Annoying crackle / pop any time sound is played through Vaio S

Hey guys, this is my first post here.

I came on to see if anyone has encountered this problem and if there is a fix for it. I have done an extensive bit of research but did not reach a desirable solution for my new Vaio laptop (Vaio S VPCSA290X). I have updated my drivers through Sony's website and even tried drivers from Realtek themselves but the issue persists.

Anyway, this problem is noticeable with a set of headphones or when the computer is set up to speakers. Whenever a sound is played though the laptop, there is a short popping, crackle, clicking type sound, such as occurs when headphones are plugged into the computer. This happens every time there is a sound is processed, and it happens again every time a sound is done. This gets really annoying when doing miscellaneous things on the computer with headphones in. Every time windows makes a noise, there is this annoying pop before and after. Quite frustrating.

What I discovered from my research, is that the Realtek High Definition Audio drivers create this sound as a form of power management. To conserve battery, the audio is turned off whenever there is nothing coming through the speakers. If you have the Realtek Audio Manager, this is not a problem, as you can turn this feature off. Unfortunately, Sony seems to have opted out of this software, giving us no option to change this setting.

I found users of an Asus computer with similar issues ( link here). Apparently they were able to go into the registry and change the settings directly from there. Unfortunately, the registry entries are different for my Vaio, and that didn't solve the issue.

One small workaround is to simply open "recording devices" from the audio icon in the task bar. This apparently turns the audio on, and a the clicking noise happens again, but will stay on as long as that window is open.

Has anyone had this problem and found a solution for it? And has anyone been able to install the Realtek Audio Manager on their computer? An added equalizer would be nice. Thanks for any help!

 

Have you tried disabling the microphone like they suggested in that thread?

You could also try searching the registry for the various relevant keywords. Maybe the settings are in a different location.

 

Yes, I have tried disabling the mic. I'm almost certain it has to do with the Realtek power management like others have had issues with. I have looked throughout the registry, but I'm having a tough time finding it. Any idea where might be a good place to look?

I also think somehow getting the Realtek Audio Manager on my comp would probably give me the option to fix the problem. Any idea on how to do this? I have tried reinstalling the drivers multiple times from different sources to no avail.

 

Update: Uninstalling the Realtek drivers and letting the Microsoft generic audio drivers install after the restart has fixed the problem. But it would still be nice to have it fixed with the Realtek drivers.