Popping and Cracking Audio

[Fontman]

Having installed MX-21 on a spare (removable) SSD, I'm getting a lot of popping and cracking audio whenever I start a program that uses audio. It's usually a loud crack/pop followed by a lower level one. One exception is Clementine which does not produce a loud crack/pop on startup, but does so when a song is started and a lower one a little while after the song is stopped.

I'm using:
Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller

I've tried a few tricks mentioned elsewhere on the web, such as
"load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0" in /etc/pulse/default.pa
"set default-sample-rate = 48000" (was 44100) in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
used pulseaudio -k which made no difference

MX-19 does not have this problem, so I assume there is a difference in the pulse configuration files, but I've run out of ideas.

Does anyone have a suggestion?

Thanks in advance...

[Fontman]

I thought that this might fix the issue, but it didn't.

https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/co ... _linux_21/

I unplugged the amplifier/speakers from the headphone output, and used a USB audio adapter which solved the problem. I'm not sure what changed between MX-19 and MX-21

[figueroa]

Doublecheck your volumes. That popping sound is sometimes initializing the hardware at excessive amplification.

[Fontman]

Andy,
I've adjusted the volumes on both the amplifier and PulseAudio Volume Control all over the place and it did not affect the popping and cracking. The most significant thing I've just noticed is that I have to set each application in MX-19 to use the USB audio adapter, but in MX-21 it is slightly different.

[mxrd]

-are the sound files played only from the ssd, via USB?? (hardware streaming problem error correction cant compensate?)
-is the soundchip old(first errors appearing)?

[Fontman]

mxrd,
The popping and cracking always occurs on the launch of a program that uses audio. In Clementine or Audacity, it occurs not only during startup, but when starting a sound file, but it will not repeat until a decay has occurred signaled by a lower intentensity pop/crack (about 7 or 8 seconds). Virtually all of my sound files are on a separate platter drive as I use a removable SSD to launch different operating systems. I don't think this is a streaming issue as there does not have to be a sound file involved. If I had to guess, it seems like something is probing the hardware to determine if it is connected but ends up creating a pulse that results in the pop/crack noise.

I'm unsure what is meant by the soundchip being old (first errors appearing), but this problem has only been noticed since installing MX-21.
The Audio device is: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
Subsystem: ASRock Incorporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller