fixed all the sound crackling and static on my PC, in Google Chrome, chromium, HTML5 videos, etc etc

Solution 2

I have a ATI R7 260x, the HDMI audio problem was solved when I've had trying two different workarounds together. It's working as designed now. (on Ubuntu 14.10 64-bit)

Follow the steps below:

1. Open the terminal with Ctrl+Alt+t.

2. sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa

3. Replace the line

   load-module module-udev-detect
   

   with

   load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0
   

   and save file.

4. sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

5. Insert options snd-hda-intel vid=8086 pid=8ca0 snoop=0 at the end of the file.

6. Reboot the PC

Solution 3

I've had crackling and static as well and I solved it by first muting microphone input, and secondly changing my sound to 7.1 surround (even though I only have 2 speakers).

Comments

[Dillmo]

Do you have HDMI audio set for Windows as well? Is the HDMI cable you're using connected to your GPU or motherboard? There is a good chance you are picking up on interference from your motherboard, which causes the crackling. I have a similar problem myself, and have to route my audio through my keyboard to prevent it.

[TehSephirothSpirit]

I do have HDMI audio for Windows as well, and there are no such problems. And the HDMI cable is connected to the GPU.

[TehSephirothSpirit]

Well, I don't have any microphone, and I don't have an option to change HDMI to 7.1 surround. I can do that with the other ones, though. But then I won't have sound at all.

[TehSephirothSpirit]

I did this, and after a reboot, the static was gone and the crackling was reduced a lot. Now using HDMI is actually enjoyable. Thanks a lot. I do hope this will work with 14.04 when I upgrade(It should work, logically. And I'm going to wait for drivers specifically for 14.04 before upgrading, so we could at least be sure that drivers are not at fault(?)).

[Gilgamesh]

This fixed it for me, too! Can you tell us what this has changed? I'm curious if this may affect something that will give me trouble later on.

[TehSephirothSpirit]

It turns off time based audio scheduling. Apparently some people have glitches with it turned on and for others it works better when turned off :/

[Le Gluon du Net]

This resolve the noisy and crackle hdmi sound with a radeon x290, thank you.

[Thomio]

Now the sound is perfect, thanks. My video card is also a R7 260x

[randlet]

This fixed the static issue for my onboard Intel audio device in Ubuntu 14.04. Thanks!

[Jack]

Unfortunately this fix does not work in 16.10

[The Mitra Boy]

Worked for me in elementary OS 0.4.1 Loki

[Lukáš Lánský]

I can't believe this fixed the problem for me in Ubuntu 18.10.

[Neal Fultz]

Still works on Ubuntu 18.04 / bionic on a Hades Canyon NUC.

[Zach Bloomquist]

Worked in Pop_OS! 20.04.

[xealits]

it seems like this worked on Ubuntu 20.10 with Asus monitor speakers. It's been about a week without the noise for me. The crackling noise would appear some time after the reboot, probably after the display went to sleep mode.

[Troyhy]

I can confirm it worked for Ubuntu 21.04 with Dell monitors HDMI -> 3mm jack

[Jason-Paul Wells]

This is still necessary in 2021, with ubuntu 21.10 and a Lenovo display. Remarkable that it's not a default thing 7+ years later!

[Admin]

Is 2022 and this fixed my noise audio issue on Debian 11, thanks

[Admin]

lifesaver! fixed on Debian GNU/Linux 11 bullseye (x86-64)