Strange popping sound in my nest mini

[limuremu]

Hello, I’ve just got my best mini about a month ago, and it’s been great so far. That being said, in the past week I’ve been hearing this sort or popping or cracking sound, similar to what you would hear if you had dust on a vinyl record and tried to play it. I haven’t heard it happen when the assistant is responding to me, but they don’t happen on a schedule or anything, more randomly. I’ve unplugged it and plugged it back in, rebooted it through the Home app, and tried plugging it into a different outlet. I’m pretty sure it’s not my wifi, and I’d like to avoid a factory reset if possible but I’m running out of options. Any help?

[Juni · Accepted solution]

Hi folks,

Our team is already aware of this and currently investigating this issue. Since this is the same discussion, we'll move this conversation to the main thread and we'll continue to update it as soon as we have some news to share.

Please note that once done this thread will be locked.

Regards,

Juni

[MTeliska]

I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but ever since I mentioned buying Amazon echo dots all my speaker groups have been removed from my Spotify interesting. 

[marcolopes]

I have been testing the devices on both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz WiFi Bands to no avail (the problem was gone for the first 12-24 hours after the reset and reconfiguration of the devices on the Google Home app, but that's about it!)

Conclusions until now:

- It's been happening for 3+ YEARS with no official position of GOOGLE about the causes (Software, Hardware)

- Happens when playing (streaming) media from Spotify AND YouTube Music (at least!) directly from the devices

- Happens to devices connected to 5Ghz AND/OR 2.4Ghz WiFi bands, REGARDLESS of the WiFi auto CHANNEL option (i tried this several times, changing to a FIXED channel - to avoid interruptions of auto negotiation - to NO avail!)

- Happens with the ULTRASOUND SENSOR option ON or OFF!

Questions that customers would like to see answered:

- What are GOOGLE conclusion this far? What are the most probable causes for this problem?

- Was there a FIX (or any try to fix) in the paste that resolved this for a period of time (and the problem got reintroduced because of legal need to revert firmware code - ex: SONOS lawsuit)?

- Does it affect ALL NEST / NEST mini devices?

What can we do?

- Contact customer support and OPEN a TICKET (that will stay open untill this is resolved)

- Keep sending FEEDBACK thorugh the devices ("Hey Google, send feedback" followed by "random / constant popping noise when playing music" or something similar)

- Share this problem on SOCIAL MEDIA, Hardware magazines, Blogs, etc.

[Hmm_8888]

Noobs et al. Stop asking for updates.

Should the issue be resolved we'll post.

[marcolopes]

On the contrary!!! We should be very active ASKING for a clarification on this PROBLEM!

And WE all should reach for third-parties that have interest and technical knowledge to INVESTIGATE and reach a conclusion. If the conclusion is a HARDWARE fault, i will return all my GOOGLE NEST mini under warranty (3 years in Europe!)

[marcolopes]

UPDATE on TESTING:

- Problem DOES NOT HAPPEN to the RIGHT speaker when PAIRED in STEREO!

I assume that the "master" speaker (LEFT) connects to the "slave" (RIGHT) via Bluetooth. Can anyone confirm this?

Well, this opens another can of worms! I Data is received LOSSLESS (WiFi) by the LEFT Speaker, and sent to the RIGHT one with the AAC CODEC? (yes, the Google Nest Mini DOES NOT support LOSSLESS LDAC CODEC!!) https://gadgetguideonline.com/ghome/how-to-connect-google-home-to-a-bluetooth-speaker/

I also checked this myself on my TABLET Bluetooth AUDIO CODEC INFO when connected to the minis...

Conclusions!

1) The POPPING can't be a hardware fault, or it would show up in the RIGHT Speaker

2) The streaming data is being received with ERRORS that show up in the LEFT Speaker (or solo device) as NOISE, and don't show up in the RIGHT Speaker because the the data is being CORRECTED by the AAC CODEC (this coded supports error correction)?

[pluri]

I noticed this:

I had my Nest Mini paired to an external third party stereo speaker via Bluetooth and I was listening to music (TuneIn in my case). In such a way, the sound is coming only from the external third party stereo speaker while the speaker of the Mini is silent.

The playback on the third party stereo speaker was flawless while I heard the random popping from the Nest Mini internal speaker.

This tells that the Nest Mini is getting a continuous and correct stream of data from WiFi , it is processing it and forwarding it correctly via bluetooth but there is something wrong in the process that drives its internal speaker.

