Rift Crackling Audio

[simonjkendrew]

I’ve been using an Oculus Rift on my PC for almost 18 months
without any audio problems, but as of about 5-6 weeks ago, the audio through my
rift headphones (both left and right) has a crackling sound, which is becoming
very annoying and a little disorientating when using the headset. I’ve read
other forum posts of similar issues and have tried various advice from other
people, but cannot seem to resolve the issue.

The crackling sound only happens through the rift
headphones, my attached PC speakers or other headphones are OK. The crackling sound does not appear to be related to
specific games or applications, because it also happens if I play a test sound in
the Windows Sound > Playback > Rift Audio Headphones applet. The
crackling can sometimes be really bad, and other times not so bad. There are
some occasions where the crackling doesn’t happen at all and the sound plays fine,
although this doesn’t happen very often; the majority of the time there is a
crackling sound on the audio.

For the first 18 months before the problem started, the Rift
USB cable was connected directly to one of the rear motherboard USB3 sockets
(no extension cables). I haven’t changed the hardware in my PC prior to
this problem starting.

I’ve tried the following advice I’ve seen on other posts,
but none of these have solved the problem:

• Tightening the headphone screws
• Removing the headphones and swapping them over
  left to right (reattaching them)
• Connecting the Rift USB cable to a front USB
  socket – using a ‘Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Extension Cable in Black 1m’
• Connecting the Rift USB to a USB3.0 expansion
  card – using a ‘Inateck Superspeed 4 Ports PCI-E to USB 3.0 Expansion Card’    
• Removed the Rift faceplate and checked the cable
  is not loose.

PC Spec

• Win 10 Pro (64 bit) Version 1803 (build 17134.81)
• i7-6700K, overclocked to 4.5GHz (done by manufacturer)
• ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming Motherboard
• 16GB
• 2 x 500GB SSD
• EVGA GeForce GTX 1080
  8GB

RIFT Setup

• Oculus app version 1.26.0.582280
• 3 x Rift sensors (2 connected to motherboard
  rear USB 3.0 sockets, 1 connected to motherboard rear USB 2.0 socket (using the
  USB2.0 extension cable supplied by oculus) 

Any help in solving this would be greatly appreciated.

[MilouseFR]

The 44100 Hz fixed i posted yesterday only worked for a while: today i had a light crackling sound until the sound completely stopped working. Switching the rate again helped to to get it back while still having the Rift running, though.

[gruhflust]

I had the same problem after updating to new Oculus Home Software Version. After trying all the suggestions without salvation, I could find a workaround. The problem doesn't occur, if I deactivate all other Sound devices except rift audio and make this the standard device. I'll always have to activate my Speaker Sound if I Need it in the future but that is no big deal. Finally happy to find a solution to this awful Problem.
Edit:
It doesn't solve it for it's own. Another step for my Workaround would be to open the Windows Settings->System->Sound. 
Just open it - no Need to Change something. In some way this seem to solve a conflict when accessing the Sound device. What a bizarre error but as Long as i have an Option to solve it anytime, I'll hope for future bug fixes.

[YoLolo69]

Mine work fine now from the day I changed to 44Hz CD Quality. I made several long sessions without issue.

[Percy1983]

Mine did this a while ago, I found swapping the USB controller the rift was plugged into solved it (from onboard intel to a fresco logic card)

[l_Benny_l]

I had this issue too first i had USB disconnects because the USB controller of my Mainboard didn't had enough Resources for the Kinect and all my other devices like mouse, keyboard, etc.then i plugged the Kinect in to the extra PCI card for USB 3.0 i installed and this problem was gone but unfortunately i plugged the Rift in to this USB Port from my Mainboard since this seamed to work there just fine. Well until it started with this crackling sound... I now got rid of my Kinect since full body tracking isn't killing it with this setup and used this free slot now for my Rift. Now its just working like it should no more audio problems! 

Definitely something Oculus should add too the support page to try a different USB Slot at the best on a whole other controller!

[Lonzoracer]

Possible Fix:

I also had these constant audio issues (crackles) with my Oculus Rift, tried all sort of things like using different USB ports (2.0 & 3.0), powered USB hubs, reinstalled Oculus Software, uninstalled Rift Audio driver etc. and finally FIXED IT by rolling back the Rift audio driver!

This is how it's done (step by step):

Left click the Windows Start Icon at the bottom left of your screen, open Device Manager - unfold Sound, video and game controllers - right click Rift Audio - choose Properties - chose tab Driver - click Roll Back Driver.

Windows 10 then rolled back to this driver:
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 11/04/2018
Driver Version: 10.0.17134.1
Digital Signer: Microsoft Windows

No more crackling audio, no matter what USB ports I use 🙂

I hope this helps!

[mach1ne]

I fixed my sound issues by deleting the Rift Audio entry and removing drivers in device manager.  Now back to normal

[CloudWr417h]

I'm on 1.34.0.198261 and this same sound issue popped up after I added a 5m long USB extention with active repeater.
I then realized I had plugged the Rift into a USB 3.1 port instead of the original 3.0 port.
Hooked the extention cable to the original port and problem was gone.
In my case at least, it looks like a HW compatibility issue rather than drivers or settings.

[Anonymous]

Minimize the number of Drivers loaded to what you only use. Disable others and leave them as a Default HD High Definition if you can before they add other drivers by manufacturer. If you can, uninstall Nvidia Drivers you not use: Audio, 3D, Geforce.

[GATOxVoS]

MAC_MAN86 said:

Minimize the number of Drivers loaded to what you only use. Disable others and leave them as a Default HD High Definition if you can before they add other drivers by manufacturer. ...

If you feel adventurous I'd even go so far as to disable your motherboard's audio controller if you aren't using those ports. Same goes with the integrated graphics. No need to waste power and CPU time on things you don't use. (I've disabled both the controller and integrated graphics on my mobo and my PC has seemed to enjoy not having those things running in the background, especially with regards to the audio controller as the driver for it was the number one cause of System Interrupts in my setup).