Crackling sound about every second on headphones (Steelseries) when audio starts. Ubuntu 20.04

Summary

Device: Steelseries Arctis 5.
Sound is fine on any other device.
The Steelseries headphones doesn't affected by this issue on Windows 11.
Both Steelseries Game/Chat outputs are affected by this issue.
Doesn't matter if I play the sound is on the browser or download.
When you increase volume, the crackling is also became louder.

What have been done:

• Disabled the power saving extension in the pulseaudio config: commented load-module module-suspend-on-idle in this /etc/pulse/default.pa
• Turned off sound card power-saving capabilities: /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save and /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save_controller
• Updated load-module module-udev-detect to load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0 in /etc/pulse/default.pa
• Changed ; default-fragments and ; default-fragment-size-msec in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf to 3 and 5 accordingly (PulseAudio Troobleshooting)
• Changed default-sample-rate to 48000 in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
• And some other tweaks that also had no effect

My current settings:

1. pactl list sinks (Sink 1 and Sink 2 affected):

Sink #0 State: IDLE Name: alsa_output.pci-0000_01_00.1.hdmi-stereo Description: GM204 High Definition Audio Controller Digital Stereo (HDMI) Driver: module-alsa-card.c Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 44100Hz Channel Map: front-left,front-right Owner Module: 6 Mute: no Volume: front-left: 41944 / 64% / -11,63 dB, front-right: 41944 / 64% / -11,63 dB balance 0,00 Base Volume: 65536 / 100% / 0,00 dB Monitor Source: alsa_output.pci-0000_01_00.1.hdmi-stereo.monitor Latency: 100134 usec, configured 100136 usec Flags: HARDWARE DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY SET_FORMATS Properties: alsa.resolution_bits = "16" device.api = "alsa" device.class = "sound" alsa.class = "generic" alsa.subclass = "generic-mix" alsa.name = "HDMI 0" alsa.id = "HDMI 0" alsa.subdevice = "0" alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0" alsa.device = "3" alsa.card = "2" alsa.card_name = "HDA NVidia" alsa.long_card_name = "HDA NVidia at 0x91080000 irq 17" alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel" device.bus_path = "pci-0000:01:00.1" sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card2" device.bus = "pci" device.vendor.id = "10de" device.vendor.name = "NVIDIA Corporation" device.product.id = "0fbb" device.product.name = "GM204 High Definition Audio Controller" device.string = "hdmi:2" device.buffering.buffer_size = "17664" device.buffering.fragment_size = "2944" device.access_mode = "mmap" device.profile.name = "hdmi-stereo" device.profile.description = "Digital Stereo (HDMI)" device.description = "GM204 High Definition Audio Controller Digital Stereo (HDMI)" module-udev-detect.discovered = "1" device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci" Ports: hdmi-output-0: HDMI / DisplayPort (priority: 5900, available) Active Port: hdmi-output-0 Formats: pcm
Sink #1 State: IDLE Name: alsa_output.usb-SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000-00.analog-chat Description: SteelSeries Arctis 5 Chat Driver: module-alsa-card.c Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 44100Hz Channel Map: front-left,front-right Owner Module: 7 Mute: no Volume: front-left: 31609 / 48% / -19,00 dB, front-right: 31609 / 48% / -19,00 dB balance 0,00 Base Volume: 54094 / 83% / -5,00 dB Monitor Source: alsa_output.usb-SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000-00.analog-chat.monitor Latency: 105438 usec, configured 99954 usec Flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY Properties: alsa.resolution_bits = "16" device.api = "alsa" device.class = "sound" alsa.class = "generic" alsa.subclass = "generic-mix" alsa.name = "USB Audio" alsa.id = "USB Audio" alsa.subdevice = "0" alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0" alsa.device = "0" alsa.card = "1" alsa.card_name = "SteelSeries Arctis 5" alsa.long_card_name = "SteelSeries SteelSeries Arctis 5 at usb-0000:00:14.0-10, full speed" alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio" device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:14.0-usb-0:10:1.0" sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-10/1-10:1.0/sound/card1" udev.id = "usb-SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000-00" device.bus = "usb" device.vendor.id = "1038" device.vendor.name = "SteelSeries ApS" device.product.id = "1250" device.product.name = "SteelSeries Arctis 5" device.serial = "SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000" device.string = "hw:1,0,0" device.buffering.buffer_size = "17632" device.buffering.fragment_size = "4408" device.access_mode = "mmap" device.profile.name = "analog-chat" device.profile.description = "Chat" device.intended_roles = "phone" device.description = "SteelSeries Arctis 5 Chat" module-udev-detect.discovered = "1" device.icon_name = "audio-card-usb" Ports: steelseries-arctis-output-chat-common: steelseries-arctis-output-chat-common (priority: 5000) Active Port: steelseries-arctis-output-chat-common Formats: pcm
