How to fix Sound Crackling issue in Modern Warfare 2

On October 28, Activision released the highly anticipated Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 after a week of early access for those who pre-ordered the title. While the official launch was a success in terms of popularity and player count, the game was ridden with annoying bugs, stutters, glitches, and more during release. One of the most reported problems is related to in-game audio, which causes the sound to crackle or stutter and creates confusion.

Modern Warfare 2 represents a new era in the popular action first-person franchise, with its visuals and mechanics reflecting Activision's futuristic intentions. Every Call of Duty fan knows the importance of in-game sound in the action-FPS genre. Audio not only creates an immersive experience, but is also related to tactical implementation.

Many bugs reported during Modern Warfare 2's launch continue to give fans a hard time. That said, Inifinity Ward is presently working to fix as many reported issues as possible. In the meantime, players are relying on user-suggested workarounds to fix some issues in the game. Thankfully, there are a few ways to deal with the 'sound crackling' issue in Modern Warfare 2.

Here's how you can fix the 'sound crackling' issue in Modern Warfare 2

This issue could potentially be related to system errors on the player's side of things. Before going into extensive troubleshooting steps, check whether you are using the audio device as intended. If wired, make sure that your headset is connected properly to the system. If wireless, try reconnecting your headset to the system (pair and unpair).

There is one fix that players have reported to be successful in case of a 'sound crackling' issue in Modern Warfare 2 on PC. You will be required to change the sample rate and bit depth associated with your audio device settings. Here's how you can do so:

On the taskbar, right-click on the Speaker icon near the Notification area.
Select Sound settings.
On Windows 10, click on Sound control on the right side of the tab. On Windows 11, scroll down and select the More sound settings instead.
Right-click on the audio device that you are using for Modern Warfare 2 and select Properties.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Open the drop-down menu for Channel and Bit and select the 48000 Hz option.
You can use the Test option to check if things sound good. When ready, save and exit the window. Launch the game and check whether the sound crackling issue is still present.

If the aforementioned workaround doesn't provide a favorable outcome, try the following:

[PC] Disable and enable the audio device you are using. To do so, open the Sound settings as mentioned in the earlier workaround, and navigate to the Playback tab. Right-click on an empty area and make sure ‘Show Disabled Devices’ and ‘Show Connected Devices’ are selected. Right-click on the audio device and select Disable. Now, right-click again and select Enable.
Try using a different audio device. According to reports, the issue may be limited to certain headsets only.
Make sure to update the game to the latest version. Infinity Ward has released a few post-launch patches containing important fixes.
Ensure that Windows is updated to the latest version. In the case of consoles, make sure to complete all firmware updates.

Currently, Modern Warfare 2 has a fair number of bugs and problems that the developers are looking into. Nevertheless, the game's prevailing audio crackling issue is a bug that requires official attention. Other than the aforementioned workarounds, there isn't much that a player can do at the moment.