New Helios 300 - Speaker Pop sound. Is this normal?

I recently bought a Helios 300 (Model NH.QGFEK.001).

I noticed there is a quiet pop sound coming from both speakers- this happens at random intervals evey so often, when volume is reduced to 0 and when the sound is muted and unmuted.

I returned the laptop assuming this was due to faulty wiring, and have been sent a replacement which has the same issue. Is this a known fault or is it normal and I'm just being overly sensitive over the occasional popping sound?

I'm not sure if I should now arrange a second replacement, get a refund and buy a different laptop entirely or just live with the issue.

What do you think?

Accepted answers

Balatekie

Hello!!

@Bomazu,

I understand that you are experiencing Audio pop sound from speakers. The sad part is that, this happens continuously on same 2 identical model units. I suspect it might be Sound driver related issue on a whole batch manufacturered.

As a work around, please follow below steps & try uninstalling the Realtek Audio Driver.

1. Press Windows key + X and select Device Manager.

2. Locate Sound, Video & Game Controllers.

3. Right click on the Realtek Audio driver and Uninstall it.

4. Ensure that sound driver is removed from Device Manager.

Then, restart the computer. Windows will automatically install the latest driver upon restart.

Hope this helps you!!

Regards,

Balatekie

All comments

Balatekie

Hello!!

@Bomazu,

I understand that you are experiencing Audio pop sound from speakers. The sad part is that, this happens continuously on same 2 identical model units. I suspect it might be Sound driver related issue on a whole batch manufacturered.

As a work around, please follow below steps & try uninstalling the Realtek Audio Driver.

1. Press Windows key + X and select Device Manager.

2. Locate Sound, Video & Game Controllers.

3. Right click on the Realtek Audio driver and Uninstall it.

4. Ensure that sound driver is removed from Device Manager.

Then, restart the computer. Windows will automatically install the latest driver upon restart.

Hope this helps you!!

Regards,

Balatekie

Joe9844

Popping happens when the audio chip goes in and out of sleep (it is a power saving feature). In fact, realtek advertises an anti-pop mode in their chips. But power saving is getting more and more agressive, so popping still happens.

https://www.realtek.com/en/products/computer-peripheral-ics/item/alc898

Bomazu

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1167534#Comment_1167534

Thanks for your reply. I had previously checked to see if the latest speaker driver was installed- It was, so it didn't occur to be to uninstall it and reinstall it.

After uninstalling the speaker driver. I then re-installed the Realtek Audio speaker driver from Acer website. This seems to have resolved the problem. Thank you. Your suspicion was correct.

I felt a bit guilty for having returned the first Laptop now. Although on two occasions the Acer tech support reps I spoke to did not know how else to resolve it and the retailer agreed the laptop was faulty. Certainly buyers should not have these kinds of issues with a laptop straight out of the box, but hopefully this solution will help other people in the future if they find this thread :)

Bomazu

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1167560#Comment_1167560

Thanks for the info. Something must have been wrong to be causing it to go in and out of sleep so frequently

dennisk

I have a new Acer Helios Predator (PH315-55 running Windows 11 Home; RTX 3070Ti). This was purchased from a big box retailer in mid 2023 'new'. I've had it a week and am still moving software from my older Acer Helios Predator (2019 model; GTX 1660Ti)

Nothing in my environment has changed except for the laptop. Monitors, speakers, mouse, keyboard, USB hub, etc. are all the same.

The laptop was popping at unpredictable times as I opened software, as sounds were triggered by software.

I searched for and reviewed this article. I attempted to uninstall the device and the popping continued.

I opened the Realtek Audio Console and disabled every noise cancellation and/or "AI" related feature that was enable by default. This did NOT seem to have any effect. The popping was still occurring after changing settings in the Realtek Audio Console. For example, just opening the Brave browser would cause pops.

In Device Manager, I checked the "Sound, video and game controllers."
There is a "Realtek(R) Audio" device.

Driver: Realtek(R) Audio; 5/9/2023; 6.0.9514.1

I uninstalled the device and driver. It asked if I should attempt to uninstall the driver as well with a vague warning that it might not work. It completed and then requested that I reboot (give permission). I opened a browser and still noticed popping. I then did a reboot.

Upon reboot, the device and driver were back.
Driver: Realtek(R) Audio; 2/8/2022; 6.0.9209.1

This is an OLDER driver and it was installed automatically after the reboot.

The pops have gone away (at least in the 20 minutes of testing so far).

I tested with Brave on Youtube and Spotify (installed Wildvine plugin per Spotify request).

Played music through external speakers and internal speakers. No noticeable pops.

dennisk

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1217454#Comment_1217454

I delayed Windows updates and enjoy "pop-free" use of the new laptop for a week before it forced the update. The popping returns.

As soon as I uninstall the device, reboot, the Realtek 6.0.9309.1 2/8/2022 driver is installed again and there is NO popping. Assuming there are no answers from Acer on why this happens and Realtek's "up to date" driver creates the noise, I'm stuck with running a downlevel driver.

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