New HyperX Cloud 2 popping/crackling sounds

[jdk4sabres]

I just received my Cloud 2's in the mail and upon plugging them in(They are wired and USB only) I've noticed that when I'm in a game or watching a video there is a frequent popping or crackling noise. It's not too loud but it doesn't happen with my PX22 Turtle Beach headset or my actual Speakers. It also does not occur when sitting idle, or with mouse movement or anything like that.

I tried updating my Realtek Drivers, tried changing the audio quality in properties, disabling Razer Surround Pro software in case it was conflicting somehow. I'm not sure what else to do.

Update:

If I disconnect the headset from the on board driver and use them as headphones for my phone and play music or watch a youtube video then there are no popping sounds. So it's either the on board driver or my computer.

Update 2:

Hooked them up to my Brother in law's pc and they still pop, so it's not specifically my PC causing some sort of interference or software conflict. Maybe I should return them? Seems like there's an issue with the on board driver. I don't know...

Update 3:

Since the popping doesnt happen with my Turtle Beach's or my speaker system, I'm assuming it's a driver issue and while I did update my Asus realtek audio driver yesterday, that driver was from the 5th. Today I see a new one(11th) so hopefully that driver will fix it.

Update 4:
The driver didn't change anything.

Update 5:

I tried the DPC latency program and I do get one red bar indicating one of my drivers is causing the crackling issue. I hope I'm on the right track now.

Update 6:

I tried disabling drivers one at a time like the DPC latency program says to do and nothing seemed to stop it. Not sure which driver it is.

If it matter my specs are:

Asus M5a97 R2.0 motherboard(brand new)
Sapphire R9 270 Dual X OC edition(few months old)
AMD fx 6300(brand new)
8gb ram
Corsair CX600 psu
NZXT Guardian Case(brand new)
and a CM Hyper 212 evo cooler soon

 

[xerati]

Hello,

[Solution]

I contacted support and they did sent me a new USB dongle. After following some instructions to remove the old driver everything is working now.
I tested it and there is no more crackling/popping sound and static on the background is gone aswell, also when the volume is at max.
Tried using the old USB dongle and I got the crackling/popping sounds again.
I think some USB dongles just had some production error.
I suggest everyone to contact support for a new dongle because it worked for me and I'm 100% sure now that some of them are broken.

Hope you all get yours fixed

 

[alexoiu]

Thank you for the follow-up.

 

[Aamir Raza]

Hello,

[Solution]

I contacted support and they did sent me a new USB dongle. After following some instructions to remove the old driver everything is working now.
I tested it and there is no more crackling/popping sound and static on the background is gone aswell, also when the volume is at max.
Tried using the old USB dongle and I got the crackling/popping sounds again.
I think some USB dongles just had some production error.
I suggest everyone to contact support for a new dongle because it worked for me and I'm 100% sure now that some of them are broken.

Hope you all get yours fixed

Can you show me the driver version in the device manager>sound>rightclick on Hyper X headset>properties>driver tab

This is the driver version I have with the new dongle. http/imgur.com/Dd0pOHk
The Kingston support is showing their driver version. http/imgur.com/AohZekM

I'm assuming we're missing windows updates?

 

[shawngray89]

http/imgur.com/tXrCigO
This is my driver verison it has worked since i bought it day 1 without static.

 

[xerati]

http/imgur.com/tXrCigO
This is my driver verison it has worked since i bought it day 1 without static.

I have the same one as you version 6.3.9600.16490 the one that is working

 

[Filip2309]

Where do i find the right driver? What do i search on google? Please answer

 

[xerati]

Where do i find the right driver? What do i search on google? Please answer

Driver comes with the USB dongle, you cannot download it.

 

[cfc69]

I just received my Cloud 2's in the mail and upon plugging them in(They are wired and USB only) I've noticed that when I'm in a game or watching a video there is a frequent popping or crackling noise. It's not too loud but it doesn't happen with my PX22 Turtle Beach headset or my actual Speakers. It also does not occur when sitting idle, or with mouse movement or anything like that.

I tried updating my Realtek Drivers, tried changing the audio quality in properties, disabling Razer Surround Pro software in case it was conflicting somehow. I'm not sure what else to do.

Update:



If I disconnect the headset from the on board driver and use them as headphones for my phone and play music or watch a youtube video then there are no popping sounds. So it's either the on board driver or my computer.

