Firefox Community Forum

Context

While playing YouTube videos in Firefox, intermittent crackling appears after a few minutes of playback. This report documents detailed testing that demonstrates the issue is not related to the DAC, USB interface, or system hardware, and is exclusive to Firefox.

2. System Configuration

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X @ 43 °C

RAM: 64 GB DDR4 dual-channel (16-20-20-38 @ 1572 MHz)

Motherboard: ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 (AM4) @ 54 °C

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (audio drivers disabled, audio hardware off)

Monitors: LG HDR WFHD 2560x1080@60Hz and IPS236 1920x1080@60Hz

Storage: Multiple SSD and HDD SATA drives (500 GB – 2 TB)

Audio: Realtek High Definition Audio disabled; iFi nano/UNO DAC connected via USB with power filtering, using Exclusive Mode / ASIO

3. Tests Performed 3.1 DAC and USB Validation

Continuous playback of PCM 384 kHz/24‑bit and DSD256 via Roon/ASIO.

Duration: over 25 minutes of uninterrupted DSD256 playback.

Result: no crackling, pops, or errors.

Conclusion: DAC, firmware, USB cables, ports, and power supply are fully operational; heavy data load does not cause errors.

3.2 Browser Comparison

Chrome (YouTube, identical conditions): continuous playback without crackling.

Firefox (YouTube, identical conditions): crackling progressively appears minutes into playback, temporarily disappearing when the video is paused.

3.3 Isolation of Variables

USB motherboard ports and original drivers fully tested.

GPU audio drivers and hardware disabled.

Windows Shared Mode off, Exclusive Mode enabled.

Predefined audio formats set according to DAC preferences.

USB power management disabled.

DAC temperature stable; no overheating observed.

4. Technical Conclusion

Hardware: DAC, USB, cables, power, firmware, and GPU are not the cause of the crackling.

Operating System: Windows 11 is correctly configured; Exclusive Mode / ASIO works without errors.

Browser: Firefox is the only element consistently reproducing the issue.

Most Likely Cause: Firefox’s buffer management and audio sandboxing interacting with Windows, causing intermittent interruptions in audio flow.

Summary: All hardware and OS factors have been tested and validated: DAC, USB, cables, power supply, firmware, GPU, and temperature do not produce crackling. The only consistent factor is Firefox, making this a software-bound issue.

Engineering Note: This diagnosis conclusively demonstrates that the intermittent audio crackling on YouTube is caused exclusively by Firefox on Windows 11, independent of DAC or USB hardware. The issue should be investigated at the browser level, specifically how Firefox handles continuous digital audio streams and buffers on Windows.

OK recently firefox has been misbehaving in that some bookmarks froze or would not load. I thought it was SKY but other browsers were OK. Managed to refresh Firefox etc which changed the bookmark icons to generic icon of a globe. Then unable to delete / modify / save bookmarks. Followed Mozilla support advice help / more troubleshooting information / profile folder / open folder / check properties / sqlite / change from read only all folder s& subfolders / exit firefox. Icons reappeared but in the address bar is the full URL rather than the original saved bookmark and no blue star to indicate that bookmark. So bookmark works but the URL label instead of the short version is the full version of the URL of Bloggsandco,com TERWF78;ULUFWOUW88UY not Bloggsandco.com and no blue star. I am zero tech savvy before you ask and whilst there may have been a corrupt file in Firefox there have been two fixes with CMD SFC/scannow repairs (W10 64 bit) and now Firefox refresh. Of course lost all extensions and theme on refresh firefox. Any thoughts - have managed now to delete excess bookmarks

mozilla keeps crashing almost on every website (says the tab has crashed). I checked, mozila is up to date, all extensions removed, no viruses or spyware, and it is crashing in troubleshoot mode as well.

