[KibosJ]

Just like to add here.

I got a new surface 2 a couple of weeks ago and I had a strange "popping" sound from the speakers. I restarted and then everything sounded terrible. I took it back and had it swapped for a new one.

This new one is 100 times better. The sound is great from the speakers in Internet Explorer for instance.

Turning audio enhancements off, made the sound worse and quieter for me too :(

[diego15nets]

Typing my first post on my new Surface 2. Unfortunately, I'm also plagued by the speaker issue...this is terrible. Just got it, don't want to be sending it back. I'm listening to xbox music streamed radio at full volume, the sound crackles and just doesn't sound rich. Going to search for updates, but based on others' responses not expecting an improvement. :/

Update: just finished installing all 24 updates and speakers still crackle, maybe slightly less. I'm going to play music at full volume for a couple of hours and see if they just need to be burned in.

[sinic999]

Typing my first post on my new Surface 2. Unfortunately, I'm also plagued by the speaker issue...this is terrible. Just got it, don't want to be sending it back. I'm listening to xbox music streamed radio at full volume, the sound crackles and just doesn't sound rich. Going to search for updates, but based on others' responses not expecting an improvement. :/

Update: just finished installing all 24 updates and speakers still crackle, maybe slightly less. I'm going to play music at full volume for a couple of hours and see if they just need to be burned in.

Ok post here if burn in does make a difference :).

[Madattheworld]

I am on my 2nd Surface2 and still have the crackling and popping noises. I compared extensively side by side with my Surface RT and don't notice much of a volume difference, but definitely not as 'good' sounding. Obviously that's subjective, but the RT does not have the crackling and popping which grates on the nerves. It reminds me of speakers that are 'blown' and you cant turn up the volume very loud or they distort. I cant imagine software fixing this issue. Possibly a bad run of speakers used in the initial Surface2 build?

[Madattheworld]

I exchanged my Surface2 for a new one and still have the crackling and popping. I hear it in any app where there is singing. Like watching the voice in Hulu, playing a video on YouTube, XBOX music, etc. I have a hard time believing software could correct scratchy sounding speakers. It sounds to me like speakers that cant handle the volume and so they distort (crackling, popping sound). I also have a Surface RT and in comparison the volume doesn't seem to different to me just the quality. The RT has no distortion and voices have more punch the 2 just seems a little muddy. Maybe it's a run of bad speakers in the first build?

[drg]

i'm onto my second Surface 2 and speakers are still quiet and crackle when on 100%. it's been 3 months now and MS still haven't done anything about this or acknowledged it is a problem. there hasn't been a reply in this post where heaps of people have the problem Surface 2 Speaker/Sound Problems - Microsoft Community.

the Surface RT had a similar problem when it came out and they fixed it with an Update, I'm hoping they do this for the Surface 2 too but it would be nice to know what's going on. i'm making noise on twitter about this so if you can to hopefully we can a response. the surface 2 is awesome, just a shame about this volume thing cause it affects watching videos and skyping.

[Tiwo]

Something to check, I went into the advanced settings in the control panel for audio devices and disabled the Enhancements under the properties for the tetra speakers. That seems to have cured some of the tinny sound and crackling. I then checked the what was selected under configure and noticed the built in speakers are not set up as full range speakers. Set as full range and audio appears to be best it can be, though not loud. Should do until we get the update.

Just logged in to say you are a god damn hero! Speakers are a lot better now!

[joe_easton]

Changing the above settings does fix it but at the expense of volume. I would say 30% softer. Any word on an update to fix this?

[kcaneiro]

I had a similar problem and just went back to the Microsoft Store and traded for another one. The speakers are now great. I was following the board here - trying to check and uncheck the speakers. The problem was not the software - it was the speakers.

My original RT had a speaker issue which was fixed with a firmware update - clearly this is a different animal....

[bangoban]

can you provide us with specifics? my speakers start to crackle when I play music from a web app at volume 80 and above. Its not very bad and otherwise I find the speakers quite nice. So you suffer from no popping or distortion whatsoever even at max volume with enhancements on? It seems this speaker problem presents itself in a bunch of similar albeit different ways so its very hard to categorize the problem as hardware or software related. For example my speakers out of the box were terrible, I did a full reset and reinstalled all Microsoft updates and now they are much better.

I fell in love with the surface and I really don't want to have to go through the arduous task of dealing with Australian Microsoft support. So the question I want to know, if my speakers crack and pop even to a small degree at volume above 80, they are dodgy? In the 33 page Microsoft thread it kind of just fizzled out and didn't leave any definitive answers.

[joe_easton]

I too went to the Microsoft store and was told that this is just the way the speakers work because they are small and Microsoft pushes them beyond their capacity. I've got the warranty and will probably exchange it and see if that fixes it.

[bangoban]

yeah I hate being a perfectionist but this is one of the few times a piece of tech as been so good that im starting to not really care about it.

[onlysublime]

did you guys get the Ears? I contributed. picking some up for my SP2 (and maybe my Surface RT down the line):

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...urface-tablets



I tried this out myself by cupping my hand behind the speaker and it does make a difference!