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Audio crackling with slacker - sounds different from FM to Slacker

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Let me start out by saying: 1) LOVE THIS CAR! 2) I am NOT an audiophile.

With that said, I first noticed a crackling sound coming from the front passenger side speaker. Thought it might be a rip in the speaker or a bad speaker or something. Well. With further tinkering, I have not noticed it when listening to FM. Only Slacker. Whick makes me think it is a software issue. Furthermore, the sound is hard to fade so it feels all around. Seems like it is all in the front, so I shift it to the back (almost al the way.. like 13) to get that true balance sound. But. when I switch to FM, it is way off, and need to move the fade to about 7 or 8. Anyone else noticing that Slacker is giving a crackle sound? or having the fade/balance discrepencies like I am?
 
I have this exact same problem. Only with Internet radio and flash/USB drive - not XM Radio or FM. I sent this to my service rep and got this response:

2) Internet radio has a strange crackling sound. – Try to perform a MCU reset by pressing down the two scroll wheels on the steering wheel. If that does not work, it may be a signal issue. We can take a look at it if the reset doesn’t work when we replace your door handle.
 
I think the crackling sound from the front passenger speakers must be a non speaker based problem. I have been unable to reproduce the sound while listening to FM either. I imagine Tesla could fix it if they were aware it is a system wide problem. Does anyone not notice that sound when streaming from Internet stations? I think this problem is more common than people recognize.
 
This happens to me on USB and Slacker. Most of my USB files come from Amazon MP3 which isn't the best. Seems to be with midrange sounds coming from the front of the car.

I informed Tesla of the problem but still haven't setup a time to have many of my due list items taken care of.

I wonder if it has to do with quality of the audio source and the software. I plan on trying very high quality sound files and see if it still occurs. If it does not occur, it may be that SAT is good enough to not produce the sound and FM won't provide full 5.1. This would indicate a software issue that could be patched in the future. If it does occur with both, it may be a midrange speaker problem that requires a hardware fix.
 
Let me start out by saying: 1) LOVE THIS CAR! 2) I am NOT an audiophile.

With that said, I first noticed a crackling sound coming from the front passenger side speaker. Thought it might be a rip in the speaker or a bad speaker or something. Well. With further tinkering, I have not noticed it when listening to FM. Only Slacker. Whick makes me think it is a software issue. Furthermore, the sound is hard to fade so it feels all around. Seems like it is all in the front, so I shift it to the back (almost al the way.. like 13) to get that true balance sound. But. when I switch to FM, it is way off, and need to move the fade to about 7 or 8. Anyone else noticing that Slacker is giving a crackle sound? or having the fade/balance discrepencies like I am?

Thank you all for bringing this up. I thought it was a speaker. I tried to replicate the problem by playing the same music again but it wasn't repeatable.
After that I thought I was going crazy. I tried Dolby & sans Dolby.

The Dolby has improved a bit with a recent update for stereo recordings via Slacker but I haven't tested it with a good source yet. The improvements might be more significant than what I noticed with Slacker, so I will cut it some slack until I know different.

Now I see that I am in good company. I have audiophile ears but I don't have a grasp on audio engineering lingo.

I'm really looking forward to the Premium Sound getting optimized. I have heard some improvements trickle in here and there with updates but we are not quite there yet.
 
+1

Crackling sound from front right speaker with playing Slacker or USB stick.
No problem with iPhone Bluetooth or FM radio (HD or analog).

Shifting balance all the way left clears up issue.
Shifting fader all the way back clears up issue.

I assumed it was a speaker problem.
A ranger is supposed to replace the speaker on Thursday, but if there's a software fix, that would certainly be preferable.
 
a couple of comments: thought 4.3 would fix it.. nope. Maybe 4.4 will (this is what my Ranger told me). At first I thought the crackling was coming from the front right, but with some moving the fade/balance, I can also get it to do the crackling out the back sound bar.

Let us know if replacing thespeaker does anything.. or if anyone else has thoughts on this.
 
I noticed this crackling too from the first time I got in the car. It is specific to Internet radio, does not occur with FM or bluetooth music from my phone. With fade & balance adjustment, I can get the same crackling from all speakers too.
Tesla aware, sent a ranger first, he noted that it was specific to internet music. They just had my car for several small issues and when they gave it back, they said they expect the crackling to be fixed in the 4.5 update.

I hope they figure out why Dolby doesn't work too. Seems like multiple glitches in the studio sound upgrade. I love listening to music as I drive, but it ruins the experience with the crackling, lack of bass from the rear speakers, and weak sound from multiple rear speakers.