Audio has static on Envy 17"

I just received my Envy 17" today!

So far it is great - no cosmetic defects at all.

However, out of the box, I played several YouTube videos and found that, every 20 seconds or so, the audio will get some static, which is very distracting.

It's not the video's fault, since if I go back and play the part I heard the static, it isn't there anymore. It's more like a random thing that happens to the speakers.

I haven't touched any of the Beats Audio settings either.

Anyone know what to do?

 

My Envy 17 was doing the exact same thing. The static was random, even at lower volumes I still heard it, very annoying. I tried every setting under Beats Audio & Control Panel/Sound, made no difference. I don't know if your laptop also has the problem when listening to music with bass, the volume levels will change throught the song. I ended up returning it & ordering a new one.....pain in the A S S! If not for the audio problem I would be 100% satisfied with the Envy 17.

 

I might have the EXACT same problem as you! Everything is great except this bassy cracky audio! When you did a return did you get/ask for any compensation? Did you have to return the laptop before they sent out a new one?

 

Wow, check out my post titled "HP Envy 17 3XXX blown tweater and over-powering headphones." I was saying the exact same thing, and the only people to respond acted like HP employees, alleging that I messed up my sound card / speakers and that it's supposed to overpower your audio source and send static through the line. However I knew that if I am having these issues, I can't be the only one.

This is seriously the poorest sound quality I have ever had in a notebook. Completely unacceptable after claims of "high end audio" that is, in fact, lower SQ wise than budget notebooks I have had in the past.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...tweater-over-amplifying-headphone-signal.html


I bought mine end of december and am now considering returning it due to the audio issues.

 

My issue is slightly different in that when it is not cracking the sound quality is absolutely amazing for a laptop. When it is cracking however it is very annoying, dorothy shoes sounds worse than mine! Mine cracks for about half a second every hand full of seconds or so on only certain songs.

 

My first Envy 17, a first-generation one, had the cracking noise. Oddly enough, it was caused by software that didn't agree with the computer for some reason. I installed the software that came with my hard drive, and cracking galore. I uninstalled it. Cracking went away. Re-installed. Cracking galore. I uninstalled and later installed the program on my unused drive. I can't remember what happened, because I ended up using third-party backup software with it anyway. This was with a Seagate 2 TB hard drive.

 

It's the beats software that is causing the static noise. Turning off the beats audio checkbox in the listening experience field solves the issue.

 

I did not ask for any compensation, but if the new one has the same problem I will definitely raise hell!.....LOL. When I spoke to an agent via Chat they offered me $50 not to return it & I said, "With the bad sound I'm getting there is now way I can keep it!"....I basically laughed at the offer. Since I paid for my Envy with HP Preferred Account they were not able to do an exchange, so I returned it & placed an order for another one. If you are able to do an exchange I'm sure they will let you hold on to the original till the new one arrives.

I spent an hour with tech support & there was nothing they could do, they just kept telling me that the quality of Youtube videos are not best & to play music directly from dvd drive or music stored on the hard drive, made no difference. Then how do you explain that my desktop & brand new dv7tqe playing the same songs, had flawless sound?

Even when I turned off the the Beats Audio I still had the problem & when I played the Envy with external speakers it sounded like CRAP....the sound was so muffled. However, through the headphones the sound was awesome with or without Beats. I'm praying that the audio/sound was just faulty, there is no way I could live with the sound I was getting.

 

just got my envy 17 yesterday and im pretty sure im having the same issue as everyone else, ill test taking off the beats audio to see if that fixes the issue

 

I guess the fact that I tweaked my audio immediately is why I haven't had this. :shrug:

 

I'm really starting to think there is a serious issue with the audio on these laptops. Why would HP market Beats Audio & have it installed on their laptops if people are going to dissable it. Like I said before on my dv7 with Beats the sound is amazing. Just doesn't make any sense.

 

I think I may also be having the static problem, but it seems to come and go. It's only there some of the time, I don't know why.

When I'm watching an anime where a character has a deep voice, the left speakers make a sound like they're vibrating a little. Is it the same issue? It seems to stop if I hold the left side of the computer.. and I don't want to send it back for a replacement..

EDIT: I just noticed, but I think it's just software - considering internet and other videos/music work fine, it's just when I play anime with dark voices..

