So silly, sound issues...

[Cramig88]

I’ve been dealing with random audio crackling for years, across two ASUS X570 boards (Hero WiFi and Dark Hero). Overclocked or completely stock, fresh BIOS or fresh OS, nothing changes. The issue has been there since day one on the first board back on Windows 10.
The system has gone through constant upgrades and multiple PSU swaps (Gamemax 1050W, two Seasonic 1000W units, a Corsair 1500W, now a Thermaltake). OS gets reinstalled every few months, drivers always current. The PC is water‑cooled with a monoblock covering CPU and VRMs, used on both boards.
Specs are a 5950X, 4090 Strix OC, two 1TB Kingston NVMe drives in RAID 0, two 1TB Samsung SSDs in RAID 0, and 64GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro (3600, QVL‑approved). Local storage is minimal because I use a separate RAID server.
The audio issues affect everything. Bluetooth is basically unusable: Xbox and PS4 controllers disconnect or lag, Bluetooth headphones produce static and random reconnects, and multiple sets of AirPods behave even worse. Even wired audio through a PS4 controller plugged in via USB crackles. USB‑C is unreliable on both boards, and USB‑A to USB‑C doesn’t help.
A new twist: I set up Moonlight/Sunshine with a virtual display. When I stream to my Surface Pro, audio pops immediately. Playing directly on the Surface is fine. Streaming from the desktop brings the popping back.
At this point the only consistent factor is the platform itself. If anyone has ideas or obscure X570 quirks I might have missed, I’m open to suggestions.

All that being said, i am clueless on what to try next.  my ports arent dirty, this mobo is maybe 2 months old.  bluetooth is always an issue, only on this.  Any help!!  AHH!

[circeseye]

2 hours ago, Cramig88 said:

I’ve been dealing with random audio crackling for years, across two ASUS X570 boards (Hero WiFi and Dark Hero). Overclocked or completely stock, fresh BIOS or fresh OS, nothing changes. The issue has been there since day one on the first board back on Windows 10.
The system has gone through constant upgrades and multiple PSU swaps (Gamemax 1050W, two Seasonic 1000W units, a Corsair 1500W, now a Thermaltake). OS gets reinstalled every few months, drivers always current. The PC is water‑cooled with a monoblock covering CPU and VRMs, used on both boards.
Specs are a 5950X, 4090 Strix OC, two 1TB Kingston NVMe drives in RAID 0, two 1TB Samsung SSDs in RAID 0, and 64GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro (3600, QVL‑approved). Local storage is minimal because I use a separate RAID server.
The audio issues affect everything. Bluetooth is basically unusable: Xbox and PS4 controllers disconnect or lag, Bluetooth headphones produce static and random reconnects, and multiple sets of AirPods behave even worse. Even wired audio through a PS4 controller plugged in via USB crackles. USB‑C is unreliable on both boards, and USB‑A to USB‑C doesn’t help.
A new twist: I set up Moonlight/Sunshine with a virtual display. When I stream to my Surface Pro, audio pops immediately. Playing directly on the Surface is fine. Streaming from the desktop brings the popping back.
At this point the only consistent factor is the platform itself. If anyone has ideas or obscure X570 quirks I might have missed, I’m open to suggestions.

All that being said, i am clueless on what to try next.  my ports arent dirty, this mobo is maybe 2 months old.  bluetooth is always an issue, only on this.  Any help!!  AHH!

im assuming its all in the same house? and because it effects everything audio.
im going to guess very bad grounding in your house electrical.

[Cramig88]

32 minutes ago, circeseye said:

im assuming its all in the same house? and because it effects everything audio.
im going to guess very bad grounding in your house electrical.

hmm, too much electric out these sockets could cause interference, that is a very valid point.

directly below me, well almost, its on a different breaker, is my 7.2 surround blah blah home theature.  that has no problems, except when i hook up the pc.  i have a hdmi to rj45 balun, that has its own quirks but the audio problem remains the same.  anything pc related (from this watercooled thing), causes problems just with audio.
ive removed any audio "enhancements", whatever, disabled them completely.  i have my ps5 controller via ds4win, headphone jack at whateverKhZ (it only supports one).

