G73 stereo crackling with high bass

My g73 has a crackling issue specifically on the left speaker. It only occurs when the bass is high. For example, in games with lotsa explosions that crackling gets pretty crazy. Ive seen a vid of Dragon Age with a crackling issue but thats not the same issue im having. Its nowhere near as loud and it doesnt happen when you simply crank the volume up. Ive tested it on some 'bass' vids on yotube and i confirmed it only happens with high enough bass.

..does anybody else have this issue?

My ATI HDMI audio drivers are version 6.0.1.5857
and my Realtek HD audio drivers are version 6.0.1.5978

...both 2009. I was wondering if updating the RealTek from the current version here ( ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Support-) would help any? Or is it a hardware issue..?

Thanks

 

Trying the newer drivers from Realtek shouldn't hurt - they certainly work better than the stock ones. The latest versions from Realtek are

Realtek High Definition Audio 6.0.1.6257
ATI HDMI Audio 6.0.1.6251

Don't know if they will fix a crackling issue however...

 

Just downloaded the ones from the asus g73 driver website. First removed, reboot, installed..got some 'not supported' errors but in the end it installed correctly (apparently). Just gotta restart now. If those dont work i'll try the ones from here;

Realtek

which i think are the latest ones.

Do i have to update the ATI HDMI audio driver as well?

 

The Asus site only has the original stock driver. The latest from Realtek ( download here) fixes (at least) the Steam crash that occurred on the stock driver.

I use HDMI a lot, and the Realtek ATI HDMI Audio driver works better than the one from AMD but I don't know if that's because of Catalyst driver fixes that came in 10.10 or not.

 

Installed both the Realtek and ATI HDMI drivers from that link.

Alright..the crackling is gone! Sweet...now the new issue.

The sound quality is WORSE. It cant get as loud and the sound seems muffled..as if im blocking the speakers with my hand.

What the hell?

edit: awesome now the microphone dont work as well...and accdng to Device Manager im still using the same old stock drivers wth??

 

When it goes properly, the Realtek installer should first uninstall the existing driver then prompt you to reboot. This reboot MUST be done. Then you run the installer again and it will install the new driver - prompting you to reboot again. Is that what you did?

 

First off, let me say thanks alot MarkS for helping me out with this issue.

Secondly, i got it all working. The volume is returned to normal and the crackling is officially gone and is replaced my a VERY VERY low static only really present in those high bass songs. I mean these arent the best speakers so high bass can toast em.

Anyway, now the NEW issue is everytime upon reboot im getting an 'Unable to find a compatible SRS audio device' error...how do i get rid of that w/o uninstalling the drivers?

edit: Alright got everything working. Got rid of the error by uninstalling 'SRS control panel' that installed w/ the drivers. On top of that, the crackling issue is gone.

 

I've seen this error reported on this forum but I'm not sure what the fix is. Maybe someone will jump in with that info.

For what it's worth, I have no SRS audio stuff that I can find on my G73JH.

If you have a few spare minutes to do so, I would recommend starting over. Go to Control Panel/Programs and Features and remove the following:

Creative MediaSource 5
Realtek HDMI Audio Driver for ATI
Realtek High Definition Audio Driver
Sound Blaster Audigy HD
(and anything having to do with with SRS)

Next, install the Realtek and Creative software from the original Asus utility/driver disk (ISO available for download).

Finally, install the latest drivers from Realtek as discussed previously.

Pain in the *&^, but that should put everything back to normal.

Cool! Never mind then

 

Scratch that..the crackling issue still exists...RAWRG!

I still hear that buzzing/crackling noise on right speaker..I'll mess with the EQ and see if i can reduce/eliminate it tomorrow..too tired to troubleshoot tonight.

 

Are you sure it isn't a physical rattle? My G73JW rattles pretty easily with bass.

 

nope its definitely the left speaker.

 

Exactly the same issue here too

 

UA2012, Just reboot your system and install the drivers since the first install only uninstalls the current drivers.

Alright I think ive narrowed it down to hardware issues.

First off, its only on the left speaker.
Second, it only occurs when the bass is high so i can actually max out the volume on most songs w/o the crackle/buzzing
Third, there are no issues when using my headphones
Fourth, Ive messed with the EQ to reduce bass and treble (and everything else) to no avail.
Fifth, Ive updated to the latest Realtek and ATI HDMI drivers and i thought it helped but it didnt.

Its gotta be hardware.

 

It can also be clipping error in the audio playback, and you are pushing the left speaker to it's limit. If you do not use a player with ReplayGain, I would suggest you do.

 

I actually found this issue when i took off my headphones while listening to a track.

The volume was at about 60% and i just gradually increased it and the crackling/buzzing got worse...so i dont think i was pushing it to its limit.

Plus since the day i got my g73 ive had my headphones on 95% of the time.

 

i had exactly the same issue with crackling at high bass. then at one moment i got issues with video (some blur during a fraction of a sec). then i uninstalled all video drivers (i had the most recent drivers from ati) and installed 1 year old ones from asus site - ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Support-
then miracle happened - the sound got cristal clear, all crackling is gone.