 

Mine had the static/crackling sound that would come & go. I didn't want to send mine back either because everything else was perfect, but it was really bothering the hell out of me. How does your Envy sound with external speakers?

 

I haven't checked in depth, but from what I've heard, but it's fine with external speakers..

 

Mine is poor both through the speakers and through headphones.

There are 3 seperate issues:
1) A speaker / tweeter that sounds like its blown and makes a buzzing sound. However it might not be blown.

2) Sound quality is poor and rife with artifacts. Artifacts are occasional static that you would hear while in the middle of playing music or streaming video, etc. Mine is every 5-10 seconds, there is very quiet background static.

3) In video game applications the volume goes in and out, loud and quiet while on one volume setting. Again, sound quality is very poor and sounds worse than $500 machines I have owned in the past.

 

I'm listening to a full orchestral soundtrack, and I haven't heard static once - it seems to a be a software issue with MPC then, because it only has static with low voices on that, everything else seems to be fine.

 

If you get a chance could you please listen to these songs and see if you hear static & volume changes. Thanks

at 2:45 I hear static: Dr. Dre - I Need A Doctor (Explicit) ft. Eminem, Skylar Grey - YouTube

With this song the volume gets lower & higher, almost sounds like the music is bouncing around.
2Pac - Changes - YouTube

 

Neither of them seem to have the problems you're mentioning. I hear no static on the first song, and the volume is holding steady on the second. If it's a big problem, get a replacement/repair.

In my case, it's a software issue I'm sure, only happens for me with a single program.

 

Thanks for taking the time to do that.
I already returned it & awaiting my new Envy 17.

 

Enjoy it, these are great computers if you don't have any issues!

 

Update: my external audio is now completely dead. Sound only comes through the speakers now.

 

Just returned my 17 3D for a new one. Will update and let you know if I have the same issues with audio static and sound dying.

 

Sorry to read that the audio died. When I get my replacement Envy 17 I'm not gonna turn the volume more then 1/2 way with the laptop speakers, gonna be extra careful!

 

Remember how I said I had the issue before? I solved it!

For me, it didn't quite sound like static, but rather, something very very slightly loose on the left side during low-pitch speech in movies.

Sure enough, I opened it up, tightened all screws on the back of the laptop (especially the ones holding the bluray drive) and viola, no more issues at all!

I suggest doing this before sending in the laptop, especially if your "static" comes mainly from the left.

 

My new Envy 17 ordered on Jan. 19th, originally scheduled to be shipped on Feb. 7th, was shipped out yesterday. Hopefully I'll have it by the end of the week & then I'll let you know if the audio/sound has any problems/static/volume changes. And I'll make sure to tighten up everything.

 

I got my Envy yesterday and played music on max volume on internal speakers and sound was very clear. External sound is also very very good. I can tell the difference because I had no laptop for 2 weeks and was using my phone or tablet to play music on my speakers and the Envy's sound is way better.

And no sounds from keyboard.

 

FOR ANYONE GETTING THE SOUND FROM THE KEYBOARD WHILE TYPING, OR VIBRATING WHEN PLAYING LOW PITCHES SOUNDS:

To fix this, you need to do possibly 3 things:

• Open both bottom panels and tighten every screw inside the laptop manually - especially the ones onlding the Bluray Drive down.
  [*]Unscrew the panel-locking mechanism from the larger bottom panel, and place tape along the black line on the panel - this stops metal from hitting metal as hard, and stops any keyboard vibrations.
  [*]A third thing you may want to do, is place small rolled up bits of tape on the two front corners under the panel - this stops the edges of the panel from shaking during low pitchesd sounds and keyboard typing.

Hope this helps! I've done this, and it worked fine.

 

sound on the envy 17 3000

Envy 17 3000 Late 2011 [Audio + Keyboard + Screen] - YouTube

 

I also got a sound volume issue on my 17-3002ef, as described here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...3xxx-series-owners-lounge-56.html#post8311306 and here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...3xxx-series-owners-lounge-58.html#post8317511 .

 

Tried to uninstall/reinstall the driver yesterday, sound is still great before rebooting (with the speaker icon instead of the Beats disc one). Tried to uncheck in msconfig the "IDT Audio" service as well as the "IDT Audio" program from startup BEFORE rebooting, reboot... and the issue is still there.

All I have to know is what service corresponds to the Beats audio that is taking over the sound device at startup, so that I could disable it... Not even sure if that's possible. Really a pain.