EMI is a very possible cause, between the pc, waterblocks, radiators, and a boatload of power whips, eh.

but even so, if i use sunshine/moonlight, i shouldnt have crackling in the home theature area.  i dont have that issue with plex/SmartTube and so on.
cant say if its isolated in the office or not, but it seems to be.  

the grounding could very well be an issue, theres a lot of plugs here  thats been persistant

[circeseye]

13 hours ago, Cramig88 said:

hmm, too much electric out these sockets could cause interference, that is a very valid point.

directly below me, well almost, its on a different breaker, is my 7.2 surround blah blah home theature.  that has no problems, except when i hook up the pc.  i have a hdmi to rj45 balun, that has its own quirks but the audio problem remains the same.  anything pc related (from this watercooled thing), causes problems just with audio.
ive removed any audio "enhancements", whatever, disabled them completely.  i have my ps5 controller via ds4win, headphone jack at whateverKhZ (it only supports one).

EMI is a very possible cause, between the pc, waterblocks, radiators, and a boatload of power whips, eh.

but even so, if i use sunshine/moonlight, i shouldnt have crackling in the home theature area.  i dont have that issue with plex/SmartTube and so on.
cant say if its isolated in the office or not, but it seems to be.  

the grounding could very well be an issue, theres a lot of plugs here  thats been persistant

yea it could be that circuit a ground might be wired wrong or disconnected. it could be at the breaker box, in a plug outlet or a junction box, could be a broken wire somewhere in the wall or attic. 

get you something like this
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-Gear-3-Wire-Receptacle-Tester-50542/206212329

 

this at least you can check on grounds and see where theres issues. after that can be a pain tracing the issue down
 

[Cramig88]

9 hours ago, circeseye said:

yea it could be that circuit a ground might be wired wrong or disconnected. it could be at the breaker box, in a plug outlet or a junction box, could be a broken wire somewhere in the wall or attic. 

get you something like this
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-Gear-3-Wire-Receptacle-Tester-50542/206212329

 

this at least you can check on grounds and see where theres issues. after that can be a pain tracing the issue down
 

ill take that as a solution.  i never knew such a device existed, and given my townhome is "built on the cheap" like they all are.. ugh.. im guessing thats the problem.  we dont use galvanized steel, then throw our pos\neg\ground through it up here in wisconsin.  actually we use "Romex", its just a 2:1 wire.  issue with that is, EMI, and the second most obvious, they run the lines across 2x4's and staple them in place.  now ok, contractors can use the correct "staple" but user error is always possible...  
ill head out to home depot tomorrow and pick one of these up.  think ya set me up for a project, ill test all my outlets haha!

anyway a little further development with the sound.  it seems (at this point) anything 2.5 or 3.5mm jack, produces sound problems WHEN i play a game.  strange, but not really.  I figure since my monitor has G-sync (prob yours too), its potentially dropping sound packets if they dont align with the video, causing choppyness.  its a WILD guess but that could be possible.  This is cause I tested multiple headphones, even took masking tape and a notebook and wrote down "findings".  this was not just isolated to my ps4 remote, as initially said\anticipated.
nope, direct into my sound card (integrated realtek something), literally anything 2.5\3.5mm.  

then i said, maybe it is video game related?  so i pulled up iheart and played a rock station, while i played forza.  "best" 3.5mm headphones i have, meaning theyre proven to not have issues.  well, minimal crackling but i can say the audio from the stream worked flawlessly.
so maybe it is some kinda sync issue?

well our friends at the A word i hate to say, delivered a USB-A headphone thing.  idk a razer kraken, who cares it was 40$.
BCLK is at 100.00x, ram is DOCP'd at 3600, FCLK is at 1800, 42.75x multiplier (a simple overclock, lets not get crazy), cores set at ~1.136v with a +.0625 offset.
uh, it works?  some bleeping reason, it works.  I wont ask anymore questions as to why, but it works.  plug and play, it works.

dumbfounded!!