Sink #2 State: IDLE Name: alsa_output.usb-SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000-00.analog-game Description: SteelSeries Arctis 5 Game Driver: module-alsa-card.c Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 44100Hz Channel Map: front-left,front-right Owner Module: 7 Mute: no Volume: front-left: 11796 / 18% / -44,68 dB, front-right: 11796 / 18% / -44,68 dB balance 0,00 Base Volume: 54094 / 83% / -5,00 dB Monitor Source: alsa_output.usb-SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000-00.analog-game.monitor Latency: 102580 usec, configured 99954 usec Flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY Properties: alsa.resolution_bits = "16" device.api = "alsa" device.class = "sound" alsa.class = "generic" alsa.subclass = "generic-mix" alsa.name = "USB Audio #1" alsa.id = "USB Audio" alsa.subdevice = "0" alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0" alsa.device = "1" alsa.card = "1" alsa.card_name = "SteelSeries Arctis 5" alsa.long_card_name = "SteelSeries SteelSeries Arctis 5 at usb-0000:00:14.0-10, full speed" alsa.driver_name = "snd_usb_audio" device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:14.0-usb-0:10:1.0" sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb1/1-10/1-10:1.0/sound/card1" udev.id = "usb-SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000-00" device.bus = "usb" device.vendor.id = "1038" device.vendor.name = "SteelSeries ApS" device.product.id = "1250" device.product.name = "SteelSeries Arctis 5" device.serial = "SteelSeries_SteelSeries_Arctis_5_00000000" device.string = "hw:1,1,0" device.buffering.buffer_size = "17632" device.buffering.fragment_size = "4408" device.access_mode = "mmap" device.profile.name = "analog-game" device.profile.description = "Game" device.description = "SteelSeries Arctis 5 Game" module-udev-detect.discovered = "1" device.icon_name = "audio-card-usb" Ports: steelseries-arctis-output-game-common: steelseries-arctis-output-game-common (priority: 9900) Active Port: steelseries-arctis-output-game-common Formats: pcm
Sink #4 State: IDLE Name: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo Description: Built-in Audio Analog Stereo Driver: module-alsa-card.c Sample Specification: s16le 2ch 44100Hz Channel Map: front-left,front-right Owner Module: 8 Mute: no Volume: front-left: 28914 / 44% / -21,32 dB, front-right: 28914 / 44% / -21,32 dB balance 0,00 Base Volume: 65536 / 100% / 0,00 dB Monitor Source: alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo.monitor Latency: 100566 usec, configured 99954 usec Flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY Properties: alsa.resolution_bits = "16" device.api = "alsa" device.class = "sound" alsa.class = "generic" alsa.subclass = "generic-mix" alsa.name = "ALC1220 Analog" alsa.id = "ALC1220 Analog" alsa.subdevice = "0" alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0" alsa.device = "0" alsa.card = "0" alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH" alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0x4012110000 irq 162" alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel" device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3" sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0" device.bus = "pci" device.vendor.id = "8086" device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation" device.product.id = "06c8" device.form_factor = "internal" device.string = "front:0" device.buffering.buffer_size = "17632" device.buffering.fragment_size = "4408" device.access_mode = "mmap" device.profile.name = "analog-stereo" device.profile.description = "Analog Stereo" device.description = "Built-in Audio Analog Stereo" module-udev-detect.discovered = "1" device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci" Ports: analog-output-lineout: Line Out (priority: 9000, not available) analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority: 9900, not available) Active Port: analog-output-headphones Formats: pcm

