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?

[Muddi · Accepted solution]

Hi folks,

I understand that the issue with the Nest Mini producing popping/clicking  sounds has been ongoing for quite some time, and I apologize for the inconvenience it has caused so far. Our team is actively working on a fix, but unfortunately, I do not have any additional updates to share at this time. Rest assured, I will continue to stay in touch with the team and provide updates on this thread as soon as possible.

Cheers,

Muddi

[tsengf]

@pluri, I agree that features should not break things. I'm just providing a data point that disabling the feature causes the pops to go away for some users.

[marcolopes]

Well, Google COMPLETE SILENCE over this SEVERE PROBLEM is a huge RED flag! HUGE!

The possible scenarios are:

1) They CAN'T FIX THIS (it's a hardware problem)

2) They DON'T KNOW how to fix this (not likely!)

3) They DON'T WANT to fix this!!!

Either way, we (users) are KEPT in COMPLETE SILENCE! (google is no longer responding to my ticket, and they CLOSE every ticket i open related to the ecosystem - not just this problem)

[marcolopes]

Again... and AGAIN...

Turning OFF the "Ultrasound Sensing feature" on the Google Nest MINI does NOT solve any issue related to Popping!

It just WON'T!

No matter what firmware you have (i have both the latest "firmwares", the official and the unlisted one) and all devices pop with the "Ultrasound Sensing feature" turned ON or OFF!

[ChanceBacca]

My dog hasn't been sleeping at the foot of my bed for the last year. I didn't think anything of it, until I noticed the moment it the speaker Pops the first time, she gets up and leaves, and refuses to come back until the speaker is off. We decided to try not turning on the speaker the last two nights, and the dog has stayed. Apparently you've been pissing off my dog for a year. Fix this useless thing before they all get trashed!

[marcolopes]

😀(sorry, it's not funny... but it made me laugh!)

Yes... This just proves how ANNOYING this BUG/Problem is!!! Very very annoying!

No one trying to "relax" can relax listening to music with "constant" RANDOM POPPING noises all over!!!!

(and, as i said before, it's not just "music"... it's STREAMING in general! The devices POP even when the ASSISTANT responds... and when you are listening to NEWS FEEDS, etc etc)

So... it's not related to Spotify and/or YouTube Music... it's related to ANY AUDIO that is not played locally)

The only audio that does NOT POP is the one that is probably played directly from the device, such as "relaxing sounds" (you can ask the device to play some relaxing sounds, and i believe they are SHORT SAMPLES that are played from the hardware memory/buffer, and DO NOT stream from the network)

[enagen]

Mine only pops when streams Spotify, no pops from YouTube Music or Bluetooth, so maybe you are right, could be an internal process/decode, but why mine gives only problems with Spotify? So, is not the hardware, so its worse, its a Google program code error and they do not fix it.

[marcolopes]

I thought that too! But 6 MONTHS playing with 3 devices DAILY showed me otherwise.

The devices POPS when streaming anything... except when you ask to play "relaxing sounds" (i believe they are download when needed, stored locally and repeated in loop!)

The device POPS when:

- Streaming Spotify

- Streaming Youtube Music (i don't use it, but it has been reported several times in THIS current topic!)

- Streaming the NEWS! (happened to me several times over the past weeks - i usually don't listen to news on the devices)

- Streaming the ASSISTANT ANSWERS! (YES!!! IT popped when answering me!!)

[marcolopes]

Anyone with this NEW problem??? It's driving me MAD!!! https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Google-Nest-Mini-play-wrong-songs-and-p...

[enagen]

The problem seems to be with Spotify, no crackles from YouTube Music or Bluetooth cast...

Edited" crackles sounds DO continue from YouTube Music...but less frequently 😒😒😒

So COME ON!!!! You could solve this with a few codes!!!

[marcolopes]

I will say it again and again and again...

The devices POPS when streaming anything... except when you ask to play "relaxing sounds" (i believe they are stored locally and repeated in loop!)

The device POPS when:

- Streaming Spotify

- Streaming Youtube Music

- Streaming the NEWS!

