Steam Deck OLED 3.5.7 - Constant audio static/crackle from headphone jack. Not present on LCD 3.5.7.

[TrentonBlackburn]

Your system information

• Steam client version: 3.5.7 (?)
• SteamOS version: 3.5.7
• Opted into Steam client beta?: No
• Opted into SteamOS beta?: No
• Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Steam Deck OLED 512gb - 3.5.7: The headphone jack has excessive crackling/static at all times. Restarts, adjusting the jack, etc do not resolve it. This issue does not appear on my LCD model running 3.5.7.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Plug earbuds into headphone jack on Steam Deck OLED from cold boot.
2. Move around on the home screen menu, and you'll hear a constant crackle/whine.

[jcnils]

Same with the Steam Deck OLED LE, I tried with 2 distinct earbuds and a headphone.

I experience the static noise during all tries, but the crackling when navigating the menu only once.

With the headphones, the static is less noticeable, what makes me wonder if it is something with the voltage, impedance levels or something power related.

I tried to record it, but it is slightly different from what I hear. LCD I hear nothing, but the recording shows some white noise.

Github does not let me upload WAV, sorry for the tar.gz, please let me know if there are any better ways to upload audio files.

SteamDeckOLEDStatic.tar.gz

I also wonder if there is anything wrong with the board voltages because I get consistently 0.5W~0.8W more power drainage with OLED than with the LCD.

[mathew2214]

steam deck LCD here. seeing crackle/stutter on the pipewire network transport. as well as obscene latency.

update: running pw-metadata -n settings 0 clock.force-quantum 64 seems to have helped with latency. crackling/static persists.

[emiliacollins]

I am also experiencing this issue on my OLED. Updating firmware, changing firmware branch, and rebooting do not fix the issue. Noise is sometimes present when no sound is playing, but always present if any sound is playing. Occurs in Steam client and in games (though usually only noticeable in quieter menus or loading screens). Sound is inconsistent, can range from hiss to crackle to wine. Nature of the sound seems to change based on what the machine is doing (intense rendering, intense SSD reads, etc)

[mcgrem]

Same Issue on the 1TB OLED. Very noticeable static and crackling through the 3.5mm jack. No problems through Bluetooth Audio.

Volume and pitch of the static decreases step by step, when adjusting the manual GPU clock towards 200.

Static pauses/becomes unnoticable when displaying static images on screen (like the settings screen). Every time the dpad is used to highlight a different section the static returns temporarily.

Very noticeable on the Home Screen / Library / Store all the time, regardless of input.

Your system information Steam client version: 1700867040 SteamOS version: 3.5.7 Opted into Steam client beta?: No Opted into SteamOS beta?: Yes Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

[mathew2214]

On my steam deck LCD, I am also getting my previously reported behavior on Bluetooth. Built-in speakers don't seem to be affected. I have yet to try with a TRRS output.

Crackling/popping sound in Linux is almost always a symptom of "underrunning". Underrunning is a result of bad timing or scheduling with the sound server. Suggestion: Valve should give us the option to force realtime audio. Realtime audio mode would make underrunning impossible. Implementation could be as simple as pushing a SteamOS update with the config files for realtime.

Valve, please fix.

[sonic2kk]

Also experiencing this, the audio hissing occurs with two different pairs of headphones. It occurs when something is moving on the screen, for example the banner previews on the Home screen move and cause hissing. In menus with no moving elements such as the settings menu, there is no hissing.

[Bad-w0lf7]

Experiencing the same issue on my 512 OLED as well. Plugging in usual pair of cheap earbuds leads to high crackling sound even in menus and Home Screen. But plugging in a pair of ANC headphones (Sony xm5) drastically reduces the noise.

SteamOS version: 3.5.7 Opted into Steam client beta?: No Opted into SteamOS beta?: No Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

[nicosensei]

Same here on a 1TB OLED Deck. Using exactly the same pair of IEMs I used on my LCD model. Constant static noise on the library screen, caries with input. Present also in game.

Using SteamOS 3.5.7, build 20231122.1

[artofwot]

Just chiming in to say this is happening to me too. SteamOS 3.5.7, OLED LE (with the same headphones I use on my LCD model with no issues).

