Crackling Noise During Music Playback after iOS 4.1 Update

I believe I have stumbled on the fix. I have the same issue with both a ipod touch and a iphone running 4.3. In the settings menu under ipod setting I turned on sound check and now the crackling has stopped.

Thanks for the suggestion, unfortunately it didn't do the trick

The only fix I have found so far is to put the phone in Airport Mode. I have had the same crackling with my Jeep stereo, a Sony stereo, and an iHome-like system. Airport Mode clears it right up, but sort of defeats the purpose.

I'm having the same popping issue, when using my iPhone 4 in a 2010 Nissan Maxima. I had iOS 5 beta 3 installed, and thought it was a beta issue. But once I reverted back to 4.3 it was still popping. I tested my iPad 2 that's also running beta 3 and its plays perfect, no pops, or crackling. Hopefully this gets fixed soon. Its really annoying!!!

Easy fix that I figured out

just reboot the device

I was just searching with google what the popping/crackling might be, now I know I'm not the only one with that problem. I'm driving a 1997- Peugeot 306 with a Alpine iDA-305S headunit and a RE-audio setup.

At first I thought something was wrong with my amps or a speaker that got damaged or wrong wiring of a speaker... funny thing is that I bought an iPod Touch 64GB (4th gen) for larger storage capacity, my old iPod Touch 16GB (1st gen) works fine (no more updates for 1st gen after iOS 3.something.), but with those popping/crackling noises I'm nothing with it. And having an audio setup magnifies the problem a bit.

Hope it's getting solved soon...

- Bluetooth works fine in car. (but too quiet compared to USB connection)

grtz.

I have an Alpine iDA-x200 head unit in my car. I am using the iPod Touch 4th gen model. I have the same issue with crackling and skipping/stopping no matter which cable I use to connect it. I originally had 4.3.3 software, tried with 5.0b6, had the same problems. I did notice that it doesn't seem to happen if you somehow keep the screen on all the time, which is obviously not what we should have to do, nor is it easy to do without opening some type of app or game.

This is what I have seen about this so far:

• Happens in ANY type of car (this shouldn't matter anyway)
• Happens with ANY cable that is used, to some extent
• Happens on both 4.x and 5.x software (at least)
• Happens on ANY type of head unit, all different manufacturers
• Happens with iPod Touch AND iPhone

I think it works better when the screen is on or an app is running because it is keeping the CPU clocked higher. When the screen goes off or when there is nothing running, it most likely scales down the CPU speed to save power, which could make it "lag" and skip or make crackling sounds. I have seen reports that older iOS versions and older models do not have this issue. If that is the case, it is quite obvious we have a major flaw in the iOS software. Not only that, but Apple is simply ignoring its customers and not even addressing the issue. 200+ new features in iOS5? How about bringing back the ability to play music? That would be awesome, but it's not the case unfortunately. I'm going to see if there is any type of overclocking or CPU scaling app to test my theory for sure.

Just got a Brand new Nissan qashqai, with ipod connect system. Ipod 4g with latest software and guess what?.. Irritating popping and crackling noises! Any more ideas anyone?

Like eclipse01 wrote... Rebooting the device while connected to the car has worked for me. Since then I haven't had to do anything to it. It's works perfectly every time. Kinda weird, but I'm not complaining.

wow, I was beginning to wonder if anyone saw my post.

Hey everyone! If anyone is still having this problem, I have the fix!

I was just outside testing most of the theories in this topic.

Things that don't work:-

• New cords,
• new head units,
• new software,
• going into aeroplane mode,
• sound check mode,
• new car,

1 of 3 things work:-

1. Get a new device (ipod, ipad, usb etc. the phone won't work),
2. hold down the standby button until it goes to the "slide to turn off screen" and leave it there,
3. turn off the device and restart it.

Just thought I would clarify to tell people exactly what works and what doesn't!

Thanks for the quick reply. Connecting the ipod before turning it on appears to do the trick!

Cheers Guys

I'm glad I'm not the only one having this problem. Running 5.0.1 on an iPhone 4 here, connected to a Ford Fiesta using USB. And yes, the crackling sound is still there. Connecting the phone through Bluetooth seems to do the trick for me, not exactly a fix, but it has fewer cracklings.

I'm gonna try the workarounds posted here and see if any of them worked.

This may not be the place to bring this up, as this is an iOS forum, but I am a windows user 😮 and am experiencing the same thing. First, this is a problem for me on both Windows 7 and Vista. It is a problem with Itunes ONLY - Windows Media Player plays the identical tracks on the identical machine perfectly. I prefer Itunes because it has better remote control through Remote on my ipod touch (see, I'm not such a bad person after all!).

I went through a full blown troubleshooting episode a year ago and thought I had solved the problem. It had to do with an acknowledged bug in Windows that put multiple instances of an audio control piece of code on the system. I cleaned that up and the problem went away.

Yesterday it came back. Exactly the same sound issues, only on ITunes, not on Windows Media Player.

Sigh. Just thought you'd like to know.