 

FYI I successfully removed Beats audio and it has not fixed the static / artifacts and overamplification issues. This laptop ships with a defective sound card, be aware before you buy. I am a professional DJ and know what I'm talking about.

 

Just be careful when announcing something of the sort... For the record some people here reported to have fixed this sound issue.
It's not only because you removed the Beats software that the issue should go away, there are other Windows processes running in the background that have some impacts on the audio.

Also disabling all enhancements in the Windows sound devices properties somehow managed to fix the sound distorsion/volume issue for me. I'm just not adjusting any other parameter in the Beats software anymore, scared that it will mess everything up again! It sounds not great but I could manage to have a decent sound through my HiFi amp. Hopefully a driver will definitely fix things...

 

hey fish, mine started with the cracking in the left speaker only after a new windows install. Its a software issue, but do you know anything I can do to fix because I tried several stuff and nothing.

 

Well unfortunately I can't really help you with that. A cracking speaker (left one only) is a bit different than a sound issue. Are you sure it's a software issue this time? Don't really know how you could fix that...

 

its definitely software, happened only after a clean windows install after a month of ownership. The speaker worked perfectly before and the driver gave me a lot of trouble to get sound to come out on the clean windows. The driver is broken because the one in swsetup folder gave no sound through speakers or headphones. The one from HP's site gives sound but the left speaker cracks on loud sound.

Ill just play around with drivers till it works.

 

Anyone tried the latest IDT drivers?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-drivers-software-forum/630212-drivers-hp-envy-15-3xxx-envy-17-3xxx-intel.html

 

The audio driver on HP's site is version 6.10.6359.0
The one in the thread is version 6.10.6381.0

I can comment that the driver from HP's website caused severe cracks in left speaker and sounded broken. Driver in swsetup fixed the issue.

I will try these drivers when I get home and see what version the swsetup folder driver is.

 

With all due respect gentleman, I am saddled with a $1400 machine that is a computing beast but offers the sound quality of a circa 1995 machine. This is unacceptable from a machine that claims to offer high end audio. I bought htis machine to replace my gigging laptop for DJing, in lieu of a macbook pro, and it is not up to the simple task of handling out of the box audio systems. Artifacts and static everywhere. Over-amplification at 8 ohms, I need to keep the sound at 20-30% or I'll blow the crap out of any SPDIF audio system I am using. This is NOT normal or safe behavior from a laptop sound card. I highly doubt there is a 300W amplifier in a laptop this thin, rather it is somehow pushing out all of the watts of the power supply to the sound card at an absurdly high THD %, hence the high distortion.

That would explain the poor sound quality. If CPU cycles, GPU, etc are drawing on the same power of a sound card attempting to push absurd amounts of wattage, then it is clipping the power source and causing delays in the CPU which would cause static. In essence, this laptop has completely sacrificed all sound quality for SPL since it is pushing uncapped wattage to headphones and speakers (which are typically pre-amped anyways, so this is completely unnecessary). The danger of using the audio jack on this system has rendered it completely useless as a home-audio machine, and I must now use external sound cards with it. Not ok for what I paid for this machine.

I shouldn't have to scour forums and attempt to reinstall 5 different drivers, remove old drivers, flash BIOS over such blatant quality control issues.

 

I decided not to update to latest driver because sound is perfect now. I am almost certain all cases of bad sound are SOFTWARE related because I went through all sound problems after clean install (sound was perfect out of box) but now the driver from swsetup folder (lvAudio) and the hp wireless audio driver installed, sound is working perfect again.

These are my beats settings:

 

For what its worth i DJ'd a few parties with this running through a Yamaha MG board with JBL PRX mains and it did the job just fine. I do however agree that audio on HP laptops is hit or miss - and for long term serious work with this laptop you should plan on using an external sound card (which is fine for me, i have a rackmount unit i use in my mixer rack).

 

Hi everyone!

Just registered to the site because I wanted to return the awesome suggestion given to me...And, if anyone in future will have the same problem, well, google may redirect here...always give back!

No solution found with software or driver in months, I've bought an impedance and the problem was gone! Found it easily on ebay, her's mine: Original KOSS VC-20 In Line Headphones Earphones Earbuds Volume Control

Don't ask how it works, but it does...

Well, I hope nobody had to struggle as much as I did...