startup and shutdown popping w/ audio receiver and laptop

S

stormfront

Audiophyte
good day folks. i was wondering if i could get a little help with this problem i am having with startup and shutdown popping. i have a kenwood VR 606 av receiver and i have it hooked up to my laptop using just the rca / 3mm jack analog . it severly and loudly pops the speakers and it does it alot. every time no sound is being played for 5-10 seconds i guess the sound device for my laptop shuts off and it pops . then it pops again right before a sound is going to be played as it seems to initialize the sound device to start playing sounds again.

is there a way i could wire somthing up to get this to not happen anymore? i appreciate any help and thank you for your time
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
Turn on Windows Audio Session. Connect laptop to AVR via USB.
 
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S

stormfront

Audiophyte
Turn on Windows Audio Session. Connect laptop to AVR via USB.
i am not 100% sure how to turn on audio session. i know my way around a computer and windows quite well. ive been computing for 20 years now =) but im not quite sure that i did it correctly and it seemed like i couldnt find a solid answer when i googled how to do it.

i did the services / logon tab and it turned off my sound completely so i undid it

EDIT: i dont know windows 10 as well as i had known previous operating systems but i know how to do alot if someone guides me in the right direction if you know what i mean =) i used to be an overclocker in the mid 2000s
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
i am not 100% sure how to turn on audio session. i know my way around a computer and windows quite well. ive been computing for 20 years now =) but im not quite sure that i did it correctly and it seemed like i couldnt find a solid answer when i googled how to do it.

i did the services / logon tab and it turned off my sound completely so i undid it

EDIT: i dont know windows 10 as well as i had known previous operating systems but i know how to do alot if someone guides me in the right direction if you know what i mean =) i used to be an overclocker in the mid 2000s
I turn on Windows Audio Session via iTunes app, and as long as iTunes is running, Windows Audio Session gives iTunes priority over all other programs running in background. My thinking is what's happening with your system is the audio app you are running may be disconnecting due to another program needing ram or something, and this shut down is in an order which prompts the popping, just like turning on a phono preamp lastly rather than firstly will cause a pop, or turning off the phono preamp before turning off line stage amplification will cause a pop. Both of these can damage electronics. Now, if you use a usb connection between computer and AVR instead of analog, I think the popping will stop whether or not Windows Audio Session is running although dropouts may be noticed. One more thing, since your receiver does not have a usb B port, unless your computer outputs optical S/PDIF you will need to buy a Creative Sound Blaster X-FI HD external sound card and connect the optical out to the optical input on the back of receiver and connect the usb out from the X-FI HD to the computer's usb port. Also, set the driver that comes with the X-FI HD to output a bit and bite rate which your receiver can handle, I.e. 16/44, 16/48, or 24/96. This connection will send digital to the receiver whereby the receiver's DAC will do the decoding rather than the computer's inferior DAC. This arrangement will eliminate the popping I think.
 
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S

stormfront

Audiophyte
ok i am going to decide which one im going to try . i only watch youtube and i use VLC player and WMP. i appreciate your help and suggestions sterling
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
ok i am going to decide which one im going to try . i only watch youtube and i use VLC player and WMP. i appreciate your help and suggestions sterling
Lots of apps are able to take exclusive control of the sound driver. VLC and others like itunes can do it no problem. It's all about settings.

The other reason for the pop is just because headphone jacks on laptops aren't all that great for what you're doing. Plus that receiver is ancient (I have one, still works) so combine those two and that may be where the pop is.

Easiest thing to do is turn off the AVR first. No more issue.
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
Lots of apps are able to take exclusive control of the sound driver. VLC and others like itunes can do it no problem. It's all about settings.

The other reason for the pop is just because headphone jacks on laptops aren't all that great for what you're doing. Plus that receiver is ancient (I have one, still works) so combine those two and that may be where the pop is.

Easiest thing to do is turn off the AVR first. No more issue.
Maybe I'm mistaken but I think the OP alluded to the pop as a product of unsolicited disconnection.
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
Maybe I'm mistaken but I think the OP alluded to the pop as a product of unsolicited disconnection.
I re-read after this and it's worse than that. It sounds as if there is random popping any time it goes from silent to something playing. I would imagine it's the actual headphone plug in the laptop since they are usually VERY low quality.

Now, if he changes sources and it still happens it might be the cable or AVR, but something isn't right and I don't think it's a configuration issue. Who knows though, computers can have strange behavior.
 
S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
I re-read after this and it's worse than that. It sounds as if there is random popping any time it goes from silent to something playing. I would imagine it's the actual headphone plug in the laptop since they are usually VERY low quality.