Note that the even when paired with an external bluetooth speaker the Nest Mini still uses its internal speaker to reply to question and commands.

[marcolopes]

This does not mean that the Mini is processing it correctly, because in this case, the Mini receives the RAW LOSSLESS data through WiFi and then retransmits the data through COMPRESSED LOSSY Bluetooth AUDIO (and the CODEC used could be error correcting the stream)

[pluri]

I used this configuration for several days,  on the external third party stereo speaker I listen to a music stream at a good volume level but still I never heard any single pop or any other little audio glitch.
At the same time, the Nest Mini internal speaker is randomly popping (as usual).

So, even if the Bluetooth CODEC may be so good at correcting errors in the original stream from the WiFi (in my experience usually a lossy encoding of corrupted data make it even worse), why shall the internal speaker of the Mini, that is not playing the music stream, still pop in case of corrupted stream data from WiFi ?

Also the kind of "pop" is not the usual noise that we are used to hear when a digital stream is interrupted or corrupted.

In any case, Google is apparently doing nothing about that issue ... I see two possibilities:

- The issue cannot be solved by fw. update
- They just don't care.

In both cases they may just want to give us the illusion that they are working on the issue to keep us quiet, wait for the warranty to expire and maybe drop this line of products sometime in the near future.

I hope to be wrong but in the meantime I will keep this in mind when buying other devices or services from this company.

[marcolopes]

I understand... but several users here made extensive testing also, and this cannot be a HARDWARE fault (at least  related to the AUDIO chips: DAC, Digital AMP, etc) because the Mini DOES NOT POP when you are playing sounds that are not being "streamed" from a Music provider like Spotify or YouTube Music.

Try asking the device to play relaxing sounds... it will use some other source (google servers?) to play some nature relaxing sounds, and it will not pop anytime...

This is what puzzles me!

[pluri]

I agree, also to me the issue seems not caused by hardware because in that case I would expect it to get worse as time passes and finally completely fail.

I never tried playing  relaxing sounds, I see another member that reported that the pops are present also in "sounds to sleep", not sure if they are the same as relaxing sounds.
I'm trying this on my side, so far, after 10 minutes of water sound, no issues.

These relaxing sounds seems repetitive so maybe they are not really streamed, it is possible that an audio file is downloaded once and then replayed in loop from the Nest Mini memory, but that's just my clueless guess.

Maybe the streaming causes too much load on the processor and this in turn some time create a glitch in the control of the DAC... the DAC is not involved in the Bluetooth transmission of the streamed music to an external speaker, so that may explain why there I have no pops.

It is also strange that the issue is the same for every different streaming source: Spotify, YouTube Music, TuneIn ... I have no idea if the Nest Mini connects directly to the providers or if all the streaming are distributed by the same Google Servers.

[tsengf]

In a previous post, I mentioned that when I stream to the mini from Logitech Media Server on my local network, I also hear the pops.

All of my minis were working fine, then one day, *all* of them started exhibiting the pops. Let's call it a firmware issue because there exist some state that enabled the minis to function without pops.

[marcolopes]

This is another fact that puzzles me! ("All of my minis were working fine, then one day, *all* of them started exhibiting the pops.") - i cannot say the same, because i only have 3 (they were 4 - one returned) Nest Minis for about 2 months, and they "popped" since day 1!

I already mentioned this here... and if this checks out, there will be a lot more involved to resolve this problem!!! (Static pop noise with JBL Link 20 Speaker logged in With a Deco M9) https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/175010

NOTE: I don't have extenders (well, i have, but they are boxed) and the ONLY WiFi source for all the devices is the ISP Router.

[pluri]

I do not have a TP Link router / WiFi access point and I believe that the issue with the Nest Mini "pop noise" is affecting people from all around the world that are using many different brands and models of router / WiFi access point and that have completely different internet providers and connectivity (I am on FTTC).

I have the Nest Mini a couple of meters from the WiFi access point (same room) and it is getting a pretty strong 5GHz signal.

The  router / WiFi access point has the only role to provide a continuous and error free stream of data from the remote server to the  Nest Mini, it is doing nothing to the "sound" quality. As all streaming player, the Nest Mini has a local buffer to cope with a certain amount of discontinuity in the received data flow.
Issues in the sound replay can be caused by interruptions or data corruption due to connectivity problems on the server side (internet connection) or on the WiFi link, but generally they are never so consistent in duration like the pop sound that we hear from the Nest Mini.
As said above, because I get a flawless reproduction when the Nest Mini sends the audio stream to an external Bluetooth speaker, I'm pretty sure that the issue is not caused by a loss of data from the server to the Nest Mini passing through WiFi.

