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Rift Crackling Audio

simonjkendrew
Explorer

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:



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.
44 REPLIES 44

sheuho
Explorer
Hi there. I am also experiencing this exact same issue since 2 days ago, (dated 2/08/2018). 
I’ve tried everything as you listed above in your post and still there’s crackling audio. It’s driving me insane. We could really do with a fix as I don’t want to use my Rift if this continues. As you say. No hardware or game software change in the last 10 months and just started 2 days ago. Very annoying bug this. Can anyone help? What’s changed? I noticed oculus vr headset had a firmware update 2 days ago and ever since the crackling started. Could it be the new firmware?  HELP!

kojack
MVP
MVP
I had this happen recently. I'd get crackling in audio and in Elite Dangerous the sound would completely die after a few minutes.
I seemed to have fixed it (gone and hasn't come back) by turning off some enhanced settings in the windows 10 sound device properties. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was "Disable all enhancements" in the headphone properties' enhancements tab.

kzpcwdw5z0e6.png
Or it might have been in the Spatial Sound tab in the pic above, that has an option to turn off stuff too.


Author: Oculus Monitor,  Auto Oculus Touch,  Forum Dark Mode, Phantom Touch Remover,  X-Plane Fixer
Hardware: Threadripper 1950x, MSI Gaming Trio 2080TI, Asrock X399 Taich
Headsets: Wrap 1200VR, DK1, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, GearVR, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Reverb G2

simonjkendrew
Explorer

sheuho said:

Hi there. I am also experiencing this exact same issue since 2 days ago, (dated 2/08/2018). 
I’ve tried everything as you listed above in your post and still there’s crackling audio. It’s driving me insane. We could really do with a fix as I don’t want to use my Rift if this continues. As you say. No hardware or game software change in the last 10 months and just started 2 days ago. Very annoying bug this. Can anyone help? What’s changed? I noticed oculus vr headset had a firmware update 2 days ago and ever since the crackling started. Could it be the new firmware?  HELP!



Hi sheuho. Since posting here on 10th June I didn't get any replies so I opened a support ticket with Oculus Support. The issue still hasn't been resolved yet and the cause is not 100% known, but Oculus have been very proactive and helpful in the support they are giving me to try and identify and resolve the cause. I am about to go away on holiday for a few weeks, but when I get back I am looking at doing a full reinstall of Windows, given that many other things I have tried (not mentioned in my original post above) haven't solved it. One thing that did appear to fix the issue was to completely remove Norton Anti Virus and Malwarebytes software, however having no anti virus software is not a workable solution, and I have been using this software with my Oculus for the past 18 months without any problems previously. When I return from holiday and have reinstalled Windows I will be back in touch with Oculus support to update them on whether this has fixed the issue, and I will also post here to give details of what additional things I have tried, so it can help you and possibly other people. I do suggest that you open a support ticket with Oculus Support, as they have been very helpful.

simonjkendrew
Explorer

kojack said:

I had this happen recently. I'd get crackling in audio and in Elite Dangerous the sound would completely die after a few minutes.
I seemed to have fixed it (gone and hasn't come back) by turning off some enhanced settings in the windows 10 sound device properties. I can't remember exactly, but I think it was "Disable all enhancements" in the headphone properties' enhancements tab.

kzpcwdw5z0e6.png
Or it might have been in the Spatial Sound tab in the pic above, that has an option to turn off stuff too.




Hi kojack. Thank you for your reply. Before I posted my original comment on 10th June I looked through the forum and found other posts very similar to what you have suggested. I don't believe what you have described is exactly the same as the issue I am experiencing, but I have looked at the settings you mentioned anyway. My spatial sound setting is already off and I have just tried selecting 'disable all enhancements', but this hasn't fixed the issue.

sheuho
Explorer
Ok thank you both for your prompt reply in the matter. A reinstall of windows is my last resort. Not the sort of thing I would do as my system is clean and virus free from what I can tell. I don’t use Norton anti virus software either. I just can’t figure it out.

Kojack, I’ll try your suggestion disabling the enhancements and spatial sound and see if this fixes the annoying bug, will report back soon. 
simonjkedrew, hope you have a fantastic holiday away and let me know if the re install sorts out the bug. 

ElusiveMarlin
Rising Star
@sheuho, @simonjkendrew 

I too have this exact same problem.

Everything has been fine for the past 12 months, but about 5 weeks ago, I started getting the annoying crackling in my HMD earphones

As you say, it is fine if I use the TV speakers, it only affects the HMD earphones.
It is transient too, and sometimes after a fresh boot, the issue is gone... but will eventually come back!

Again, I have the exact same hardware since starting my rift journey!, and I do not have any AV software running. 

It it definitely not the recent firmware update, as I had the issue prior to that being applied.
RIFT CV1
RIFT S
Leeds, UK.

Intel Core i7 7700K 3.7GHz | RAM 32GB DDR4 2666MHz | GeForce GTX 1080 8GB |

"Behind every mask there is a face, and behind that a story...."

sheuho
Explorer
Hmm thats interesting that you say its not software related... mine only happened after 1.29 update, and prior to this everything was fine up until then, I had an active extension cable attached to the rift for both USB and HDMI since day one without any issues and been using this setup for 8 months or so.

In the past few days, I've used my rift for 2hrs a day without the extension cable and I've NOT had any crackling noise so far (touch wood), although I did try without the ext cable when the crackling happened straight after the 1.29 update and the crackling was still present, so I'm not sure whats different this time

I really need the ext cable as I sit 2 meters away from my PC and not its annoying as the cord is tugging the headset.

I've tried turning on/off the enhancements/spatial sound effects in the headphone setup and that made no difference.

Do you use an extension cable also? If it is my extension cable thats causing the crackling sound then why happen now and not from day one?


sheuho
Explorer
I had this reply from another post: Im going to try this tonight with my extension cable re plugged in and try switching to cd quality 44.1, I've not touched my SS in the oculus debug tool so thats not the problem I don't think as its sound related not visual.

August 5 edited August 5
Crackling audio is over stretching the capabilities of your setup. Try settings to 44.1 (CD quality) or if running Oculus Debug Tool to higher SuperSampling then reduce slightly. The figures it used in the past were not real (e.g. 2xSS) and now have dropped to x1.5 or even x1.4 so check your ingame settings on this also.

ElusiveMarlin
Rising Star
@sheuho,  I also have an active extension cable for USB and HDMI, for the axact same reason you do. My PC in behind my living room TV and I sit on the Sofa, so have a 5 meter extension.  

Same history too, as in no issues for about 1 year with the exact same cables, PC and HMD, but in last 5 weeks the issue has manifested itself!

Not had chance to try the device options in windows, but hoping to tonight.
RIFT CV1
RIFT S
Leeds, UK.

Intel Core i7 7700K 3.7GHz | RAM 32GB DDR4 2666MHz | GeForce GTX 1080 8GB |

"Behind every mask there is a face, and behind that a story...."