Arch Linux

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7. Linux 6.4 and higher, both the regular and zen kernels, cause audio distortion. Sometimes, this occurs to the point that nearly nothing is discernible. This carries over to wired headphones.

Linux kernels 6.3.x are not affected and neither is the 6.1 LTS kernel series which is what I am temporarily using. On Windows too, the audio works as it should. This indicates that my hardware is not at fault. Bluetooth audio is not impacted from my testing, either.

The distortion doesn't start immediately. It either occurs automatically after a random amount of time, or when I increase/decrease the volume, or when I skip forward/backward to a section. In order to stop the distortion, I have to either increase/decrease the volume until it stops, or skip forward/backward until it stops, or restarting Pipewire via systemd, however it starts again due to one of the aforementioned reasons.

At the time of this report, I am running Pipewire 0.3.73 and Wireplumber 0.4.14. Also, at the time of this report, linux and linux-zen are both versions 6.4.3. Linux LTS is version 6.1.38.

I wrote about this on the Arch Linux forums, too, and seems like at least two other people are facing this issue. Here's the forum post: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=287068

I have attached the dmesg outputs of the Arch distributed linux, linux-zen, and linux-lts kernels.

Here's some audio related hardware information:

inxi -A

Audio:
Device-1: Intel Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio
driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-tgl
API: ALSA v: k6.1.38-1-lts status: kernel-api


pactl info

Server String: /run/user/1000/pulse/native
Library Protocol Version: 35
Server Protocol Version: 35
Is Local: yes
Client Index: 1119
Tile Size: 65472
User Name: tux
Host Name: NSA-Terminal-4
Server Name: PulseAudio (on PipeWire 0.3.73)
Server Version: 15.0.0
Default Sample Specification: float32le 2ch 48000Hz
Default Channel Map: front-left,front-right
Default Sink: bluez_output.58_FC_C6_58_83_AB.1
Default Source: alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic.HiFi__hw_sofhdadsp_6__source
Cookie: 96a0:1a1e


pactl list cards

Card #48
Name: alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic
Driver: alsa
Owner Module: n/a
Properties:
api.acp.auto-port = "false"
api.acp.auto-profile = "false"
api.alsa.card = "0"
api.alsa.card.longname = "LENOVO-21CDCTO1WW-ThinkPadX1YogaGen7"
api.alsa.card.name = "sof-hda-dsp"
api.alsa.path = "hw:0"
api.alsa.use-acp = "true"
api.dbus.ReserveDevice1 = "Audio0"
device.api = "alsa"
device.bus = "pci"
device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic"
device.description = "Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio Controller"
device.enum.api = "udev"
device.icon_name = "audio-card-analog-pci"
device.name = "alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3-platform-skl_hda_dsp_generic"
device.nick = "sof-hda-dsp"
device.plugged.usec = "6708312"
device.product.id = "0x51c8"
device.product.name = "Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio Controller"
device.subsystem = "sound"
sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/skl_hda_dsp_generic/sound/card0"
device.vendor.id = "0x8086"
device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
media.class = "Audio/Device"
factory.id = "14"
client.id = "34"
object.id = "47"
object.serial = "48"
object.path = "alsa:pcm:0"
alsa.card = "0"
alsa.card_name = "sof-hda-dsp"
alsa.long_card_name = "LENOVO-21CDCTO1WW-ThinkPadX1YogaGen7"
alsa.driver_name = "snd_soc_skl_hda_dsp"
device.string = "0"
Profiles:
off: Off (sinks: 0, sources: 0, priority: 0, available: yes)
HiFi: Play HiFi quality Music (sinks: 4, sources: 2, priority: 8000, available: yes)
pro-audio: Pro Audio (sinks: 5, sources: 3, priority: 1, available: yes)
Active Profile: HiFi
Ports:
[Out] HDMI3: HDMI / DisplayPort 3 Output (type: HDMI, priority: 700, latency offset: 0 usec, availability group: HDMI/DP,pcm=5, not available)
Properties:
port.type = "hdmi"
port.availability-group = "HDMI/DP,pcm=5"
device.icon_name = "video-display"
card.profile.port = "0"
Part of profile(s): HiFi
[Out] HDMI2: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 Output (type: HDMI, priority: 600, latency offset: 0 usec, availability group: HDMI/DP,pcm=4, not available)
Properties:
port.type = "hdmi"
port.availability-group = "HDMI/DP,pcm=4"
device.icon_name = "video-display"
card.profile.port = "1"
Part of profile(s): HiFi
[Out] HDMI1: HDMI / DisplayPort 1 Output (type: HDMI, priority: 500, latency offset: 0 usec, availability group: HDMI/DP,pcm=3, not available)
Properties:
port.type = "hdmi"
port.availability-group = "HDMI/DP,pcm=3"
device.icon_name = "video-display"
card.profile.port = "2"
Part of profile(s): HiFi
[Out] Speaker: Speaker (type: Speaker, priority: 100, latency offset: 0 usec, availability unknown)
Properties:
port.type = "speaker"
device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
card.profile.port = "3"
Part of profile(s): HiFi
[Out] Headphones: Headphones (type: Headphones, priority: 200, latency offset: 0usec, availability group: Headphone, not available)
Properties:
port.type = "headphones"
port.availability-group = "Headphone"
device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
card.profile.port = "4"
Part of profile(s): HiFi
[In] Mic2: Headphones Stereo Microphone (type: Mic, priority: 200, latency offset: 0 usec, availability group: Mic, not available)
Properties:
port.type = "mic"
port.availability-group = "Mic"
device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
card.profile.port = "5"
Part of profile(s): HiFi
[In] Mic1: Digital Microphone (type: Mic, priority: 100, latency offset: 0 usec,availability unknown)
Properties:
port.type = "mic"
device.icon_name = "audio-input-microphone"
card.profile.port = "6"
Part of profile(s): HiFi


Steps to reproduce:
1. Upgrade to Linux kernel 6.4 or higher.
2. Play a video or music, increase/decrease the volume, or seek forward/backward.