I don't know the reason for the popping/cracking sound but suggest you check in Device Manager for the current audio driver version and then see whether there is an updated driver on the Support page for your model.
I don't know the reason for the popping/cracking sound but suggest you check in Device Manager for the current audio driver version and then see whether there is an updated driver on the Support page for your model.
I’m grasping at straws here but has this problem only recently occurred? If so try rolling back the audio driver just in case an update has caused the problem.
This is beginning to sound like a hardware problem and I suggest that you contact Support sooner rather than later for a possible repair. Although this doesn’t seem to be a great problem at the moment it may get worse after your warranty has expired.
Of recent years Realtek audio hardware does seem to have been preferred by Sony Vaio. I have had a number of machines using Realtek audio (Sony and otherwise) and have not experienced any problems. Also I don’t remember any other posts referring to this problem so possibly a one off hardware issue?
Any repair under warranty would depend on the fault. The problem may rest with the audio chip or another component rather than the speakers, so impossible to say what repair would be carried out.