... no more feedback from Google ... the conclusion is that they just don't care about this issue/product.

[marcolopes]

I understand ALL that! I'm one of the most interested in resolving this problem, and did intensive testing that i reported here.

All i was stating is that there is a SIMILAR problem on other device BRAND that is related to the WiFi infrastrucute!

We can debate all we want that is ILOGICAL (i can't find a reason for that to happen also!) BUT it happened in that concrete scenario!!! So... Wonders never cease!

[pluri]

If WiFi infrastructure has issues this will not allow a reliable data transfer. This will impact basically all services that requires a reliable data transfer like video streaming, web conference a so on.

At least in my case I have no issues in streaming a 4k video or to listen to a music stream on my PC or Android TV, so my WiFi infrastructure shall be more than OK to reliably stream just an audio stream for the Nest Mini.

Moreover, because the Nest Mini can forward a flawless audio stream from WiFi to an external Bluetooth speaker, an issue with the WiFi transmission is 99.999% ruled out.

The fact that other unrelated brands of speakers have similar (how similar I really don't know, they say "crackling sounds" not "pops") and that "apparently" this is due to WiFi doesn't mean that the WiFi is causing the issues with Nest Mini.

Any device that is accessing a streaming has a memory buffer to cope with little interruptions or retransmissions on the Internet / WiFi links.  The Nest Mini has a buffer of curse (if you discontent the WiFi it will continue to play for few seconds). When the interruptions are too large or data is corrupted the streaming may interrupt or  you can get "crackling sounds".
I never had a perfect streaming with isolated random pops.

The situation may be more complex when multiple speakers are configured to play simultaneously the same stream, here the management of latency is more important and certain WiFi access points / routers may have issues.

However the issue with the Nest Mini happens also with a sigle speaker playing.

If there was a suspect of this type I think that Google would have already reported to customers that the issue was in their WiFi and not in the speaker.

[marcolopes]

Again?? Have you read the Thread that i posted?

You can elaborate all you want (and i mostly agree... it's NONSENSE!) but it HAPPENS on that specific WiFi network with that brand of repeaters! Go wonder! (users say that they don't experience the popping otherwise).

NOT saying that this is/ could be the reason in the Nest Mini...

When someone tells me that the popping STARTED when there was a CHANGE in the network (a HOME change usually = ISP change / Router Change / WiFi infrastructure change) then, i must wonder WHAT CHANGED!!! Right?

This is DEBUG 101! It was OK... changed HOME... it's NOT OK! Surely is not landscape dependant! 😄

[pluri]

Sorry but I do not understand your logic. I read the thread that you linked but it is not related to the Google Nest Mini in a generic setup but to a different brand and model of speaker (JBL) and to a specific type of of WiFi mesh/repeater system (Deco M9 from TP-Link). Moreover the issue seems related to multi-speaker configurations and there is no evidence that the kind of pop noise is the same, they talk about a  "crackling sounds" that is more common when the WiFi signal is poor and connectivity is lost. It is very likely that there is an incompatibility between the JBL speaker and the Deco M9 mesh system from TP-Link but the issue with the Nest Mini is more general.

My case: I have two Nest Mini 2nd gen for more than two years now. I would say that in the first year or so I never heard such random pop noise (and I used a lot the speaker for music streaming), then at a certain point in time, I started to have the random pop noise issue on both speakers.

First I noticed the issue on one of the Nest Mini (the one that I use more frequently), at that time I thought it had an hardware failure ... later on I paid more attention and noticed the same issue also on the the second one.

In my case I do not have TP-Link WiFi router/repeater, I do not have a mesh WiFi , no repeaters and nothing changed in the setup of my Internet and WiFi connection ... so we have a lot of people all around the world with different ISP, different brand and type of WiFi router/access point, all have in common only the Google Nest Mini with a pop noise issue and you say that maybe the issue is in the WiFi ???

[marcolopes]

I'm NOT saying it is! I'm showing you that possibility, because it happened in that specific situation.

Anyway, this is a problem that dates from 3 years ago!!!

Was if fixed and came back? Why?

Some point out that this started to happen when Google lost the lawsuit against SONOS and had to make changes in the streaming firmware! https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/26/23739273/google-sonos-smart-speaker-patent-lawsuit-ruling

Maybe Google started to make changes to the firmware back in 2020/2021 (after the legal battle started) and that's why the problems started 3/4 years ago!

