Windows 11 audio playback crackles w/ processor

[Weasel maz]

Hello all. I have an issue with Windows 11 causing audio playback issues on my native speakers and it's driving me NUTS.

My system:
HP Omen 15 Laptop
OS: Windows 11 Home
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 2900 Mhz, 8 Cores,
Memory: 16gb
BIOS Version/Date: AMI F.20, 4/17/2023
GPU: Geforce GTX 1660ti

The audio playback issue is crackling audio. This occurs primarily when processor is more active.
So, if i were to solely open up a youtube tab and play a video it might sound fine. But as soon as I open more tabs or start microsoft word or task manager even the audio starts to crackle.
If I disable and enable Realtek audio driver it'll resolve for 1 minute or so and then problem starts again.

I have tried reinstalling drivers for realtek HD audio and tried a bunch of different driver versions
I have tried changing power options to be on best performance
I have tried setting high priority for audiodsg.exe process via task manager
I have tried updating Windows 11
I have updated BIOS
I have even tried RESETTING THE PC!!!!
ALL this without success. Of note, the problem does resolve when using headphones as opposed to the native laptop speakers but I do NOT think this is a hardware issue because the speakers are fine when the processor is not heavily loaded.

 

[Neemobeer]

If you never have the issue on headphone then it is most likely hardware. If it's stuttering and not crackling then that's another matter if the CPU/memory are overloaded. Crackling is typically a defect in the speaker themselves

 

[Weasel maz]

The problem is stuttering which sounds like crackling. If it was a hardware issue I'd expect the issue to be persistent. I can go through videos for hours without an issue if it's low cpu/memory involvement. It's extremely reproducible by just opening a resource intensive task or app.

 

[Neemobeer]

Ok if it's stuttering then yes that can be impacted by high load. Have you run the audio troubleshooter?

 

[Weasel maz]

Ok if it's stuttering then yes that can be impacted by high load. Have you run the audio troubleshooter?

Yes, no solution.

 

[Neemobeer]

Did you check for firmware and chipset updates (not audio)?

 

[Weasel maz]

Did you check for firmware and chipset updates (not audio)?

How to do that? I used windows update and my manufacturer site (hp) to download drivers and updates

 

[Neemobeer]

They should be available for download on the manufacturer site