Now, if he changes sources and it still happens it might be the cable or AVR, but something isn't right and I don't think it's a configuration issue. Who knows though, computers can have strange behavior.
My 20 year old Sony Pre-Pro popped after I mistakenly turned on and off my phono preamp before turning the Sony on or off. Later, the Sony popped a few times and went silent but returned to play the connected source. A few days later the Sony popped a few times again and went silent but this time no return to music. It's now disconnected and I've replaced it in my system with a Parasound P6. I suspect the initial popping of the Sony due to my improper turn on and turn off schedule may have damaged the Sony but until I can find someone who will undertake to repair it, I will only be able to speculate on the unit's issue. It could be that the Sony has just run out of gas and perhaps that's the issue the OP is dealing with. I'm in complete agreement about the analog outputs on the OPs computer being guilty as charged of not holding a stable connection. A usb to optical S/PDIF converter to Receiver's S/PDIF input might however get the desired result for about a $70 investment.
 
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
It's worth checking that any power saving is disabled for the sound card, something you can see when inspecting the devices in Device Manager. You could try using a "High Performance" power plan to see if that helps, and if so try locate which device is causing issues.
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
It's worth checking that any power saving is disabled for the sound card, something you can see when inspecting the devices in Device Manager. You could try using a "High Performance" power plan to see if that helps, and if so try locate which device is causing issues.
Good point with it being a laptop. If power is being cut to the audio device, that's probably the issue.
 
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
Good point with it being a laptop. If power is being cut to the audio device, that's probably the issue.
It's at least worth exploring before making a decision to buy something new, unless that is what he wants :)
 
S

stormfront

Audiophyte
Thank you to everyone for your suggestions I have tried pretty much everything that you could Google that might help my issue but I think panteragstk might be on to something yes I know this isn't exactly the best set up with the laptop and a receiver .although it works really well other than the popping lol. it literally pops whenever the sound device is sent a signal for it to make sound ,but not every time. the sound device seemingly comes on and it'll pop when it does and it will stay on as long as sounds are being played but once I quit playing all sounds then after about 15 seconds it'll pop back off as if the sound device is going into standby or something. then the next time I do something that makes another noise again it'll pop back on and then it'll be good until I don't let anything play for 15 seconds. It almost as if the sound device is being put on standby and taken off of standby every time and that's when the popping occurs. EDIT: if I tried to describe the popping whenever the popping occurs it is like 2 pops in succession really fast both when it comes on and turns off 2 quick boom boom and it's fairly strong
 
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S

stormfront

Audiophyte
I'm not done fighting this yet I found some interesting registry keys that I wanna look at one of them having to do with the Jack
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Try different software for playback? Like foobar2000 using wasapi to bypass windows?
 
panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
Try different software for playback? Like foobar2000 using wasapi to bypass windows?
I'm not done fighting this yet I found some interesting registry keys that I wanna look at one of them having to do with the Jack
This would probably be a good solution. As long as foobar is open, it should maintain control of the audio device and prevent it from shutting it off. Basically, the power cord will stop being pulled from your soundcard.

Only other solution is likely an external USB DAC. Those can be had for pretty cheap though.
 
S

stormfront

Audiophyte
hmmmm ... this might work. i installed foobar and i opened it up , started a song and then paused it ... i havent heard it pop back off yet . testing is still ongoing . ill fill you in. ii dont mind keeping this program opened like this if it works . ill just open it up and leave it everytime
 
S

stormfront

Audiophyte
so far so good ... it works. so i guess it is keeping my sound (realtek onboard chip) from "going into standby" or whatever it does , not 100% sure that is what it does but it kind of sounds like it. this certainly is better than nothing thats for sure. depending on what im doing , i often find it popping on and off alot unless im watching somthing that is more lengthy. thank you panteragstk. for now this will help out alot. i still want to see if i can figure out why because i could swear it didnt do this at first and then all the sudden one day it started . and i think i remember worrying that somthing had happened to the jack for some reason but i blew it off at the time. I might pop the laptop open or something and take a visual look at the Jack make sure something doesn't need soldered back on or something like that
 
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S

sterling shoote

Audioholic Field Marshall
so far so good ... it works. so i guess it is keeping my sound (realtek onboard chip) from "going into standby" or whatever it does , not 100% sure that is what it does but it kind of sounds like it. this certainly is better than nothing thats for sure. depending on what im doing , i often find it popping on and off alot unless im watching somthing that is more lengthy. thank you panteragstk. for now this will help out alot. i still want to see if i can figure out why because i could swear it didnt do this at first and then all the sudden one day it started . and i think i remember worrying that somthing had happened to the jack for some reason but i blew it off at the time. I might pop the laptop open or something and take a visual look at the Jack make sure something doesn't need soldered back on or something like that
As alluded to by others, your analog output from laptop to enjoy music is not going the yield an audiophile experience even when the media player, i.e. Foobar 2000 is maintained in an open condition. You need to send media player's digital output via usb or WLAN to receiving devices, like a DAC, or AVR for pop less results, as well as for higher fidelity. In other words, take the advice you came here for.
 
S

stormfront

Audiophyte
you know i just noticed something. i thought maybe it was more or less related to the receiver that i have hooked up ( kenwood vr606 ) but it is not that because i plugged in a pair of earbuds and it makes the earbuds pop also .... weird. so with earbuds plugged in the receiver isnt hooked up at all
 
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