Hello, first time posting on this forum. I recently bought a fairly loaded Acer laptop to create my podcast on. With my previous system (5 year old Toshiba Satellite) I never had issues with playback. Now my voice cracks and the playback speed is up at least 25% from normal. I can’t find a solution to either. My mic is a usb Realtek (not the cream of the crop but has worked well) but I suspect this is a software issue. HELP!!
So first, make sure the problem is actually in the recording. Does it occur at exactly the same place in the audio each time you play it? Can you see the cracking in the waveform? Are you using bluetooth headphone (notorious for cracking)?
Check that the Play-at-Speed Toolbar is set to 1.00x. You can use Tools > Reset Configuration to reset your Audacity configuration.
Check that Audacity’s Project Rate and the recording device and playback device are all set to the same speed. For example, in the lower left-hand corner of the Audacity window, you may see 44100Hz - and on a track you load or generate or record, you will want to see the same number. In the Windows search bar (by the magnifying glass), type “mmsys.cpl”. Click on the Recording tab, select your recording device, then click Properties. In the subsequent window’s Advanced tab, check the Default rate. Repeat this step for the Playback tab.
Note that Zoom and other meeting software can change these settings.
I hope this helps. 