AX510 and AC511 Soundbars Make Crackling Noises When a Microphone Equipped Headset is Plugged into the Headphone Jacks

You may experience a crackling noise when you connect your headset to the headphone jacks of the Dell AX510 or AC511 soundbars (Figure 1).

Figure 1

The headsets work correctly when connected to the multifunction jack of the computer.

The soundbar is working as designed. This happens because of incompatible hardware being connected to the soundbar. (Microphone equipped headset with TRRS jack)

The headphone jacks of the AX510 and AC511 soundbars are designed to accept a stereo jack that is known as a TRS connector. This connector has two insulator rings separating the left, right, and ground contacts of the jack (See the center image in Figure 2).

Figure 2

Headsets with a microphone have a TRRS jack (left jack in image above). The additional segment is the microphone connector causes feedback (noise, crackle, so forth) when inserted into a TRS connector.

If you have further questions about this article, contact Dell Technical Support.