If that's the case, we will never see this problem resolved, because Google can't use the SONOS know how on this matter, and it's not 3 years after that they will spend the resources to do their own "flawless" implementation...

[pluri]

It is possible that the issue was present already 3 years ago but in my case the issue only started about 1 year ago after 1 year of smooth usage.

Are you telling that Google, if they just want, have not the resources and competence to implement / debug a proper firmware to simply stream audio ? Will they only be able to do so using technology from SONOS ? We are not talking about a space travel to Mars or to implement a high end AI ... it is very basic audio streaming technology that is around for many years, if audio streaming was such a huge difficult task what about 4k video streaming ?

I see here people that switched from the Nest to Alexa and they solved the issue ... so who is the culprit ?

To me it seems that Google just don't care about these products because likely they are not getting a significant profit from them.

There are already a lot of products and services that they have shut down for this reason.

Apart the issue in the audio streaming, can we say that they are investing to improve the capability of the Nest Assistant to better understand questions and provide more useful information ?
To me this seems not the case, the features are the same since 2 years and I can't count the times that I get stupid replies and it is almost impossible to just set an alarm without repeating 5 times the command.

Or maybe they simply do not have the culture to listen to complaints from the users. 
I can think of several other cases in other products/services from Google where there are stupid issues that they simply don't care to solve (e.g. Gmail not managing wrap of text correctly).

I'm not saying that competitors are better ... it is quite common to have bad support from big companies.

[marcolopes]

Yes! I'm saying just that (it's a FACT!!!)

GOOGLE doesn't seem to REALLY care about this issue! They are AWARE OF IT for YEARS and did NOTHING! ZERO feedback!

They just don't care! (because i agree with you... they have the resources to FIX if they want... they just don't want to allocate the resources! And now they are laying down people, including the Google Assistant "core" team: https://www.investopedia.com/google-lays-off-hundreds-of-workers-across-its-assistant-ar-and-devices...)

I say that because the whole ecosystem is a MESS!

I started to use it 2 months ago, first thing i noticed was THIS problem!

Then... well, then... THE TERROR that is to misconfigure any device! HELL on earth!

I can MESS up the configuration in a number of ways that it's almost mind-blowing!

Problems everywhere, not to mention automation, that is ONLY available in some languages... and it depends on the language the GOOGLE HOME app is... and the app depends on the language the SYSTEM has!!!! Totally NONSENSE! I even removed the app, changed the system language to ENGLISH, reinstalled the APP, it was ok! As soon as i changed the system language, the app REVERTED to the new system language! Really GOOGLE?? Really?

Don't get me started talking abou 10 different ways to MESS up a STEREO PAIR!!! How about the STEREO devices (almost consecutive SERIAL numbers!) NOT being updated BOTH to the same firmware?? (and what are the consequences of that? Imagine the most recent firmware resolves this issue!! Will we have one channel POPPING and the other NOT??) https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Google-Nest-Mini-firmware-384934/m-p/57...

This community is full of problems that made the whole ecosystem useless...

EDIT: I have a support ticket opened about this issue... after 2 MONTHS of back and forth they told me better way to deal with this is to replace the device(s)? (WITH WHAT????) . So guess what... they sent me a LINK to OPEN ANOTHER TICKET!!! Are you kidding me???

GOOGLE NEST ecosystem is... dying!

[marcolopes]

Yes, i came to the same conclusion ("it is possible that an audio file is downloaded once and then replayed in loop from the Nest Mini memory")

About the streaming, Google reveals nothing about tech details...

[batsmith]

Just started to notice these popping sound on a few of mine

My main comment isn't about the problem, but about the answers

I had a totally different problem on a home speaker about 18 months ago. The conversation went on and on but only ever offered banalities, requests for ever more data and "hopefully" everywhere

The main google responder was a "Muddi"

I think Google is just playing with you via an AI bot

I'll just wait until it stops or doesn't

These google complaints boards are just to keep users feeling something is being done

It isn't 

[marcolopes]

Well, if we keep this thread active and continue disclosing this PROLBEMS to the MEDIA, maybe many other users will follow and send all their devices BACK under warranty...

I now have 3 of these Google Nest Mini, and will send them back at some point if google does nothing about it!

Someone in the technical teams should have perfect understanding of what's going on / whats causing this absolutely annoying popping noises!