- Streaming the ASSISTANT ANSWERS! (YES!!! IT popped when answering me!!)

[marcolopes]

I really believe that this problem was introduced when Google was "sued" by SONOS for using proprietary "streaming" code on the Google devices, and google "engineers" had to remove that code (or else!)

But, since late 2023, a decision was made in favor of Google, and the firmware was updated: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/google-wins-sonos-patent-case-immediately-ships-speaker-soft...

Was the firmware reversed to affect the STREAMING code? If it was, shouldn't all these issues be resolved NOW?

[enagen]

Nice info... but the update appears to worth nothing.. 😞

[marcolopes]

In a new twist, Google could be working on some new smart home hardware. Fresh evidence suggests that the company is planning to release an upgraded Nest Hub Max, and a new Nest Audio device, at some point in the future. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2024/04/27/google-new-nest-hub-max-nest-audio-assistant-gem...

Maybe they just CAN'T FIX current problems (because they are HARDWARE related?) and just want to move on solving them on NEW devices??

[AABLingbeek]

Still, nothing has been brought out to fix this? Why?

[enagen]

Google is small starter company, you must comprehend their limited resources.

[marcolopes]

Nice sarcasm!

But, as i said before, this didn't help either: https://www.investopedia.com/google-lays-off-hundreds-of-workers-across-its-assistant-ar-and-devices...

Google Lays Off Hundreds of Workers Across Assistant, AR, and Devices Teams to Cut Costs

[limuremu]

Since it’s been almost a year with no solution and I am so fed up with Google and the MANY issues with my Nest Mini that has make me completely regret buying it, I ordered an Amazon Echo Pop and I plan on selling the Nest Mini to a website to try and avoid waste and hopefully get some money back. This whole situation has been ridiculous and I am appalled at how Google handled this.

[marcolopes]

I tried everything!!!

Keeping this issue alive here, on Spotify forums (even though it's NOT caused by Spotify - it's a STREAMING PROBLEM), AUDIO magazines, Hardware reviewers...

The tickets i opened about this (and related issues) were closed. The first ticket interaction was DEPLORABLE!!!

We must assume that GOOLE does not care about Google Nest Ecosystem, and it's keeping it "afloat" to avoid a lawsuit or major surge in complaints. There is no other explanation.

[kelanfromgoogle · Accepted solution]

Hey everyone,

Apologies, this thread was recently closed by mistake. I've reopened it as I know this still impacts many of you and helps organize the conversation.

I also know it's been taking longer than expected, but the issue hasn't fallen off our radar. The team is still working on it and I hope to have more to share soon. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience.

Thank you for your patience.
Kelan

[marcolopes]

Well, i reached Google through every available channel (moderators, other topics, email, support ticket, and even social media...)

Moderators should be more CAREFUL about LOCKING ongoing active threads with NO SOLUTION!

Also, THIS topic should NOT have a "Selected Answer"!

[enagen]

Thanks for the update Kelan, 

Please tell the team to take it easy, we've been enjoying the popping more than a year and we learned to love it in all our Nests (Mini and Audio) Now instead of count sheeps for sleeping we put some calm sounds in the Nest speakers and count the poppings. It's so satisfying... we love it!!! We were saving for buying new other brand speakers but this popping make as think that we invested well!! So, Google is the brand we recomend to our friends to buy when they want to change their speakers, when they heard the popping sound all doubts were gone!. This popping feature is an amazing publicity! Go Google!

[marcolopes]

Many audio publications already know about this problem, and i hope soon they will address it in an article...

[tsengf]

Hi @kelanfromgoogle, I find it difficult to understand how the effort of members who have attempted to reach out to mods through various methods over the past year to reopen this thread did not result in any acknowledgment from Google. Although I'm glad you have reopened this thread, what prompted your action to do so?

[kelanfromgoogle]

Hey @tsengf - logs show the post was accidentally closed for only a week, is there perhaps another conversation you're thinking of?

Worth noting: moderators and Community Specialists do not manually close threads. A thread will lock after 30 days of inactivity or no new replies in order to keep conversations relevant and fresh.