Here are the questions Steam Support asked. If you include answers to these it might speed up the support request (assuming you want to try for a replacement - double assuming this isn't an issue that affects every unit):

• Have you installed any third party tools, plugins, emulators on your Deck?
• Does the crackling/buzzing/distortion of sound happen when you use headphones/headset with the system (let us know if you tested with the 3.5mm jack, USB-C, or Bluetooth)
• Is this happening in all games or just a specific one? If only a specific game, can you tell us the name of it too.
• Does this happen while you are out of game in Steam?
• Does this happen while you are in Desktop mode? (Steam button > Power > Switch to Desktop)
• Does this happen if you lower the volume (does it only happen at or near max volume, or at all volume levels)?
• Does this only happen when you come back to play the Deck after putting it to sleep? Try shutting down the system and retesting to see if it occurs still.

[mathew2214]

UPDATE: i have switched my LCD deck to realtime scheduling audio. this helped significantly, but did not fix the issue. it is still intolerably choppy and latent.

disabling the framerate limit and allowing tearing seems to have helped latency, but crackling persists.

[BlackRedDead]

I had this issue in Star Wars: Empire at War Gold Edition (in the Forces of Corruption Expansion concretely) on OS ver.:3.5.5 (on LCD SD) - it somehow resolved itself after some time playing however...

[nicosensei]

Same here on a 1TB OLED Deck. Using exactly the same pair of IEMs I used on my LCD model. Constant static noise on the library screen, caries with input. Present also in game.

Using SteamOS 3.5.7, build 20231122.1

Actually I grabbed every pair of headphones I could find around the house, and the issue is present only with my 2 IEM pairs, both of which are from KZ. The static is much stronger on the higher end model.

Couldn't this be something with the impedance of the jack output? It's really a shame because I 've been using this pair for years now, on a hoard of devices... Heck I 'm using it on PS5 and it worked perfectly on the LCD Deck.

Hope it can get fixed.

[nicosensei]

I could find an older pair of earbuds I had stored as spare, a Xiaomi one, don't remember exactly the model. They are not explicitly branded as IEM.

I would say I only hear a very faint static noise when switching items in the library. No audible static otherwise.

[Mirystyl]

Just got my OLED today, updated it to the latest firmware (3.5.7), plugged in my headphones (Sennheiser HD599) and noticed that there's constant static when you open up the home screen menu, library or the store. While settings and download menus, for example, only have static when I move around, if I don't press anything then there's no static. I also tried out some cheap $10 wired Panasonic earbuds and they exhibited even more static.

I then switched back to my HD599 headphones and they had even more static noise than before, which made it unbearable for me. It was also constant everywhere, even in the settings and download menus. I tried replugging the headphones, swapping back to the cheap earbuds then back to HD599, restarting Steam Deck, putting it to sleep mode, but nothing seemed to help. So I just let it run for around 10 minutes, came back and the static noise went down, back to the same noise level when I first tried the headphones out.

When playing games, the sounds/music seem to drown out the static, so unless I turn down the volume or there's some sort of quiet scene, I don't really hear it that much, but the static itself is way higher, it sounds more like a whine. Also the static noise only appears with wired headphones, BT earbuds and speakers don't have this issue.

[emiliacollins]

It seems this may be only related to more sensitive IEMs. Posting my IEM info in case it's helpful, not sure precisely what info is relevant:

Impedance: 22 Ω @ 1kHz (± 15%) Sensitivity: 117dB / Vrms @ 1kHz

That said, I had no issues on my LCD Steam Deck, and have never had noise floor issues with these headphones in general across phones (android & ios), desktops, laptops (xps, thinkpad), or game consoles (PS4 via bluetooth controller 3.5mm jack). This noise floor level isn't acceptable, and shouldn't be written off as "use different headphones".

[artofwot]

It seems this may be only related to more sensitive IEMs.

Yeah, seems likely. Some common consumer headphones have similar sensitivities to IEMs, too. I noticed noise with my WH-1000XM3 (powered off - worked fine on the LCD and I've never had issues with them on other devices). Specs below in case that helps.

(Powered off) Impedance: 16Ω (1 kHz) Sensitivity: 101 dB / mW (1 kHz)

[aaronhoogstraten]

Using Venture Electronics Monk Plus earbuds and hearing faint static. Noticeable when navigating Game Mode menus or in quiet games. There's no static when using a USB DAC or 3.5mm to USB-C adapter. Impedance: 64Ω Sensitivity: 118dB/1mW 512gb OLED

[nicosensei]

Thanks for elaborating on that! It would be a real shame that for all the upgrades the OLED Deck brings we'd have to put up with such a downgrade in the sound department. I always favor wired over Bluetooth headphones for gaming, so please Valve devs, take this issue seriously!