[Hmm_8888]

I suggest sending them back now, if you can (full refund). Don't wait for a fix which won't likely happen at all.

[Hmm_8888]

---

@marcolopes wrote:

Well, if we keep this thread active and continue disclosing this PROLBEMS to the MEDIA, maybe many other users will follow and send all their devices BACK under warranty...

I now have 3 of these Google Nest Mini, and will send them back at some point if google does nothing about it!

Someone in the technical teams should have perfect understanding of what's going on / whats causing this absolutely annoying popping noises!

---

These issues aren't severe or serious enough for the media to give a hoot. However, you're on the right track though. Voice your concerns online, such as YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit. Online forums such as this and individual sites were once popular many decades ago. Unfortunately, these three social platforms have the most viewers. 

At the very least @Muddi can remove the "recommend answer" from the main post and tag this issue as unsolved/open. Or better yet, open up a new thread and link to here. 

[marcolopes]

Why do you insist in opening another thread??

[Hmm_8888]

I don't insist on anything.

This thread is marked as having a solution which is why, in part, I feel there is no more interaction by the Google team and ranting about it isn't going to bring them back especially if it's a bot who's replying. All they see is " go to answer" which I already previously stated.

[marcolopes]

Ok. I understand. This should NOT been marked as answered, because there is no final conclusion whatsoever.

I will try to report this and ask this thread as NOT answered...

[Hmm_8888]

@batsmith 

The main google responder was a "Muddi" I think Google is just playing with you via an AI bot

I think you're right. 

[tsengf]

Muddi appears to be active in other threads. Is it against rules to contact her through the other threads for her response to this topic?

[marcolopes]

It won't matter! They now NOTHING about this type of problems!

Only a tech team will know, and even the TICKET support says nothing relevant about this, except "we are aware and will give feedback as soon as there is a fix"! - THIS is going on for 3 YEARS!

Even if this is correctable, they will NOT disclose anything until then.

If this is HARDWARE related (doesn't seem like it - see my previous posts) they will NEVER say anything!

So, my suggestion is that we all reach Audio / Hardware maganizes / sites, Online reviewers, etc, and ask them to analyse / write articles about this PROBLEM!

[Hmm_8888]

@tsengf 

I'm not aware of any rules, but I did contact her in another thread within the last month and she came back and replied here, I think, giving the usual canned and scripted response.

This "forum" layout I feel is intentionally unintuitive and very difficult to follow. Similarly, some mobile phone providers use the same forum software too, and as you can imagine most of the time issues remain unresolved and frustrations are common.

I don't think there's anything stopping you from replying to one of her threads and use the @Muddi format to draw her attention (back to this thread). 

Whether @Muddi is a bot or real person, they can convey our concerns back to tech support.

Muddi can also remove the "go to answer" on top of this thread because there is no answer  but continually contacting Google Tech support. 

[Yorkshireguy]

Just purchased nest mini to update old mini speaker and popping started straight away when playing music . Turned of ultra setting and the pooping not as loud . Is there a fix a? 

[marcolopes]

Turning off ultrasound setting resolves nothing!

Changing WiFi bands (2.4 <-> 5Ghz) resolves nothing!

Changing the WiFi Channel Settings (fixed, auto, etc) resolves nothing!

[marcolopes]

No! Not for 3 YEARS!

Keep sending FEEDBACK trough the device "Hey google, send feedback"

[DirkGG]

I'm having the same issues. I replaced my Nest Mini with a Nest Audio because I thought the Mini was getting faulty. Unfortunately the Audio has the same issue. Ther pops and cracks arent that loud, but are distracting when studying or listening to music. I'm highly considering the Sonos One or Sonos Era 100 coming black friday events.. 

[Sebastián]

I have the same problem with all my 3 Nest Mini v2 since 3 months ago.

System Firmware: 375114

Cast Firmware: 2.57.375114

[marcolopes]

Check this out... https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Mac/Crackling-Clipping-Noise-on-Macbook/td-p/5016088

[DirkGG]

could be a proper solution. Though, I'm having the issues on YTM, Spotify and Tune-in. Casting sources are my desktop Windows PC, android phone and I tried my iPhone 12 from work.. All have the same crack/pop every now and then. 

[Hmm_8888]

@DirkGG 

Just unplugging your mini or ignoring the popping could also be the "proper" solution, too.

It's unfortunate  you failed to read through this entire thread to realize that disabling the ultra sensing is NOT a solution of any sorts.