My Presonus Audiobox USB96 has the same problem on an HP EliteBook. I bought this so I could be mobile and record anywhere at anytime. So, I was definitely disappointed when I heard the cracking and popping coming out of the headphones and main speakers or anything that I connected the output to.
What I did to resolve the issue: I first attempted to simply lower the send volume coming from the source from 100 to 90. This helped, but ultimately there was still a much less irritating popping and crackling sound.
What seems to have resolved the issue (On Windows 10) was to enable "Enhancements" to "Speaker Properties" - yes, it took enabling all 3 "Bass Boost", "Virtual Sound", and "Loudness Equalization", as shown in this picture:
Prepare for the solution: If you want to try out this solution, first find a clip of audio that always produces clicking and popping during playback.
Now follow these steps: To get to the settings change location in Windows 10 you will need to:
- Step 1: Right-click on the volume icon on the taskbar and then click "Sounds" to open the Sound dialog.
- Step 2: Click on the Playback tab and then under the Playback tab, right-click on your speaker and then click Properties. You should now see the Speakers Properties dialog. Like this:
- Step 3: Under the Enhancements tab, you can see all enhancements that are available for this speaker. Uncheck "Disable all enhancements if checked" and enable "Bass Boost", "Virtual Sound", and "Loudness Equalization", so that it looks like the first picture I shared in this solution.
- Step 4: Click on "Apply".
Now test the solution: Go back to the clip that kept causing popping and crackling and play it back. If the sound was good to begin with, you should no longer hear any popping and crackling of any kind. Good luck!