Update 2:

Hooked them up to my Brother in law's pc and they still pop, so it's not specifically my PC causing some sort of interference or software conflict. Maybe I should return them? Seems like there's an issue with the on board driver. I don't know...

Update 3:

Since the popping doesnt happen with my Turtle Beach's or my speaker system, I'm assuming it's a driver issue and while I did update my Asus realtek audio driver yesterday, that driver was from the 5th. Today I see a new one(11th) so hopefully that driver will fix it.

Update 4:
The driver didn't change anything.

Update 5:

I tried the DPC latency program and I do get one red bar indicating one of my drivers is causing the crackling issue. I hope I'm on the right track now.

Update 6:

I tried disabling drivers one at a time like the DPC latency program says to do and nothing seemed to stop it. Not sure which driver it is.

If it matter my specs are:

Asus M5a97 R2.0 motherboard(brand new)
Sapphire R9 270 Dual X OC edition(few months old)
AMD fx 6300(brand new)
8gb ram
Corsair CX600 psu
NZXT Guardian Case(brand new)
and a CM Hyper 212 evo cooler soon

Hi there,
I'm a Cloud II user my self here, being a headphone geek, I have several over $1k Hi-Fi grade headphones as well as DAC and Headphone amplifiers etc....
Being a person who is into Hi-Fi, I treat powers very serious too, as cleaner power gives significant improvement in sound quality wise.

I tried the Cloud II with my own computer with Corsair AXi series high end power supply + high end mother board that has independent and isolated USB 2.0 port designed for USB DACs and audio equipments with no poping issues at all.

However once I used the cloud II on standard USB 3.0 port as well as the port on my computer case, I experiences issue of the sound quality degraded.

Trying on USB hub is a even worse idea as the power supply provided with the hub are usually not good at all in the application for audio devices, which I experienced static noise when turning the volume up more than 68%.

Then I try the cloud ii on my girl friend's PC with cheap old power supply + budget mother-board, I begin to have the poping issue that some people are experiencing.

My recommendation is to use the cloud ii usb sound card on standard usb 2.0 port on your motherboard if it still has one, which alot higher end Gigabytes motherboards do have it for audio equipments, just to see if this solved your issue, or have a surge protector that has power filter on it to reduce EMI and RFI in-order to provide cleaner power.

If you do search on information about the usb 3.0 design, you will notice alot issue with audio equipments as well as Wi-Fi mouse or receivers, Mac users suffers the most on this issue ( Wi-Fi mouse on USB 3.0 hubs), there's firmware updates on the usb 3.0 control chip that solved the most issues on MAC but still not 100% completely.

Another hence is that if you look into those Hi-Fi equipments with usb connection, they still are on usb 2.0 instead of 3.0 for a good reason, although the best audio port from PC is the firewire not usb, due to jitter issues but sadly the firewire has never been popular at all.

My comment is that I enjoyed the cloud ii very much as it is one of the great gaming head set that provides entry level of Hi-Fi sound quality rather than just positioning & bass only (with my own experience on Razer Kraken and Razer Tiamat 7.1).
Kingston should learn from this issue and design a better sound card that is not so prone to power or signal issues.
But still for the price, I still think Kingston has done a really good job, perhaps they should put more budget into the usb sound card and spent less on the packing

 

[Boris777]

I wrote a letter in support Kingston

Hello, I'm from Russia. 17/04/2015 got headphones Kingston HyperX Cloud II purchased through eBay from Taiwan.
I have a problem with popping crackling sounds when headphones are connected via a toggle. I appealed to the Russian technical support Kingston, they said that will help when the headphones are officially begin selling in Russia. Sales in Russia have begun a week ago, but the technical support is still absent toggle and do not know when they will ...
Please tell me whether it planned to send toggle headphone Kingston HyperX Cloud II in Russia? If not, can you help me in this situation?

A week passed and there was no answer, please tell me why I do not answer?

 

[mike789]

Just got a pair, of course I confirm the usb dongle makes these noises. Such a shame. I live in Greece and I already talked with the hardware shop I got them (e-shop.gr) so as to return them and probably get something else. I think I will give up on headsets and get simple headphones. My friends can listen to me perfectly from the webcam and I can always get a decent mic for quite cheap...

