Armada Lapotp crackling noise right channel only??

I have two Compaq Armada Laptops.
Armada E500
Armada M700
BOTH have a popping/crackling noise in the right channel only.
Starts out ok, but gets unbearable after a few minutes.
Sounds like there's gravel in the speaker, but you still
hear the noise using headphones, so it's not busted speakers.

I found several similar reports on the web, but no solutions.
Most of the discussions missed the point entirely and talked
about low-level hiss/noise etc. This is not anything that might have
been there at design time. It's HORRIBLE. Nobody could ever
think this was ok. Something broke. On BOTH machines.

I'd rather not reverse engineer this laptop if I can help it.
Are there any schematics of the audio available?
Suggestions?
Thanks, mike
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mike <spamme9@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have two Compaq Armada Laptops.
>Armada E500
>Armada M700
>BOTH have a popping/crackling noise in the right channel only.
>Starts out ok, but gets unbearable after a few minutes.
>Sounds like there's gravel in the speaker, but you still
>hear the noise using headphones, so it's not busted speakers.
>
>I found several similar reports on the web, but no solutions.
>Most of the discussions missed the point entirely and talked
>about low-level hiss/noise etc. This is not anything that might have
>been there at design time. It's HORRIBLE. Nobody could ever
>think this was ok. Something broke. On BOTH machines.
>
>I'd rather not reverse engineer this laptop if I can help it.
>Are there any schematics of the audio available?
>Suggestions?
>Thanks, mike

Never had the problem on my E500 or M300. I've torn down the E a
couple of times for repairs and not had audio problems afterwards..

Have you tried muting items in the sounds control panel, the
microphone, line in, CD in etc and notice any difference?

Plug in a mic to disconnect the internal mic and check for the noise.

That's a step I'd take - see if the noise is caused by the amplifier
or is the amplifier just amplifieing the noise.
--
"If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot 'em?"

[davy]

Hi, what is not clear is where you are plugging the headphones, in the speaker unit or in the machine, some clarification is required because if you are plugging the phones into the machine then the machines have a problem.

I assume you are plugging them into the speaker unit so the first thing I'd try is the leads, try waggling the ends of the leads to see if theres a broken or loose wire.

I would guess the speakers are 'self powered', meaning that they require a power source to get them to work, be it battery or wall wart adapter. If this is the case then they will contain a audio power amplifier to drive the speakers, to me it sounds like one of these amplifiers is at fault, in which case I would be tempted to try another pair of speakers.

You can check them however, power the speakers up and try plug the signal lead (not the power lead) into the earphone socket of a mini Walkman, alternatively you can use the line or aux SIGNAL out on a CD player or tape cassette.

Do not be tempted to use the speakers output terminal of an stereo amplifier, the signal level is far too high and the impedance far too low for this purpose.

What we are doing is using a low level audio signal to feed into the speakers so we can try them, this will point us in the right direction, obviously if the speakers still crackles then they are responsible.

Davy

davy wrote:
> Hi, what is not clear is where you are plugging the headphones, in the
> speaker unit or in the machine, some clarification is required because
> if you are plugging the phones into the machine then the machines have a
> problem.
>
> I assume you are plugging them into the speaker unit so the first thing
> I'd try is the leads, try waggling the ends of the leads to see if
> theres a broken or loose wire.
>
> I would guess the speakers are 'self powered', meaning that they
> require a power source to get them to work, be it battery or wall wart
> adapter. If this is the case then they will contain a audio power
> amplifier to drive the speakers, to me it sounds like one of these
> amplifiers is at fault, in which case I would be tempted to try another
> pair of speakers.
>
> You can check them however, power the speakers up and try plug the
> signal lead (not the power lead) into the earphone socket of a mini
> Walkman, alternatively you can use the line or aux SIGNAL out on a CD
> player or tape cassette.
>
> *Do not be tempted* to use the speakers output terminal of an stereo
> amplifier, the signal level is far too high and the impedance far too
> low for this purpose.
>
> What we are doing is using a *low level audio signal* to feed into the
> speakers so we can try them, this will point us in the right direction,
> obviously if the speakers still crackles then they are responsible.
>
> Davy
>
>
Except that said, quote:
Sounds like there's gravel in the speaker, but you still
hear the noise using headphones,

To clarify, headphones plugged into the laptop have the noise.


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[davy]

I have two Compaq Armada Laptops.
Armada E500
Armada M700
BOTH have a popping/crackling noise in the right channel only.

To clarify, headphones plugged into the laptop have the noise.

Ah now, you are getting the sound through the headphones when they are connected to the laptop, then it's most likely a fault in the sound processing department, i.e sound card or on-board sound processor.. but unusual to have two laptops the same...

... unless of course you damaged the speakers cones in the speaker and the headphones.... the voice coils scraping as it moves between the magnet due to overloading perhaps or too much bass.

You need to verify this by using a known good pair of headphones or at least try them elsewhere, we need to isolate the problem so we can point blame - either speaker and headhones or the laptops but to have two items go down is sheer bad luck it does sometime happens.

davy