2. /etc/pulse/default.pa

#!/usr/bin/pulseaudio -nF
#
# This file is part of PulseAudio.
#
# PulseAudio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
# under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# PulseAudio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
# General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
# along with PulseAudio; if not, see <
# This startup script is used only if PulseAudio is started per-user
# (i.e. not in system mode)
.fail
### Automatically restore the volume of streams and devices
load-module module-device-restore
load-module module-stream-restore
load-module module-card-restore
### Automatically augment property information from .desktop files
### stored in /usr/share/application
load-module module-augment-properties
### Should be after module-*-restore but before module-*-detect
# load-module module-switch-on-port-available
### Use hot-plugged devices like Bluetooth or USB automatically (LP: #1702794)
.ifexists module-switch-on-connect.so
load-module module-switch-on-connect
.endif
### Load audio drivers statically
### (it's probably better to not load these drivers manually, but instead
### use module-udev-detect -- see below -- for doing this automatically)
#load-module module-alsa-sink
#load-module module-alsa-source device=hw:1,0
#load-module module-oss device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-oss-mmap device="/dev/dsp" sink_name=output source_name=input
#load-module module-null-sink
#load-module module-pipe-sink
### Automatically load driver modules depending on the hardware available
.ifexists module-udev-detect.so
load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0
.else
### Use the static hardware detection module (for systems that lack udev support)
load-module module-detect tsched=0
.endif
### Automatically connect sink and source if JACK server is present
.ifexists module-jackdbus-detect.so
.nofail
load-module module-jackdbus-detect channels=2
.fail
.endif
### Automatically load driver modules for Bluetooth hardware
.ifexists module-bluetooth-policy.so
load-module module-bluetooth-policy
.endif
.ifexists module-bluetooth-discover.so
load-module module-bluetooth-discover
.endif
### Load several protocols
.ifexists module-esound-protocol-unix.so
load-module module-esound-protocol-unix
.endif
load-module module-native-protocol-unix
### Network access (may be configured with paprefs, so leave this commented
### here if you plan to use paprefs)
#load-module module-esound-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-native-protocol-tcp
#load-module module-zeroconf-publish
### Load the RTP receiver module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-rtp-recv
### Load the RTP sender module (also configured via paprefs, see above)
#load-module module-null-sink sink_name=rtp format=s16be channels=2 rate=44100 sink_properties="device.description='RTP Multicast Sink'"
#load-module module-rtp-send source=rtp.monitor
### Load additional modules from GSettings. This can be configured with the paprefs tool.
### Please keep in mind that the modules configured by paprefs might conflict with manually
### loaded modules.
.ifexists module-gsettings.so
.nofail
load-module module-gsettings
.fail
.endif
### Automatically restore the default sink/source when changed by the user
### during runtime
### NOTE: This should be loaded as early as possible so that subsequent modules
### that look up the default sink/source get the right value
load-module module-default-device-restore
### Make sure we always have a sink around, even if it is a null sink.
load-module module-always-sink
### Honour intended role device property
load-module module-intended-roles
### Automatically suspend sinks/sources that become idle for too long
# load-module module-suspend-on-idle
### If autoexit on idle is enabled we want to make sure we only quit
### when no local session needs us anymore.
.ifexists module-console-kit.so
load-module module-console-kit
.endif
.ifexists module-systemd-login.so
load-module module-systemd-login
.endif
### Enable positioned event sounds
load-module module-position-event-sounds
### Cork music/video streams when a phone stream is active
load-module module-role-cork
### Block audio recording for snap confined packages unless they have
### the "pulseaudio" or "audio-record" interfaces plugged.
.ifexists module-snap-policy.so
load-module module-snap-policy
.endif
### Modules to allow autoloading of filters (such as echo cancellation)
### on demand. module-filter-heuristics tries to determine what filters
### make sense, and module-filter-apply does the heavy-lifting of
### loading modules and rerouting streams.
load-module module-filter-heuristics
load-module module-filter-apply
### Make some devices default
#set-default-sink output
#set-default-source input

3. /etc/pulse/daemon.conf

# This file is part of PulseAudio.
#
# PulseAudio is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# PulseAudio is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
# General Public License for more details.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
# along with PulseAudio; if not, see <
## Configuration file for the PulseAudio daemon. See pulse-daemon.conf(5) for
## more information. Default values are commented out. Use either ; or # for
## commenting.
; daemonize = no
; fail = yes
; allow-module-loading = yes
; allow-exit = yes
; use-pid-file = yes
; system-instance = no
; local-server-type = user
; enable-shm = yes
; enable-memfd = yes
; shm-size-bytes = 0 # setting this 0 will use the system-default, usually 64 MiB
; lock-memory = no
; cpu-limit = no
; high-priority = yes
; nice-level = -11
; realtime-scheduling = yes
; realtime-priority = 5
; exit-idle-time = 20
; scache-idle-time = 20
; dl-search-path = (depends on architecture)
; load-default-script-file = yes
; default-script-file = /etc/pulse/default.pa
; log-target = auto
; log-level = notice
; log-meta = no
; log-time = no
; log-backtrace = 0
; resample-method = speex-float-1
; avoid-resampling = yes
; enable-remixing = yes
; remixing-use-all-sink-channels = yes
; remixing-produce-lfe = no
; remixing-consume-lfe = no
; lfe-crossover-freq = 0
; flat-volumes = no
; rescue-streams = yes
; rlimit-fsize = -1
; rlimit-data = -1
; rlimit-stack = -1
; rlimit-core = -1
; rlimit-as = -1
; rlimit-rss = -1
; rlimit-nproc = -1
; rlimit-nofile = 256
; rlimit-memlock = -1
; rlimit-locks = -1
; rlimit-sigpending = -1
; rlimit-msgqueue = -1
; rlimit-nice = 31
; rlimit-rtprio = 9
; rlimit-rttime = 200000
; default-sample-format = s16le
; default-sample-rate = 44100
; alternate-sample-rate = 48000
; default-sample-channels = 2
; default-channel-map = front-left,front-right
; default-fragments = 4
; default-fragment-size-msec = 25
; enable-deferred-volume = yes
deferred-volume-safety-margin-usec = 1
; deferred-volume-extra-delay-usec = 0

2 Answers

What kernel are you running? I just started noticing this issue with my Steelseries Arctis 5 on Ubuntu 21.10 a few days ago. I just remembered tonight that my system was updated to kernel 5.13.0-37-generic a few days ago, so I rolled back to 5.13.0-35-generic to see if that would fix the problem, and it seems like that fixed it for me.

For me setting the default sample rate of pulse audio to 48000 did the trick, as it is described in this bug report

1. open /etc/pulse/daemon.conf and change default-sample-rate to 48000. Dont forget to remove the semicolon at the beginning of the line.
2. Restart pulse with: systemctl --user restart pulseaudio.service