There is only one person saying that with the new dongle the problem is solved and hundreds of people over the web that state the new dongle didn't change anything.

Not solved.

 

[xerati]

Just got a pair, of course I confirm the usb dongle makes these noises. Such a shame. I live in Greece and I already talked with the hardware shop I got them (e-shop.gr) so as to return them and probably get something else. I think I will give up on headsets and get simple headphones. My friends can listen to me perfectly from the webcam and I can always get a decent mic for quite cheap...

There is only one person saying that with the new dongle the problem is solved and hundreds of people over the web that state the new dongle didn't change anything.

Not solved.

It will work with a new dongle, its the build in driver on the dongle that is fucking it up for people. People that got a new dongle that didn't work probably got the old version that was broken aswell. A guy I know with the same headset contacted support got a new one and it worked for him aswell.

 

[mike789]

Good to hear, however it still seems a bit of a risk... to get a replacement and then pray for it to be a working one... I guess I'll have to wait and see.

 

[Aamir Raza]

Where do i find the right driver? What do i search on google? Please answer

Driver comes with the USB dongle, you cannot download it.

I just double checked. This driver is provided by the operating system itself.
The one you have right there is the driver that is provided by Windows 8.
The one that I have shown is provided by Windows 7 (Windows update to be precise).

Apparently the support staff have no clue about it.

I'm going to do one more try on this thing. I will be doing one final investment before returning this.
I've purchased the USB-isolator, it will arrive in a week or two. http/hifimediy.com/usb-isolator

I will update once I've tested it with USB isolator.

 

[Danielhej]

I'm also having this problem, constant crackling when there is low frequency sounds.
I'm running win7 64 bit, is there any way to get that version of the driver for windows7?
It's so annoying when watching movies or listening to music.
You pretty much cant unplug the usp dongle either because the cable is like 60cm long or something.

 

[Aamir Raza]

I've tested the headset with the USB isolator, I can still hear the static noise at low frequencies.
I went over to my friend to try it out on his pc and laptop. I couldn't hear any static noise on both of his computers.
Situations seem to be different from computer to computer, but I'm still clueless as to what is causing this static noise.

 

[Danielhej]

I've tested the headset with the USB isolator, I can still hear the static noise at low frequencies.
I went over to my friend to try it out on his pc and laptop. I couldn't hear any static noise on both of his computers.
Situations seem to be different from computer to computer, but I'm still clueless as to what is causing this static noise.

Do the both of you have the same operating system? sound card?

 

[Aamir Raza]

xerati and shaun have windows 8 as their operating system
i have windows 7

 

[arden2468]

Have your tried following this? http/www.komku.org/2013/06/how-to-fix-crackling-popping-sound-problem.html

If you use a wireless internet connection it could be interfering with the USB sound card.

 

[Scarystuff1970]

Hi guys. I have the Logitech G430 USB headset and have had problems with it from day 1. But recently it started to have clicks, pops, crackling noises when I listened to music, watched movies or was gaming. So I thought about getting the HyperX cloud II and started to Google it to see if people were having problems with it and I found this thread. I saw someone mention using LatencyMon to check the DPC latency and sure enough I maxed out on the latencies. So I googled the offending drivers and found out it was connected to my secondary SATA ports. I have an old Gigabyte motherboard that uses both Intel ICH10 and Gigabytes own SATA connectors. I found a newer Intel driver and installed that and it didn't help at all. I then went looking for a driver for the Gigabyte SATA 2 controller, but only found the one on their site and the newest one was for Windows 7. I downloaded it and updated the driver through the device manager by pointing it to where I had unpacked the Windows 7 driver and it worked! It installed the driver and after a reboot, my latencies were down to normal and my pops, crackling and clicks in my headset were gone! I didn't think it would work since I am using Windows 8, but it did.

Before I installed the driver, I could see in device manager that the Gigabyte SATA 2 controller used the same IRQ as my USB controller, but after the new driver install, it changed IRQ. I don't know if using the same IRQ could have made the latencies so high or because it used the default Windows driver instead of the one from Gigabyte, but hopefully this can inspire others to find solutions to this problem.

I am still thinking of getting the HyperX Cloud II though, as the Logitech drivers seems to have problems when 2 audio sources are playing at the same time and one is in stereo and the other in surround.