On Thu, Nov 30, 2023, 18:55 Emilia Collins @.***> wrote:

It seems this may be only related to more sensitive IEMs. Posting my IEM info in case it's helpful, not sure precisely what info is relevant:

Impedance: 22 Ω @ 1kHz (± 15%) Sensitivity: 117dB / Vrms @ 1kHz

That said, I had no issues on my LCD Steam Deck, and have never had noise floor issues with these headphones in general across phones (android & ios), desktops, laptops (xps, thinkpad), or game consoles (PS4 via bluetooth controller 3.5mm jack). This noise floor level isn't acceptable, and shouldn't be written off as "use different headphones".

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1235#issuecomment-1834279929, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AANCVMRTRRVR625KX4DRVHTYHDCCNAVCNFSM6AAAAAA72IMC3CVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMYTQMZUGI3TSOJSHE . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

[nicosensei]

Using Venture Electronics Monk Plus earbuds and hearing faint static. Noticeable when navigating Game Mode menus or in quiet games. There's no static when using a USB DAC or 3.5mm to USB-C adapter. Impedance: 64Ω Sensitivity: 118dB/1mW

Same for me, my KZ ZST IEMs exhibits a terrible amount of static noise through the jack port, absolutely zero through an USB-C to jack adapter...

[dawnvm]

I received my OLED steam deck today, and also experience noise/buzzing on the 3.5mm headphone jack with the headphones and IEMs that I would like to use with it. Similarly to what others have reported so far, it occurs inside and outside of games, is specific to the 3.5mm headphone jack, and does not increase or decrease in volume as the volume is adjusted.

Here are the results from my own testing of headphone jack with different wired headphones:

• KZ ZSN Pro X (25Ω impedance, 112 dB sensitivity) - Completely unusable. At a normal listening volume, the buzzing noise is as loud as the audio being played.
• Etymotic ER2XR (15Ω impedance, 96 dB sensitivity) - Noisy. There's a significant and unacceptable level of background noise, but not as bad as the KZs.
• Sony WH1000XM3 (16Ω impedance, 101 dB sensitivity) - Noisy. Similar to the ER2XRs.
• AudioTechnica ATH-T22 (32Ω impedance, 100 dB sensitivity) - No noticeable noise
• Plantronics C5220T (32Ω impedance, 90 dB sensitivity) - No noticeable noise
• Free earbuds from Delta Airlines (no impedance or sensitivity stats available) - No noticeable noise

All of these work without background noise for me on all of my other devices.

I've also tallied up statistics from a reddit thread that encouraged people that hadn't previously used the headphone jack on their OLED steam decks to test them and report if they had static or humming noise issues (https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/187pzhe/). This was nearly evenly split, with 19 reports of buzzing headphones and 18 reports of headphones with no issue. These reports appeared to be consistent across steam decks, as there were no reports of a headphone model working well for one person but being noisy for another. It is also consistent with my own sample of headphones that I have tested with.

It appears that the steam deck OLED is currently incompatible with about half of the headphones that people are attempting to use with it, which seems like a major issue.

[stiligFox]

My OLED LE Steam Deck has the same issue, both with my Grado SR80x headphones and my Apple EarPods. It has a persistent static that varies depending on the load. During gaming I can hear it any time there’s a slightly quieter moment in the game. Using an Apple USB-C to 3.5mm adapter completely solves the issue.

it’s reminiscent of the audio noise that I get when playing my old Gameboy Pocket - it’s a level of interference I’ve not heard on a device in a long time.

[RESIDENTgiveme]

Got my SD oled 512GB today and yeah...I have it too. I use a pair of Blon BL03 IEM's and there is a very noticeable buzzing noise that fluctuates with movement of the UI or playing games. The intensity seems to scale with the GPU clock which can be confirmed by messing around with the GPU clock slider. On my DT770's I can't hear it at all, but those are some very beefy headphones... and not really suitable for portability.

This is a dealbreaker for me as the regular SD had no such issue at all.....

[ncdaol]

I'm having the same issue with my 512 GB OLED. Have tried the following headphones and they all have the same issue:

• Sony WH-1000XM3.
• Sony WH-1000XM4.
• Koss porta pro.

The issue gets worse if I turn on bluetooth.

