Why do I hear poor audio or scratchy sound?

If you are hearing low-quality, distorted, or scratchy audio from your computer speakers, the following tips and information may help you fix the problem.

Electromagnetic interference

Are there any other devices around the speakers or wires for the speakers? EMI (electromagnetic interference) can cause poor audio. Try moving your speakers and wires around and away from other devices.

If you have recently added any new expansion cards into the computer and your sound card is an expansion card move the card to another available slot. Cards in the computer can also cause electromagnetic interference.

Speaker issue

Verify that you are not encountering a hardware issue with the speakers by trying another pair of computer speakers.