Also few times a day says "your device ran in to a problem and needs to restart). Please advise what to do? Here is a submitted crash reports:

p-878c606d-9511-4e2d-8463-5bcd40260113 13-Jan-26, 11:02 View bp-b92cc3c4-aa94-4a34-b0e3-bbb4a0260113 13-Jan-26, 11:02 View bp-a923ab00-9c5a-497d-b879-5849a0260113 13-Jan-26, 11:02 View bp-bd9b3fd4-9e88-43de-84d4-8b6210260113 13-Jan-26, 11:02 View bp-ed987df9-1563-4285-a6c3-da7290260113 13-Jan-26, 11:02 View bp-5d3d4a2e-6a35-41e3-b00e-0e8b60260113 13-Jan-26, 11:02 View bp-40bfaa75-2f10-4b5a-8d8c-b593d0260113 13-Jan-26, 11:01 View bp-8ddae55f-953d-48bc-ab42-6c21f0260113 13-Jan-26, 11:01 View bp-55bec64b-f2cf-4dd3-8cc4-2201b0260113 13-Jan-26, 11:01 View bp-c0805bea-737b-48de-ac3c-698550260113 13-Jan-26, 11:01 View bp-dc39e12a-d135-409c-b7ff-2f7440260113 13-Jan-26, 11:01 View bp-98bb14f4-55ba-4791-8958-924830260113 13-Jan-26, 11:01 View bp-6d26a731-7b7e-4487-a929-ec6970260113 13-Jan-26, 09:28 View bp-f056e88d-b117-41e7-92ce-6b0cb0260112 12-Jan-26, 16:07 View bp-613d6f88-4ac7-4586-9b6e-c0d6c0260112 12-Jan-26, 16:06 View bp-7220e233-4a4b-408f-b2ff-82a540260112 12-Jan-26, 16:05 View

I was sent an email so I could reset my password, and Firefox said I was using windows 10, when in fact I'm using windows 11, unfortunately. Is this a bug? What gives?

My emails used to display in date order but since a Mozilla upgrade they are now grouped as Today, Yesterday and Last Week. Is there a setting to alter this back to one list in date order please?

ALL

please help, i did the FF security update and lost everything! i have no passwords or bookmarks please send me a link or something to recover to last weeks version of FF this is driving me crazy.

I recovered my account using a backup code and set a new password. Two-step authentication is enabled but I don’t have the linked TOTP app. The settings UI does not allow disabling 2FA and does not offer backup code input. I still have unused 10-character backup recovery codes. Please advise.

First I tried all the suggestions I could find. And FF just kept double filling the password. So I did a completely fresh FF install to a separate folder with no cookies or passwords or anything saved, and never any extensions installed. Still double fills the password -- which makes it impossible to log in. I am using FF Portable, and tried both the latest version and an older version. What could possibly be doing this?

I have a new Mozilla (FireFox) account and keep getting emails that say I need to confirm it. They include a button to do so but I'm not clicking it unless I get better information from you. Please help. The email swears my account will be deleted if I don't confirm it. What do I do?

For the last few days, Firefox is being removed from my computer overnight and i have to re-intall the browser the next morning. Sometimes it's still there the next day, and sometimes it's gone again the next day. What i causing this and how can i prevent it from being removed? Jenny

Despite having the setting "Ctrl+Tab cycles through tabs in recently used order" selected, CTRL-Tab has suddenly stopped cycling tabs in the most recently used order. Firefox behaves as if the setting is disabled. This is the third time I've experienced this issue in the past year, and every time the only solution that worked was to create a new profile. It is exhausting to get a new profile back to exactly how the old profile was, and it's something I shouldn't have to do.

Scenario: I am on Windows 11 (though I think this has also happened to me on Windows 10), currently using version 146.0.1 (though this has happened on previous versions). CTRL-Tab cycles in the most recently used order just fine for several months, then it suddenly doesn't—this happens in the middle of an active session, i.e., not after a restart of the browser nor the computer itself. I have four add-ons, none of which control tab cycling, nor have I added/removed any add-ons nor changed any of their settings since their initial installation many months ago.

What I've tried:

• Disabling/re-enabling the setting (even though it is already checked)
• Disabling/re-enabling the config browser.ctrlTab.sortByRecentlyUsed
• Restarting Firefox normally
• Restarting with add-ons disabled—note that the issue persists even with add-ons disabled
• Disabling the setting, then restarting Firefox, then re-enabling the setting
• Restarting the computer

It's the same thing described in this Reddit thread. What else can I try?

I have at least one question on the support forum which has never been answered. So I went to Bugzilla, and discovered dozens of YouTube issues under the Open/Unconfirmed status.

I can reproduce my problems. I'm sure others can reproduce their problems. Nothing is done. NOT EVEN admitting there is a problem.

If I can't use YouTube on Firefox (I can't), then why am I using FF? It is one of the biggest sites on all of the internet. But FF apparently doesn't care if it doesn't work.

What. Is. Going. On?

(See the attached image... the big blank space is where the video should display)