[brichardsonii7]

I got my 512GB unit this week and immediately noticed the problem. The noise floor is unnacceptably high and varies between menus, in-game, according to the chosen power options, etc. It is not directly correlated to actual volume - it's independent of it.

I ran a few comparative tests using different headphones to see how bad it is:

• Hyperx Cloud II: the noise is very noticeable at all times. It's even more prevalent in the Steam Library than in-game but it never goes away.

• Moondrop Quarks (IEM): the most noticeable of all, given the higher sensitivity. Unusable for anyone who cares even a little bit about clean audio.

• Sennheiser HD 598SR: my oldest and most-used pair, usually slightly sensitive. The SD's noise is a little less intense VS the previous two but still very noticeable and not acceptable. Once again, menus somehow show it the worst.

• Sennheiser HD 560S: slightly less noticeable than with the 598. During gameplay in Prey (2017) I can almost forget about it, although it's still there. Becomes noticeable yet again in menus.

• Beyerdynamic DT-770 Pro 250ohm: the only pair which completely hides the issue for me. Not noticeable in-game or in menus. It's a studio pair with higher impedance and lower sensitivity but it is not representative of a typical consumer-oriented product that most people will be using to play portably.

• Koss Porta Pro: much closer to IEM levels of loud noise, ironically due to them being a portable and efficient pair of headphones. You know, the type you'd want to use with a handheld device.

I am somewhat hopeful that this issue can be mitigated through software. Maybe it's a voltage control issue with the internal DAC or something of the sort. My LG G7 ThinQ smartphone had a dedicated Quad-DAC with purpose-built "audiophile" internals and it read some audio inputs completely wrong. It had a "smart gain" feature which chose the source gain according to the impedance of the headphones you plugged in and ignored their sensitivity level, frequently creating lots of distortion with some headphones and none with others.

I need to know if they plan to address the problem. I am not about to keep an almost 600€ portable device which can't play well with portable headphones and IEMs. I haven't had a reply from them for days now and I need to do something within the 14 days return period.

One final consideration is that I suspect they have the pre-amping on the internal DAC/ Amp way too high. The fact that my Beyerdynamic basically run perfectly and without any lack of volume points to the source gain being way too high for regular, sensitive headphones and IEMs. I really, really wouldn't want to have to send this back.

[JGLSantos]

Having the same issue. Steam Deck OLED 512GB.

Your system information SteamOS version: 3.5.7 Opted into Steam client beta?: No Opted into SteamOS beta?: No Have you checked for updates in Settings > System?: Yes

Sony MDR-EX15LP: Very noticeable SENNHEISER HD 400S: Very low amount of static/crackle.

I generally use the Sony MDR-EX15LP (which are cheap earbuds) but I've used them throughout the years with several cellphones, 3DS, Switch, tablets, etc. and never had this kind of issue before.

[mistajolly]

Replying to https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/1235#issuecomment-1835925906

Same model OLED 512GB, same issue, definitely some kind of hardware interference on the audio circuit. Noticeable on one set of headphones but not on another. Only tested after curiosity led me here.

As mentioned elsewhere, I do wonder if there is an issue with gain and this could be mitigated with a software update.

[ruineka]

I have the same issue on my LE model in both gamemode and desktop mode. If I go to the BIOS it's whisper quiet.

[seanhoyt]

This was just posted on Reddit, I'm going to wait a bit before attempting it. https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/188fxu1/fix_audio_cracklingstatic_on_35mm_headphone_jack/

[sonic2kk]

@seanhoyt Thanks for sharing this, this seems like a pretty easy fix (afaik the headphone circuit is easily accessible once the back is off, and insulating tape isn't too tricky to come by). If Valve won't allow me to RMA I will probably attempt this, but I'll be waiting a couple weeks at least before trying it.

Might be obvious but should be noted in case others aren't aware, this will void your warranty. But if Valve won't take responsibility for the issue this seems like a straightforward sense and seems logical to me on the surface even if I haven't personally verified it.

It's almost certainly not going to happen but I would appreciate it if Valve did a recall on units, I love Valve but it seems like they've dropped the ball big time on this one.

[seanhoyt]

Sure, I'm waiting for people to report back and hopefully a statement from Valve. However, how would they know you even did this modification? I can see isolating the ground causing other issues (like additional interference), but I'm not sure how if it would cause permanent damage they could identify. I think RMA is pointless at this point, they're just sending out units that likely have the same issue.