Audio Keeps Popping / Cutting Out Randomly

[Duox]

Hey all,

I'm loving my car despite a handful of issues. However, this is the most annoying by far. The audio will randomly cut out for half second, usually accompanied by an audio pop. It happens more after a couple minutes of driving and playing music, but the car doesn't need to be moving. At first I assumed this was an Android Auto glitch, so I ran audio just through Bluetooth, still occurred. At this point I figured it could just be my phone, so I connected an MP3 player to the AUX port, and it still happened. So I can now rule out the device playing the music, the interface, bluetooth, Android Auto, etc., everything but the car stereo itself. At this point, what could it be? I will have to take it into the shop, rip out the stereo / infotainment, and see if its faulty wiring or a bad unit. Unless there's some other "known issue" that causes this.

 

[fastestneon]

Is everything still stock.. Didn't change speakers out or anything?

 

[Duox]

Is everything still stock.. Didn't change speakers out or anything?

Yep, all stock. Nothing in the car has been touched.

 

[Berzerker]

Definitely not common, take it to the dealer.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Did you try USB sourced music yet? That is direct connection, hardware to software; no "outside source" about it.

 

[G-519211]

Yep, I've tried everything. All things are causing it.

 

[Duox]

Update time:

I take it into the dealership for the radio issue and sunroof rattle. I show the staff there the radio issue in a ride along. They noticed the one pop in our 10+min drive. (My commute is 40 minutes each way, so i hear it about 8 times a day). We leave it at the dealership for 6 hours, and they come back to tell me there's nothing they can do, and they filed an issue with Kia corporate. I was pretty upset at the time, but it felt pretty hopeless. They mentioned I can swing by any time it gets worse, and that "we have time to work it out over the life of the warranty", which granted is long, but to go tens of thousands of miles with the issue just to wait for the issue to get worse is ridiculous in my mind.

Is there anything I can do? I will try another Kia dealership and see if they're less awful, but its so stupid for this to be an issue.

 

[NIU_Huskies]

Is there anything I can do? I will try another Kia dealership and see if they're less awful, but its so stupid for this to be an issue.

The pop very well could be related to the amplifiers. Maybe you have a defective amplifier.

 

[Duox]

The pop very well could be related to the amplifiers. Maybe you have a defective amplifier.

How could I diagnose this? If it a bad amplifier, would the problem become more apparent with louder volume?

 

[NIU_Huskies]

How could I diagnose this? If it a bad amplifier, would the problem become more apparent with louder volume?

The audio cutting out for a short bit and then a popping noise sounds to me like the power to the amplifier is cutting out and then powering back up and because the "source" (your receiver) is still on then you get the pop noise. Your receiver should be turning on and off your amplifier. So you could have a defective amplifier or a bad or loss connection between your receiver and amplifier.

How to Fix Amp / Speaker Turn On / Turn Off Pop

 

[ebbebb91]

I have the same problem. Sound will make popping noises regardless of what source I'm using. Sometimes it's frequent and other times I won't ever hear it. Going to go over the speaker wiring tomorrow in my GT2. Oddly enough hitting bumps in the road makes the popping less frequent so I can only assume it's a bad wire connection somewhere. Hopefully it's in the trunk area.

 

[noogahz]

I had audio issues but I re-connected my amp and that seemed to fix the initial quality I was having issues with. However, I do hear the audio from time to time cutting out for a second or so (not sure if this is bluetooth or an audio system issue) but would like to see if anyone else has this issue?

For example ... listening to a song ... *cuts out for 1 second* goes back to the song... (only like once on certain songs? ...hard to explain)

 

[Duox]

I'm convinced it is my amp! It happens more at louder volumes, and after some loud music has been played, so it's perhaps an overheating amp or something. I can get it to happen more if I play louder music for my drive, it'll pop consistently. I'll upload a video of it happening every 10 seconds here soon.

 

[Stingerfreak]

Hi everyone,
I had the same problem on my Stinger GT 3.3L AWD canadian model. By the end , the sound could cut like 10 times in 1 min., I was about to get crazy. They tried to replace de radio, amplifier and everything that was connected to the radio, nothing worked. So the dealer contacted Kia technical assitance.

This issue is caused by an interference in the SPDIF wire signel between the amplifier and the Radio. SPIDF wire are very sensitive to interference. To fix this issue, the car was sent to Kia regional office, and they replace de SPIDF wire. The tech support that worked on my car told me, that the factory grounded the wire at two different places, so the shield that protect the signal from interference wasn't reliable.
He also told me that they had a few Stinger with this problem and they all replace the SPDIF wire signal too fix it.

From now on, everythings fine. I had this fixed 10 month ago.

Hope this will help you.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hi everyone,
I had the same problem on my Stinger GT 3.3L AWD canadian model. By the end , the sound could cut like 10 times in 1 min., I was about to get crazy. They tried to replace de radio, amplifier and everything that was connected to the radio, nothing worked. So the dealer contacted Kia technical assitance.

This issue is caused by an interference in the SPDIF wire signel between the amplifier and the Radio. SPIDF wire are very sensitive to interference. To fix this issue, the car was sent to Kia regional office, and they replace de SPIDF wire. The tech support that worked on my car told me, that the factory grounded the wire at two different places, so the shield that protect the signal from interference wasn't reliable.
He also told me that they had a few Stinger with this problem and they all replace the SPDIF wire signal too fix it.

From now on, everythings fine. I had this fixed 10 month ago.

Hope this will help you.

Welcome to the forum. That was a great way to announce your presence. Be sure to tell us more about yourself and your car.

 

[Duox]

Hi everyone,
I had the same problem on my Stinger GT 3.3L AWD canadian model. By the end , the sound could cut like 10 times in 1 min., I was about to get crazy. They tried to replace de radio, amplifier and everything that was connected to the radio, nothing worked. So the dealer contacted Kia technical assitance.

This issue is caused by an interference in the SPDIF wire signel between the amplifier and the Radio. SPIDF wire are very sensitive to interference. To fix this issue, the car was sent to Kia regional office, and they replace de SPIDF wire. The tech support that worked on my car told me, that the factory grounded the wire at two different places, so the shield that protect the signal from interference wasn't reliable.
He also told me that they had a few Stinger with this problem and they all replace the SPDIF wire signal too fix it.

From now on, everythings fine. I had this fixed 10 month ago.

Hope this will help you.

Thank you so much!! I will mention this thing first thing to the dealer, which I just so happen to be meeting tomorrow. You're a hero.

 

[Stingerfreak]

Thank you so much!! I will mention this thing first thing to the dealer, which I just so happen to be meeting tomorrow. You're a hero.

Hey Duox,

I join a audio file if you want to compare.

Goodluck tomorrow !

 

[Duox]

Hey Duox,

I join a audio file if you want to compare.

Goodluck tomorrow !

That's exactly my issue. I've got a video recorded that shows just that.

 

[MerlintheMad]

That's exactly my issue. I've got a video recorded that shows just that.

I hear YouTube do that from my laptop. I bet it isn't the car's "fault". But, of course, there could be a list of possible causes for cutting out, including being the car's fault. Does it do this with ClariFi OFF and listening to USB sourced music?