UPDATE: Ok, that worked for a couple of days and now the clicking is back and worse than ever! It clicks about once a second now, but funny enough, there are still no high DPC times in LatencyMon. It reports my system is fine for audio playback. I don't get it.

 

[blackb0x]

I got my HyperX Cloud 2's today after ordering them from Amazon the other week. I picked them over the original Clouds because I have a few older PC's that are USB 2.0 and have basic onboard audio (ALC883/ALC888), so they probably wouldn't support the 60Ω required to pump out music at it's maximum volume. That'd mean that I'd need to buy a sound card for each system, which ends up costing more than the Cloud 2's.

With my Cloud 2's I can put the volume to 100% and there is a little crackling/popping, but I think that's to be expected due to the volume being so loud. It becomes worse when 7.1 is activated too, which I guess is normal? What doesn't seem normal, however, is that when I put the volume level to 67 and have the 7.1 audio activated then it'll constantly hiss even if there's no audio playing. If I change the volume down to 66 then the issue is totally gone, as if it's being switched on and off. It's 100% a driver or USB dongle issue based on that behaviour alone, [strike]but I've not heard of anyone else mention these exact volume levels[/strike].

I'm currently using Windows 7 x64 and it installed the 6.1.7601.18208 driver right out of the box, which makes me think that I might already have the latest version of the USB sound card. I've contacted Kingston UK anyway, just to see if they can give me another USB sound card to try, but I'm honestly thinking about returning the headset and getting the original Clouds instead. I feel as though they'd probably work great even with a budget sound card and it would probably give me more options than Kingstons USB sound card.

If you plan to use the Cloud 2's on a Sony Xperia Z (Z1/Z2/Z3) then avoid this headset as neither the audio output or the microphone works. I'd bet that the original Clouds work due to how the cables are split though.


Edit: I've found someone with the same audio issue as me. He mentions the hiss when the volume level is set to 67 and plugged in via the USB sound card.

http/linustechtips.com/main/topic/386109-hyperx-cloud-2s-fuzzhissing-noise/


Edit: I'll need to do more testing, but it looks like when I'm using the Windows 10 Insider Preview I can go to 100% volume with 7.1 audio enabled and there's no hissing. So right now it looks as though Windows 7 has a crappy USB sound card driver.


Edit: I received my replacement USB sound card today. I'm happy to say that it fixes all of the problems, but it also reduces the maximum volume that the headset can achieve. I'd estimate a 40 to 50% loss in volume.

If a part of Kingstons "fix" was to prevent the popping/crackling by reducing the maximum volume level by almost half then that's a complete joke.

With the older USB sound card plugged in if you were to go into playback devices, select the HyperX headset and then look under the levels tab you'd see a sidetone option. With the new USB sound card that option is missing, so that's how you can easily tell what version of the USB sound card you've got.


Edit: The original USB sound cards hardware ID is USB\VID_0951&PID_16A4&REV_0003&MI_00. The new one is USB\VID_0951&PID_16A4&REV_0004&MI_00.

REV_0004 does fix the pops, but it makes the audio seem dull and a little flat compared to REV_0003. It's disappointing and sounds like a downgrade to me. I imagine that the only way to fix it would be with a custom driver and software provided by Kingston so that we could fine tune it.

I really want to know if the original HyperX Clouds have the same maximum volume level as the HyperX Cloud 2's do when using either the REV_0003 or REV_0004 sound card. Which revision is the most accurate? The only way I'll find out is if I buy the original HyperX Clouds from Amazon, do some tests and then return the loser.


Edit: This quote is directly from Kingston "The new sound card REV_0004 came with less sound that the REV_0003 as our engineer reduce the maximum level to 70% in this new firmware".

They claim that it's not a 50% loss, but it sure sounds like it to me. Either way the change was deliberate and you'll notice a drastic change when switching between REV_0003 and REV_0004 when they're both set to 100%.

You can bypass Kingstons volume limitation by downloading and installing some free software called ViPER4Windows. You can then increase the post-volume to 9.00dB and the base level to around 4.24dB and you should find that the audio is once again louder, but without any of the pops that the REV_0003 sound card causes. This might not work for Windows 8 and up though, so the only alternative there would be to buy Razer Surround Pro so that you have access to an EQ.

I would hope that Kingston releases a REV_0005 sound card to revert the volume limitation. It's ridiculous that they've downgraded their own hardware and call it a "fix".