[AMD Ellesmere] Crackling sound on Pulseaudio

[Matheus Reich]

While playing back any sounds, a certain crackling sound (static) will play with a fixed delay of the sound being played. The amount and volume of the static will depend on the sound/music that is being played, and this only starts occurring after a somewhat long time (30 minutes or more). What is interesting to see is that while playing back music from Spotify (Snap) the static will only start after a second or so, but when playing YouTube videos on Firefox, it will be immediate and output that static while the video is playing.

I've added two sound recordings, one while playing back a song from Spotify and the other while playing a song from YouTube. This issue goes away when restarting the PulseAudio service, but it comes back after a random amount of time.

1) Description: Ubuntu 21.04
Release: 21.04

2) pulseaudio:
  Installed: 1:14.2-1ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1:14.2-1ubuntu1
  Version table:
     1:14.2-1ubuntu1.1 1 (phased 10%)
        500 http://br.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hirsute-updates/main amd64 Packages
 *** 1:14.2-1ubuntu1 500
        500 http://br.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu hirsute/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 21.04
Package: pulseaudio 1:14.2-1ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.11.0-18.19-generic 5.11.17
Uname: Linux 5.11.0-18-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu65.1
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC3: matheus 18662 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC2: matheus 18662 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: matheus 18662 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/pcmC0D8p: matheus 18662 F...m pulseaudio
CasperMD5CheckResult: pass
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Mon Jun 14 16:58:43 2021
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/pulseaudio
InstallationDate: Installed on 2021-05-03 (41 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 21.04 "Hirsute Hippo" - Release amd64 (20210420)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=pt_BR.UTF-8
 LANGUAGE=pt_BR:pt:en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
SourcePackage: pulseaudio
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 03/11/2021
dmi.bios.release: 5.17
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 3002
dmi.board.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.board.name: PRIME B450-PLUS
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev X.0x
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Default string
dmi.chassis.version: Default string
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr3002:bd03/11/2021:br5.17:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnPRIMEB450-PLUS:rvrRevX.0x:cvnDefaultstring:ct3:cvrDefaultstring:
dmi.product.family: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.sku: SKU
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

Also, I can add that I've only noticed this issue happening while using DisplayPort, and playing back sound through my LG Monitor. This doesn't happen when using a USB or Headphone jack headphone/headset. Also, I've never noticed it happening when using an HDMI monitor, only DP. It could be a bug with the display drivers, but I find it to be unlikely, given that restarting PulseAudio fixes the issue temporarily, and then it comes back.

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

Static that plays back while playing a song on Spotify (Snap).

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

This is the static that can be heard while playing a song from YouTube on Firefox. Notice that the crackling starts right away when pressing play on the video, but it also has a delay to stop the static.

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

Also, I've noticed that if I don't play anything for a few minutes, the static can't be heard.

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

This issue isn't related to the motherboard itself, because I have the monitor connected to the RX 580's DisplayPort output, not the internal audio output. I don't get this issue while using USB-C audio, Analog output/input or through HDMI, only DisplayPort.

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

OK, so I've found out that the crackling only starts when I change the audio output for the first time after starting Ubuntu up. After that, it only stops if I restart the pulseaudio service, or by restarting the PC. So, the issue clearly has something to do with the change in output audio device.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

The problem still occurs on the latest stable PulseAudio packages (1:15.0+dfsg1-1ubuntu2.2) for Ubuntu 21.10. Also, doing a "pulseaudio -k" on the Terminal, and then restarting any software that was outputting audio, fixes the issue. I've noticed that this only happens after the output audio device is changed between the available devices. So, going from the "HDMI/DP3 output" to "Digital Output" and then back will cause the crackling after a few minutes.

[ppq (ppq)]

I am experiencing this issue in Xubuntu 22.04, pulseaudio 1:15.99.1+dfsg1-1ubuntu1, with this Hardware:
GIGABYTE B550I AORUS Pro AX (BIOS F15 with AGESA ComboV2 1.2.0.5);
Ryzen 7 5700G (Cezanne) with integrated graphics;
audio output via HDMI (mainboard).

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

@ppq

I've actually been able to determine what the issue was. The speech-dispatcher package is the one causing issues. It is possible to uninstall it from any Ubuntu installation (or Ubuntu-based distros). But to make sure that indeed this is what is causing the issue in your case, try to run this command on your Terminal:

speech-dispatcher -K

And check if the crackling noise will go away. If it does, uninstall it using apt:

sudo apt remove speech-dispatcher (or replace remove with autoremove if you want to also uninstall any packages related to speech-dispatcher).

It seems that this package will stop behaving correctly after some time with the system running, and will interfere with everything that pulseaudio will output.

[Matheus Reich (matheusr98)]

The issue goes away when speech-dispatcher is uninstalled, meaning that this package is related to the bug in question, and is resolved once it is removed.

[ppq (ppq)]

Thank you, Matheus, "killall speech-dispatcher" instantly removed the crackling for me. I have uninstalled the package like you suggested, fortunately I do not need TTS support on my PC. Thank you for your help!

[Sebastian Muniz (d0lapevich)]

I can confirm "killall speech-dispatcher" fixes the hdmi output noise while reproducing any audio.
My setup:
https://linux-hardware.org/?probe=fd15b34806

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Cuppa-Chino (hamcatcher)]

can confirm this also affects combination of
Ryzen 5600X
Asus Strix B550-I motherboard
Sapphire 6600XT graphics card

monitor is connected via display port

"killall speech-dispatcher" fixes issue (had previously used "pulseaudio -k" but that is more of a pain)

[Markyb86 (mark-baylin)]

Can confirm removing speech-dispatcher solved the issue of crackling, delayed sound on Mint 20.3

Ryzen 3 Pro 4350g with Radeon integrated Graphics.

Sound over DP, speakers connected to monitor.