[marcolopes]

Thanks. It's nice to know that "A thread will lock after 30 days of inactivity" (though it was not the case)

Anyway, a thread should NOT lock if there is no "Recommended" answer (and sure, this thread recommended answer is a joke)

[tsengf]

Hi @kelanfromgoogle, I'm not referring to the post closing or the post locking. As you can see, this thread is alive. Many members have requested updates to this thread but no admins responded. Multiple members have reached out directly to admins but received no response. What happened to @Muddi, and why is she not responding to the questions in this thread? 

[pluri]

@tsengf I hope to be wrong but likely @kelanfromgoogle is the "new" @Muddi, he said "The team is still working on it and I hope to have more to share soon" it's a familiar generic sentence that I have already read many months ago. In such a such a long time the team shall have already fixed the issue or established that it is not fixable (i.e. hardware problem). The third option is that nobody is really taking care of this.

[Lincolnlad]

Same issue here with 5x speakers popping and crackling. I’ve rebooted, reset, moved and switched off ultrasonic sensor but the issue continues. 

[Jebthered]

The popping occurs every minute or so and just makes me cringe. Majority of my house is Google/nest ecosystem and would like to keep it that way. PLEASE figure this one out 🙏

[marcolopes]

Welcome!

Please keep posting about this issue.

Thanks!

[ceceet]

This is a huge issue, as well as issues with pausing or cutting out while play Spotify. It also fails to recognize requests to play playlists like it used to, and seems to be declining in functionality.

[marcolopes]

"It also fails to recognize requests to play playlists like it used to"

The playlist bug is FIXED NOW! Just tested it: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Google-Nest-Mini-play-wrong-songs-and-p...

I'm now waiting for a clear explanation for the cause... I will not get it from Google, so i asked directly to Spotify (check the topic)

[marcolopes]

During the past "week", the popping has been quite bearable (it was there, but not so frequent, and not so loud), YET... last night and today the POPPING CAME BACK IN ALL IT'S GLORY!! 💪

It POPS every few minutes, it POPS very loud!

Why, oh WHY don't you fix this GOOGLE!!!?

WHY???

Do you need some qualified professionals to help you DEBUG this nonsense problem??

[mestrec]

Started happening here around 1-2 weeks ago.. I thought it was a fault in the device.

[tickfa]

Same here, with close by good signal wifi

[marcolopes]

I ask for everyone to COMMENT on these articles about the Google Home / Audio / Nest ecosystem!

https://www.androidpolice.com/google-audio-wishlist-2024/
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-google-nest-speakers/
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/29/24167316/google-home-assistant-group-volume-control-speakers-sono...

They all have a COMMENTS section, and you should post about the current issues rendering the whole ecosystem almost useless!

Main issues are:

POPPING NOISE when streaming ALL TYPES of AUDIO on the GOOGLE NEST MINI: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Strange-popping-sound-in-my-nest-mini/m...
Problems configuring and using the SPEAKER GROUPS feature : https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Having-trouble-with-Speaker-groups-Read...
Problems configuring and using the STEREO PAIR feature: https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Google-Nest-Mini-firmware-384934-NOT-li...

[Neuber]

So I guess my nest audios are just going to always do this. I wish I hadn’t upgraded from my older devices.

[marcolopes]

Well, at this point everyone should assume that this is NOT FIXABLE (or won't be fixed) and return all their devices to Google

If this was fixable we should have known by now.

[tsengf]

My opinion on this is that this is still related to firmware. All my Nest Mini devices were pop-free for a year. Then the pops started happening on all of them. I agree that we need to make this issue more well-known. Although the "workaround" has temporarily resolved the problem for me, I'm still pushing for Google to do something about this.

[marcolopes]

What "workaround"??? 🙄🙄🙄

There is no "workaround"!!! (please, don't say "Ultrasonic Sensing"! that is NOT a workaround! I have it disabled on my devices and they all POP - depending on the day, they POP HARD!)

For exposure, comment here!

https://www.androidpolice.com/google-audio-wishlist-2024/
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-google-nest-speakers/
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/29/24167316/google-home-assistant-group-volume-control-speakers-sono...