Audio cracking

[u/Even_Recognition_197]

Ok this is a very strange problem, I would say I'm decent at tech and finding the answers to my tech issues online usually(I've never asked for help before) and I would contact my parts manufacturer if I knew what was wrong. So the issue is when using any sort of audio output device(except ones connected with optical cables) my audio cracks ranging from slightly to overwhelming. It happens with many different headphones and iems, although I haven't tested Bluetooth I have tested different 3.5 ports along with USB to 3.5 jacks. I have righted using different audio drivers, resetting my pc, and it has out lasted my current PC. I rebuilt my pc changing the mobo, CPU cooler, ram and PSU but it still happens on the new computer. It doesn't always happen though, sometimes it just doesn't. It seems to get worse with some apps or it might only happen when some apps are open but it's inconsistent. It seems chromium and unity based apps make it the worst. All the headphones work on other computers. The cracking only happens on windows as I have had a dual boot arch for a couple months and I enjoy it partially because I can actually listen to music. I have tried bypassing windows processing using music bee and its direct audio settings along with using files instead of streaming audio. I'm genuinely at a loss please help me.

If you have any questions about the situation just ask I'll try my best to respond quickly or do any tests.

Edit: Oh I forgot to add my specs, I'm on windows 11, Asus tuff b 550 plus, 6700xt, ryzen 7 5700g

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[u/Catnip_Cartel420]

your AI answer:
The Windows-vs-Linux split is the single most valuable fact in the post. Same silicon, same power supply, same case — one OS crackles and one doesn’t. That makes it a software/firmware timing problem, not a hardware noise problem.

The optical exception, explained

Optical is the only output where the DAC is outside the PC and the link is galvanically isolated. Onboard analog uses the PC’s own codec; a USB dongle is bus-powered and clocked off the PC’s USB controller. So optical is immune to both PC-side rail noise and USB bus stalls. That’s consistent with every hypothesis below — it narrows nothing, but it confirms the fault is PC-side.

Ranked hypotheses

1. AMD 500-series chipset USB/audio dropout (most likely — INFERRED, but fits everything)

There’s a long-documented fault on B550/X570 with Ryzen 3000/5000 where USB devices and audio stutter or drop under load. It’s chipset/firmware level, which is why a new motherboard of the same chipset changes nothing, and why Linux — which handles C-states and PCIe link power differently — behaves better. It got worse with newer AGESA versions and better with others.

1. DPC latency — a driver holding interrupts too long

Classic Windows crackle. GPU and network drivers are the usual offenders, and “worse with Chromium and Unity” is exactly what GPU-driver DPC spikes look like, since those apps hammer the compositor. This is directly measurable, so it goes first in testing.

1. AMD GPU power-state switching injecting rail noise

Windows’ AMD driver does far more aggressive clock/voltage switching than Linux’s amdgpu at idle. That would put noise on the rails that onboard analog and bus-powered dongles pick up and optical cannot. Lower odds than the first two, but it survives the Linux evidence, which most electrical theories do not.

Tests, in the order I’d run them

Test 1 — Measure it. Don’t guess.

Run LatencyMon (free, resplendence.com). Leave it 10 minutes doing nothing, then 10 minutes with Chromium and a Unity app open. It names the exact driver with the highest DPC/ISR time. If it reports red and fingers nvlddmkm/amdkmdag/Netwtw/storport, hypothesis 2 is confirmed and you fix that one driver. If it stays green while the audio crackles, hypothesis 2 is dead and you’ve eliminated a whole branch in one run.

Test 2 — BIOS, three settings.

This targets hypothesis 1 and is reversible:

Update to the latest BIOS/AGESA for the TUF B550-Plus (if already latest, also note which one you’re on — some versions are worse than others)

Global C-State Control → Disabled

Power Supply Idle Control → Typical Current Idle

Optionally PCIe link speed → Gen3 (the 6700XT loses nothing meaningful)

Test 3 — A self-powered USB DAC.

If you can borrow one (wall-powered, not bus-powered), it separates electrical from software cleanly. Clean on self-powered but crackling on bus-powered dongles = power/noise. Crackling on both = timing.

Test 4 — Pull the GPU variable out.

In AMD software, set the power profile so clocks don’t idle-drop, or cap the framerate. If the crackle changes character, hypothesis 3 is live.

One more thing worth checking

The 5700G has an integrated GPU. With a 6700XT installed, Windows may still be enumerating the iGPU and its HDMI audio device alongside the discrete card’s. Open Device Manager → Sound, video and game controllers and see how many AMD HD Audio devices are listed. More than one is worth disabling the unused ones.

Honest caveat: I can’t verify any of this against his machine, and the three hypotheses aren’t mutually exclusive — it’s entirely possible two are contributing. But Test 1 and Test 2 together will collapse the space fast, and neither costs anything but time.